Hi there new to macs

Is it the 12" PowerBook? If so, congratulations getting that beautiful machine.

Anyway, you can upgrade the RAM to 1.5 GB, might cost you though, as it is old RAM (no longer produced in masses). And you could thinking about getting a Ultra-ATA SSD, though I don't know where to look, but I guess a www search could yield some results.
As for further specs look here, for guides on replacing HDD and RAM look here.

Also know, that machine, with upgraded RAM, can run Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, if you want and find it cheap on eBay (still goes for a lot for money).

Apple made two series of metal PowerBook G4s. The first was the Titanium series and the highest processor speed the Titaniums got to was 1Ghz. Also, all Titaniums are 15.1". The next series was Aluminum and that was the series of PowerBooks that came in three sizes, 12", 15" and 17". So, your Mac is an Aluminum PowerBook. Sometimes the Titaniums are referred to as TiBooks and the Aluminums as AlBooks.

My wife has the 12" 1Ghz model. The module on the board is 256MB. If you ever decide to replace the hard drive, know that it's an involved process when it comes to the 12" model. Both Titanium and Aluminum models have the PATA (IDE) interface, so you can't put in a modern SATA hard drive unless you have an adapter. SSD drives can be found, but the largest PATA drive right now is 320GB and made by Western Digital. I have the 320 in my other 17" PB and my wife has the 250GB model.

You might go over to crucial.com to check your memory. They have an online calculator where you just put in your model and they will tell you what RAM sticks you need. You can buy from them or someone else. I used them to find out what I needed for my 17" PowerBook and bought two 1GB sticks from someone else for around $60. Crucial charges more. However, they make good ram so if you buy from them it's worth it.

Some other things to note. Don't expect to stream video or Flash across the internet. The last version of Flash for the PB is outdated and many of the later and most powerful PBs have trouble with Flash. The alternative if you use Youtube is an app called Mactubes.

There are also, lots and lots of different browsers out there to try if Safari doesn't work for you. TenFourFox is Firefox for PowerPC. There is the Sunrise browser, Seamonkey, Camino, Omniweb, Icab, etc. See the sticky at the top of the forums for a whole list of them.

Facebook. I use FB, but increasingly no matter what browser I use it's starting to get slower. That's because FB is javascript intensive. More than anything javascript on websites will start your fans going because the processor is pegged at 100% trying to process all the JS. FB is only going to get more complicated over time as they add new stuff. So, just something to be aware of.

You can put a little extra speed/power into it for a few bucks, but if you're just going to use it as a light surfer I'd say your specs is already more than enough. Camino with maybe flash animations turned off* (you can activate them when you stumble upon something you want to see, without having to open preferences) and you're good to go.

* = Most of the time there's no point in having flash animations turned off but when browsing through, for example, links-to-youtube-heavy threads it's a time saver.

-your 12" 1.5GHz powerbook G4 has 256mb onboard ram,you can add 1 gig ddr 333mhz sodimm (total 1.25 gig's)...upgrading ram is very easy to do.
-with added ram,you might consider upgrading to osx leopard (the max version of osx that ppc macs can use)
-replacing your older ide harddrive with a newer one would he very helpful...(i find it helps as much if not even more then max your ram...but do max the ram also)...you could go with a ssd ide drive but the cost vs speed increase might not be worth the price....replacing the harddrive might look hard,but if you take your time,place screws in labeled bags ect,it's really fairly easy.

your powerbook
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/specs/powerbook_g4_1.5_12.html
your powerbook showing how to replace ram and harddrive
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_G4_Aluminum_12%22_1-1.5_GHz

Congratulations on getting an excellent machine! I have bought several of these, slightly abused, lately, fixed them up, and given them to my computer-challenged family as gifts. They're a great size and do almost anything you might need them to do, despite being seven years old. I was a little nervous about the hard drive replacement the first time I tried it, but I was surprised at how easy it turned out to be, with a little patience. Ifixit has excellent instructions, and I was less than an hour getting it done. The repair that is a real challenge is the DVD: that requires almost complete disassembly of the computer. Enjoy!

mike457 said:

The repair that is a real challenge is the DVD: that requires almost complete disassembly of the computer.

