I'm in grad school, and I need something to use for papers. It doesn't have to be a desktop replacement or anything - I'll only be using it for word and excel, no photoshop, internet, games, etc.
I'm seriously considering a Mac because of what I perceive to be superior battery life. I don't want to go buy a cheapy dell and have it die on me after an hour or two of work. What I need is something that will last for 4-5 hours, is fairly small and light. Speed is not important, but price is.
I've been looking at a G3 iBook. I could pick up a 500mhz shipped for $288 from geeks.com with 256mb ram/10gig/airport card. Just guessing, but it looks like a new battery would run in the $100 range, so I'd be looking at about $388 total.
I've also looked briefly at the clamshell G3s, but they seem slower, more expensive and seem sort of feminine.
I was originally thinking about picking up a basic refurb macbook, then reselling it next year, but I think I'd probably take a bigger loss on it than the cost of a 500mhz iBook.
Is there another option I should consider?
I'm seriously considering a Mac because of what I perceive to be superior battery life. I don't want to go buy a cheapy dell and have it die on me after an hour or two of work. What I need is something that will last for 4-5 hours, is fairly small and light. Speed is not important, but price is.
I've been looking at a G3 iBook. I could pick up a 500mhz shipped for $288 from geeks.com with 256mb ram/10gig/airport card. Just guessing, but it looks like a new battery would run in the $100 range, so I'd be looking at about $388 total.
I've also looked briefly at the clamshell G3s, but they seem slower, more expensive and seem sort of feminine.
I was originally thinking about picking up a basic refurb macbook, then reselling it next year, but I think I'd probably take a bigger loss on it than the cost of a 500mhz iBook.
Is there another option I should consider?
