G3 or G4 and a few other questions...

[lovemycoffee]

Hi....I am new here and am currently on my 2nd Mac, which is an Imac, about 4 yrs old. I want to buy an iBook, but I am nervous as I have heard PC owners complain they die and burn out quick.

I want the 14", and I saw a website that has new G3's for about $300 less than a new G4.

The only thing I do on my computer is the Internet and download a few pics from my camera. Would the G3 be enough?

Also, what are the thoughts as to a laptop dying quickly.....thanks

 

[lzasitko]

g3 or g4

Hi....I am new here and am currently on my 2nd Mac, which is an Imac, about 4 yrs old. I want to buy an iBook, but I am nervous as I have heard PC owners complain they die and burn out quick.

I want the 14", and I saw a website that has new G3's for about $300 less than a new G4.

The only thing I do on my computer is the Internet and download a few pics from my camera. Would the G3 be enough?

Also, what are the thoughts as to a laptop dying quickly.....thanks

If you have the money go get the g4, I have not seen as many problems with them as the snow iBooks (g3). If all you are after is something to surf and download pictures to look at the clamshell iBooks, they are also g3 but a lot more robust than the newer g3 iBooks. I have a Clamshell Graphite 366, 576 ram (yes a 512 meg card), 6gig hdd, OSX 10.2.8 and 9.2 installed. I have it hooked up to a router in our home (along with an iMac and 4 pc's). I have a Casio Q-VR40 4megapixel camera and no problem getting pictures onto the iBook. All the newer iBooks including the g4's are a bit more fragile than the clamshell but that is more a result from making everything smaller and lighter.

Larry Zasitko

 

[lovemycoffee]

Thanks Larry. The clamshells are not being made anymore, correct? I am really hesitant about buying a Mac second hand.

 

[Padawan]

Hi....I am new here and am currently on my 2nd Mac, which is an Imac, about 4 yrs old. I want to buy an iBook, but I am nervous as I have heard PC owners complain they die and burn out quick.

I want the 14", and I saw a website that has new G3's for about $300 less than a new G4.

The only thing I do on my computer is the Internet and download a few pics from my camera. Would the G3 be enough?

Also, what are the thoughts as to a laptop dying quickly.....thanks

The G3 will be perfect for what you describe. With Apple's current discounts on them, I think they are one of the best deals going. In addition to the activities you describe, I do word processing, spreadsheets, manage music (rip, burn, download, etc.), watch movies, and more, and my 14" G3 never gives me a problem. My only suggestion would be to purchase a 512 MB RAM chip once you get it. Maxing-out the RAM never hurts, and it isn't very expense either, especially with the money you'll be saving.

In reference to the comments about G3 Snow's having problems - if anything, the things I've heard/read indicate that Apple's quality has been slipping somewhat (15" PB, new IB, etc.), and that the previous generation iBooks and PowerBooks are more durable than the newest ones. How they compare to the Clamshells, I can't say since I've never owned one (alhough I'm in the market if anyone wants to sell one), but I think you'll find few quality issues with a G3 iBook.

 

[lovemycoffee]

The G3 will be perfect for what you describe. With Apple's current discounts on them, I think they are one of the best deals going. In addition to the activities you describe, I do word processing, spreadsheets, manage music (rip, burn, download, etc.), watch movies, and more, and my 14" G3 never gives me a problem. My only suggestion would be to purchase a 512 MB RAM chip once you get it. Maxing-out the RAM never hurts, and it isn't very expense either, especially with the money you'll be saving.

In reference to the comments about G3 Snow's having problems - if anything, the things I've heard/read indicate that Apple's quality has been slipping somewhat (15" PB, new IB, etc.), and that the previous generation iBooks and PowerBooks are more durable than the newest ones. How they compare to the Clamshells, I can't say since I've never owned one (alhough I'm in the market if anyone wants to sell one), but I think you'll find few quality issues with a G3 iBook.

Thanks...I have a few questions. My iMac is an SE-dvd in Graphite....that is a G3, too, isn't it? That is what scares me, is my iMac is SLOW. I have 128 RAM. My husband has a Dell Laptop with a pentium 4 and 256 RAM...I was on it last night surfing ebay and it was way faster than my iMac, so I would think the 256 that comes with the iBook would be fine for me.

You mentioned Apples discount....is this through another retailer? On Apples site and store I only saw the G4, I saw the G3's on another website, not sure if I am allowed to say the name.

 

[lzasitko]

Clamshell

Thanks Larry. The clamshells are not being made anymore, correct? I am really hesitant about buying a Mac second hand.

No Clamshell iBooks have not been in production since 2002 I think but I have seen posts by people on some of the other forums that say they bought one new from a dealer that had some still in stock. I bought a relatives (he bought a 12" white g3-900 and had used this for his work all the time. It was in great shape and ran good so I figured that I could not pass it up ($200) . I have been watching them on ebay and they still fetch a pretty good price so they are keeping their value. I think a lot of that is due to the styling and the reputation.

With everything that I see on all the foums about problems with the newer g3's I would be a bit reluctent to buy one. Now I know that on any forum you are going to hear all about the problems more than all the good ones that nobody is having problems with so I take that into account. The g4's are supposed to be better and as a bonus a lot faster...

Now if I had the money it would a g4 for me, love the look and size and that lovely widescreen is great..... or would I get a g5?

 

[lovemycoffee]

With everything that I see on all the foums about problems with the newer g3's I would be a bit reluctent to buy one. Now I know that on any forum you are going to hear all about the problems more than all the good ones that nobody is having problems with so I take that into account. The g4's are supposed to be better and as a bonus a lot faster...

Now if I had the money it would a g4 for me, love the look and size and that lovely widescreen is great..... or would I get a g5?

The G3 I am looking at has the wide screen, 14 in, correct?

What problems with the G3's are you referring to, I have heard about hinge problems.

 

[christophermac]

Hi,
I own a blueberry clamshell ibook myself. For what I do, which is just email, internet browsing, and school work, I really have no problem with it. The only thing I do not like is that I am stuck with the slower 300 mhz processor. But with the 256 mb ram i upgraded to, it works pretty good. I suggest just getting a new one. The only reason why I purchased this clamshell ibook is because I thought it was pretty cool looking, which is a bad excuse for a computer purchase lol...

 

[lzasitko]

g3 problems

The G3 I am looking at has the wide screen, 14 in, correct?

What problems with the G3's are you referring to, I have heard about hinge problems.

Problems with the screens (due to opening and closing ) cracking the main circuit board. There is a petition going on (on pwerbookmedic.com, in their forum for the iBook, I think) and talk about a class action against Apple. There are also problems with the latches breaking and if they break your iBook could turn on and drain the batteries. As I said I have seen enough to be a bit concerned.

Clamshells have a 12.1" screen, no other options

Larry Zasitko

OK I was wrong the petition and links to it etc are on MacAddicts forums for the ibook......

 

[simply258]

The G3 you have is slow because it's probably 300 or 400 Mhz. The last iBook G3s had speeds of 800 - 900 MHz .. They are available on the Special Deals page of the Apple Store

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...0f7m/0.0.7.1.0.5.13.0.3.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?55,36

New 14" G3 ibooks seem to be out of stock, but there are refurbished ones.

 

[lovemycoffee]

OK.....I think I have decided on what I am getting. A new G3 iBook 900, 384 mb Ram....no sales tax, for $999....how does that price sound?

I am a little hesitant about the problems, so in that case, should I buy Apple care or can I buy it in 1 year?

 

[lovemycoffee]

Also....this site I am looking at is not listed on Apples site of official resellers, should I not buy from them?