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Try replacing the LCD!

eyoungren the lcd is nothing...i just looked at the ifixit for the dvd replacement...good god that looks like fun! here i thought taking apart my clamshell or ibook G3 was hard....but that darn near childs play compared to the pb optical replacement.

I was thinking about replacing the DVD burner to get around Apple's weird restriction on dual-layer DVDs, and then I looked at ifixit's guide! Apple appears to have designed the computer around the DVD burner. To the OP, if you ever have trouble with the DVD player, buy an external replacement!

tom vilsack said:

eyoungren the lcd is nothing...i just looked at the ifixit for the dvd replacement...good god that looks like fun! here i thought taking apart my clamshell or ibook G3 was hard....but that darn near childs play compared to the pb optical replacement.

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I used the iFixit guide too and the guide I found had me gut the computer. Everything came out including the optical drive and the logicboard. Once I got the LCD disconnected I had an empty bottom pan. It was more difficult for me because I was used to the room in my 17" PBs and the 12" is really tight. By the time I got done I had to replace a sleep light indicator (because the wire stripped out when trying to pull it up) and a keyboard key (because it broke). I had to open the thing up no less than 4 times just to get everything right again.

It was fun, but not an experience I care to repeat any time soon.

Here are the pictures I took. One of them shows me holding the optical drive and there are at least two where you can see the empty bottom tray.

Ah, fun you say? I think it might be easier just to stick your fingers in electric sockets. Add that to the list of things I'll never try!

Tezzamacuser said:

Lol the dvd rom is something I wont be upgrading for a while then haha. To be honest it is running perfectly the way it is. It hadn't been used for a couple of years the only problem I encountered with it was that the owner had lost all the user login details luckily I was able to go into single user mode and reset it. I have ordered a 1gig stick of the correct ram and I am still pondering on whether to upgrade the os to 10.5 or leave it on 10.4.11.

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My wife's 12" PowerBook (the one I replaced the screen for) is 1Ghz. She's running Leopard with no issues. Websurfing, eBay, email and Solitaire. She's also got a fantastic uptime because usually the heaviest thing she does with it is play Solitaire.

simsaladimbamba said:

Is it the 12" PowerBook? If so, congratulations getting that beautiful machine.

Anyway, you can upgrade the RAM to 1.5 GB, might cost you though, as it is old RAM (no longer produced in masses). And you could thinking about getting a Ultra-ATA SSD, though I don't know where to look, but I guess a www search could yield some results.
As for further specs look here, for guides on replacing HDD and RAM look here.

Also know, that machine, with upgraded RAM, can run Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, if you want and find it cheap on eBay (still goes for a lot for money).

Click to expand...

You do realize that the memory used in these is just DDR 333/400 SODIMMs right? It's nothing special and still even available to Best Buy. It's not "rare" or "out of production at all"

Tezzamacuser said:

\

I sourced it very easily of a website called MrMemory.co.uk it cost me £19 for a 1gig stick which has maxed out the ram on this machine. Its very easy ram to get hold of.

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Exactly. I wasn't calling you out in any way. I was calling out whatever moron decided that DDR memory was a rarity.

Daedalus256 said:

Exactly. I wasn't calling you out in any way. I was calling out whatever moron decided that DDR memory was a rarity.

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I wouldn't go as far as call them a rarity, but you do need to look around to buy them. You cant walk into the local computer store and buy DDR1 anymore.

DaKKs said:

I wouldn't go as far as call them a rarity, but you do need to look around to buy them. You cant walk into the local computer store and buy DDR1 anymore.

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I work at a local computer store, we sell it.

[B said:

Tezzamacuser;15480605]They don't here in england really wish I lived in America Macs in general are much cheaper there too. In fact everything is cheaper [/B]

Back on topic found out this powerbook has a superdrive already fitted. And the battery was recently replaced as its only on 34 charge cycles. No wonder it still lasts for 4 hours. One problem I am having is getting the sims 2 to run on it. I don't get how a game that was released at the same time as this system can run so poorly the framerate is appalling. Does anyone know of a solution to this?

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Try living in Ireland.