WTB: inexpensive Mac laptop

[aquajet]

A few notes:

•Must be a G3 or better
•Must be capable of running OS X
•Must be capable of playing DVDs, preferably a combo drive
•I'm open to PowerBooks and iBooks
•Most importantly, it must be inexpensive. I've got a $250 budget, more or less

Please let me know what you have. Thanks :)

[pmartin]

You should definately look into getting a Pismo, great laptop for the money and it should be within your budget. I would try and stay away from the old clamshell iBooks if I were you because they aren't as expandable or upgradable or fast. Additionally, if you could snag a white iBook I would consider that too. Also, if you know how to fix laptops (especially cracked screens) you can get those on eBay cheaply. I would also avoid Wallstreets (and maybe even Lombards) because they are really too slow for serious OS X work.

[jamesi]

ahahaha you have a budget of 250? you arent going to be too pleased buddy. for 250 you are looking at a G3 powerbook like the pismo. max out the ram and install a larger HDD first. OS X has been known to run on the old PB G3s, but not well at all. unless you need X above all else, OS 9 might be better for you.

[Daedalus256]

wow I had a wallstreet up for sale a few days ago for around $175. It has since been sold :(

[aquajet]

ahahaha you have a budget of 250? you arent going to be too pleased buddy.

I fail to see the humor.

Thanks for the advice, pmartin. I came across these (http://stores.ebay.com/Bedford-Micro_Laptops-Used_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQfsubZ8QQftidZ2QQtZkm) on ebay. Do you think those are reasonable prices? I've never touched a pismo before, but I've heard nothing but good things.

[Bob_Barker]

You should also consider a Dual USB iBook (like the one I just sold). There more compact and can perform well. I would keep upgrade costs in mind when figuring out what you want to spend. PC133 and PC100 ram is getting expensive. Maybe you should hold out and pick up a decent iBook G4 once the new laptops are announced. You may pay a bit more than $250, but you'll probably appreciate the performance.

[pmartin]

You should look to pay around $200 for a pretty nice Pismo, I definately wouldn't pay over $300 for one. If you could afford it, I would recommend the G4 upgrade right off the bat, but make sure you max out the RAM first and get a hard drive as big as you need (so the G4 should technically be the last thing you upgrade.) Also, you could upgrade it to a combo drive in the future. Any drive works in any laptop, all you need to do is buy a cheao mac-comaptible laptop combo drive on ebay and take ur CD-ROM drive out of the casing and replace it. I wouldn't waste the money on a superdrive for the Pismo as those function best on faster G4s and above (because you can't really do useful video editing on Pismos.) Having said that, many people consider Pismos to be the best laptop apple has made and they have a reputation for being rock solid and reliable.