Older iBooks

I have an 800MHz iBook with 640Mb RAM, 40GB HD and ati ragem7 (don't know if that's the same as yours). It's my main computer, and runs everything you've listed quite well. It gets bogged down with photoshop and the like, and can sometimes lag pretty badly with large powerpoint or pdf files, but on the whole I think you'll be happy, especially since you have the G5 for heavy lifting.

You got a pretty nice deal for it, I'm sure it will be worth it.

Side note: you may want to check the serial numbers listed in the logic board exchange program (link on the bottom of apples main site) to make sure you didn't pick up one of those. Mine has that problem unfortunately, and I've had to have it fixed twice in less than a year.

i have a G3 iBook 600 MHz, OS 10.3.6, 512MB RAM, 20GB and i run programs such as safari, itunes, word, excel, photoshop, illustrator and quark. sometimes it hicups on some bigger projects photoshop etc, but it has been my only computer since 2002 and am exteremely happy. (i don't have one of those logic board ones).

using a g3 800mhz ibook with 384MB ram (getting more when money comes around).

i pretty much dumped my p3 933mhz, mostly because it was crashing firefox everytime, and would restart the system every so often.

couple things are a bit "not as smooth" on the mac tho. when i type on certain places, it will type reeeaallly slowly, thus causing me to make mistakes in spelling. with activity monitor running, i can see that the cpu is working hard to load up pages, videos, ect. one thing is for sure, its not crashing any programs, or restarting the system.

hopefully i can make enough this summer for a dual g5. till then, tuition, books, booze...

SLCentral said:

...I have an iMac G5 for the more intensive things, but I want this to be a easy and convienent way to access the internet, check my mail, etc. Will it do the trick? ...

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it'll work fine ....but because you'll be using both computers there are going to be times when it's slower speed will be exaggerated in comparison to the G5 iMac

i have one of those...but with less ram....in edition to internet and email, I do a bit of light photoshop and CAD on it when I'm traveling

SLCentral said:

Thanks for your help guys, pretty much what I was expecting. I can't expect to use Maya 6 on this system, can I? Haha, worth a shot.

Any worthy upgrades I can make? Is there any way to replace the CD-ROM drive for a Combo?

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If you could run Maya 3D 6, I will eat your computer. Well considering what you are doing it should be fine, Maya might run however not all features will be available. certain things might not render in the tool bar etc.. Since it requires a large screen and an Open GL card. Still for light work you an prob run Maya 3D 6.

SLCentral said:

Hey guys,

I just bought an older iBook G3...

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Just a thought, wouldnt that have been a good qusetion to ask before you bought it?

Congrats on your new machine! My iBook is a 500mhz that I just upgraded to 640mb (from 384) and 10.3.6 - made a HUGE difference! I even replaced the keyboard (it had gotten pretty nasty) for around $60 and it feels like a new machine. It's been my only computer (an my first Mac!) since Sept. 2001 and I can't see parting with it anytime soon - yours should serve you well for how you will use it.

If I can pull it off though...there may be a G5 iMac in my future in early '05. I'll be one Mac user that completely skipped the G4!

You can replace the CD / Combo drive yourself, but it is not a 10 minute job. Have a search on the forums here and you'll find a few threads about it, which will include links to (dis)assembly guides.

Combo drives can be had on eBay. For your model I think any of the Toshiba SD-R2XXX series would fit, as well as a few others. Check the http://www.xlr8yourmac.com database for user reports.

And if you do pluck up the courage to crack (and I mean crack) open your iBook to replace the optical drive, since you have to almost fully expose the HD at the same time, you may as well get a sexy 5,4000 rpm (or even 7,200 rpm) one and pop that in.

Good luck