Buying a Used iBook

jdgti · Jul 23, 2007

I am planning to buy a used iBook for my little sister sometime this week. She would just use it for browsing internet, ichat, iphoto (lots), and itunes. She probably would never have more than that open. She is a senior in high school and doesn't have an email account yet, but will probably need to use Mail.app in the future. So with that said will this computer work for 2-3 years for those applications:

iBook G4 1.2 Ghz, 768MB Ram

The HDD doesn't matter because I can replace that for her. I am worried about the processor and Ram.

Will this run Leopard ok?

Thanks!

Zoolook · Jul 23, 2007

It will run Leopard, but I am not sure how Leopards new features (such as preview) will use RAM. My guess is they'll gobble it up. The processor should be ok though.

iPhoto is memory hungry for sure and having that open with iTunes, a browser and iChat at the same time, with 768MB of RAM will probably slow things down a lot.

I'd say go for 1gig of RAM as a minimum if possible, so upgrade whenever you can.

Gritts · Jul 23, 2007

Hi, just going off that question, should it run Tiger okay with applications such as Photoshop and those listed above? Should I go for a ram upgrade?

jdgti · Jul 23, 2007

will the 1.2 GHZ ibook upgrade any higher than 768 Ram?

Gritts · Jul 23, 2007

Is it the 14" model?
It should be able to get up to 1.25 gigs... if not more.

jdgti · Jul 23, 2007

Gritts said:
Is it the 14" model?
It should be able to get up to 1.25 gigs... if not more.

sorry, its a 12" ibook.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_g4_1.2_12.html

That site says its takes 1.25 gigs.

So with 1.25 gigs will she be ok with iTunes and iPhoto, safari, ichat?

Zoolook · Jul 23, 2007

Gritts said:
Hi, just going off that question, should it run Tiger okay with applications such as Photoshop and those listed above? Should I go for a ram upgrade?

Photoshop will run on that machine, but if you're dealing with RAW images and editing 24-bit 9mp photographs, it's going to struggle

jdgaines said:
will the 1.2 GHZ ibook upgrade any higher than 768 Ram?

hang on, I'll google it for you...

Amazing

http://www.edgetechcorp.com/memory/upgrade.asp?cid=15518

You can upgrade to 1.25gigs...er although that's the 14 inch

The Apple iBook G4 1.2GHz 14-inch (M9419LL/A) DDR uses PC-2100 type memory and has 1 bank(s) of 1 socket(s) each for a total of 1 memory socket(s) . The Apple iBook G4 1.2GHz 14-inch (M9419LL/A) DDR comes standard with 256MB of RAM and supports up to 1256MB of RAM with 256MB of that in Fixed RAM. Choose from the memory modules listed above for guaranteed compatible upgrades for your Apple iBook G4 1.2GHz 14-inch (M9419LL/A) DDR.

For optimal performance of your Apple iBook G4 1.2GHz 14-inch (M9419LL/A) DDR install the maximum amount of RAM in each memory socket. If all Banks are filled, you can replace the memory in each Socket of that Bank with memory of a higher capacity memory Kit.

jdgti · Jul 23, 2007

So I found some ram on the frys website:

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4389075

I cross referenced it with crucial

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=6FB4A57EA5CA7304

Does anyone seen any differences or reason I should get the ram from crucial instead of from my local frys store?

Thanks!

Zoolook · Jul 23, 2007

jdgaines said:
So I found some ram on the frys website:

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4389075

I cross referenced it with crucial

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=6FB4A57EA5CA7304

Does anyone seen any differences or reason I should get the ram from crucial instead of from my local frys store?

Thanks!

I can personally vouch for Crucial RAM, I've been using it for years on the PC and recently upgraded my MacBook to 2gigs using crucial RAM. It's certainly a well known brand.

Can't say the same about Fry's, but that doesn't mean it won't be perfectly acceptable.

jdgti · Jul 23, 2007

Thanks. Rep bonus.

Gritts · Jul 24, 2007

My friend actually has 1.5 gigs in a 14", so who knows?