Should I buy a clamshell iBook?

[Cheese]

OK, I know that there will be some flames all over this subject, but it is for my twelve year old daughter, who "thinks" that it will be cool to have a colorful mac under her arm at her junior geekfest type activities (which I encourage greatly!!). Let me say that at least she wants a Mac and not any peecee derivative compound of some strange form... Anyway... I am wondering if anyone is running OSX on an older Clamshell iBook and if there is any problem with getting one for her, or if I should get a newer version for her? I will probably hand the iMac DV400 down to her and get a new iMac or Power Mac for the business here instead, but I do want to consider her wishes...
Again, for help I beg,
but at least my dog won't hump your leg!!!
Thanx..

[vniow]

I've got a Blueberry running OSX 10.2.5, its upgraded with 320MB RAM (the max although some people have stuck 512MB sticks in with no trouble) and a 40GB 5400rpm IBM Travelstar and its running great.

Fast it is not however, OSX can bog down to a halt if I'm doing anything more than basic multitasking, I booted back into OS9 one day to test out something with Photoshop and it was much faster for just about everything (although it doesn't have iTunes 4, hee hee) but OSX is tolerable, I wouldn't recommend one for anything besides basic word processing and a glorified jukebox if you want to run OSX on it, otherwise OS9 is your best bet on a machine that's so outdated like that if you want to do a little more...

I'm probably going to be selling it soon though, can't afford to keep it...

[pseudobrit]

Originally posted by vniow
Fast it is not however

G3s all run OSX noticeably slower than the lowliest G4s do. It still runs okay; I have an iBook 500 dual USB and have been running it since day one.

[garzy]

i would not invest in a clamshell ibook if i were you
i use one at work running os9 and it sucks
they are probably being sold for way more than they are worth because its an apple product
i would look for a pismo instead, or even buy a new ibook, they are an amazing deal right now for the 900mhz 12in with combo drive
those clamshells are pretty big just so you know, not really easy to carry around

[vniow]

Originally posted by garzy
not really easy to carry around

Even though they weigh about 7lbs or so, the pop-up handle is wonderful for carrying it around, I find it incredibly useful, much more than lugging the whole thing under my arm, just wish they designed the current ones where there was an elegant handle solution...

[jefhatfield]

i like my clamshell ibook, but i could not see myself running os x on it

the newer faster g3 ibooks at 800 and 900 mhz with the extra level 2 cache would be the slowest i would consider for os x

[QCassidy352]

the new "low end" ibook for $999 is a pretty great deal... 800 mhz G3, 32 vram, 30 gb HD, etc. Certainly that will run OS X very well. As others have said, the clamshells are probably kinda underpowered for X unless it's just word processing and the like...

[lmalave]

The white iBook is a cute little computer too. I have a November 2002 800MHz model and it runs OS X great! And at $999 it won't be as cheap as a used iBook but it's still a darn good price.

[ibookin']

I love my iBook 800. Quartz Extreme is really a blessing for G3s.

I had an iBook 500 before that and it was much slower than this one. I wouldn't recommend running OS X on a clamshell, especially one of the older ones. Maybe the 466MHz.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by lmalave
The white iBook is a cute little computer too. I have a November 2002 800MHz model and it runs OS X great! And at $999 it won't be as cheap as a used iBook but it's still a darn good price.

let's just assume for a second that a used clamshell, around 500 dollars or so (466 SE), is too good to pass up

whoever uses that machine with os x will feel just fine until they use a G4 powered computer with os x

my 300 ibook seemed considerably faster than my 185 mhz 040 mac clone desktop...and of course, i run os 9 on my ibook

but when i saw a 500 mhz imac running os 9, it made my 300 ibook seem like a toy

and i believe that there are some with much faster macs out there still on os 9 and they must be blazing along (like my friend's dual 500 G4 powermac on os 9)

in the end, it's all about perception

[joker2]

My mom has a 366MHz Blueberry iBook. (Firewire) I've maxed the RAM at 320MB (Though I hear a 512 module can go in with no problem)...

My mom had kept hearing about this "OSX thing" and just had to have it on her machine. We got the family pack... and the speed isn't too bad (once you get used to it) and you don't have a faster machine to compare it with. RAM Is A Good Thing.

(Note: my machine is an Indigo 350MHz iMac... no firewire, 384 MB RAM so you see my perspective here.)

Just my $0.02USD

[iGav]

Slow yes.... But probably perfect for kids that as a general rule treat stuff like *****....

And if it gets damaged then it's not as bad as losing the $ on a new machine...

Kids with laptops at school.... crazy! but cool!! ;) :p :D

[Cheese]

Thanks everyone for your input on this thread. In hopes that someone else may find help if faced with this dilema, I would encourage you to continue to give your valued input on this subject.

[Moofman]

The only mac I own is the 466 Clamshell. It's the only mac I've ever had. I'm running OSX 10.2.5 with 192 megs of ram. And call me crazy...but I have no problems with it. Now, I am a poor starving high school student, and it took about 4 years to save up for this thing, but if's served me faithfully for exactly two years. As the other users mentioned, I may veiw this as fine because I have no real basis for comparison. My only real complaint is the screen resolution: 800 x 600...However, as a high school student, this things works fine for basic word processing (though now that I mention it, Word wasn't as snappy as TextEdit). I think that if your daughter wants a nice cute computer that will amaze her friends (and blow them away with the handle...man, so many of my friends were amazed by that one.) get a clamshell. Unless she's using like Maya to render huge files everyday, it should be adequate. I've even dabled into some 3D design using lightwave, and it works ok, but rendering's annoying. If you get one of the old ones, you save quite a bit of money, and you get to make toilet seat jokes. I mean, Come On! Cons are maybe slow, kinda heavy and and annoying to lug around (I'd say that in this context that's the biggest con) and bad screen resolution. But if you can find a good deal, you have my blessing. :-)

[bennetsaysargh]

what exactly will your daughter be doing on this cla,mshell. if she isn't doing basic stuff, than i don't think so.

[Cheese]

Bennetsaysargh, she will be doing fairly light stuff... AW6, email, some surfing within reason... perhaps saving very few photos... She really enjoys making slide shows using AW6 clips. Thank you Moofman... Do you know Cowdog? (a question from Gabby, my daughter)

[bennetsaysargh]

im on a 400Mhz iMac and i even do a little iMovie-ing although it goes slowly, it is still good. what is the speed of it?

[garzy]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
let's just assume for a second that a used clamshell, around 500 dollars or so (466 SE), is too good to pass up

i think thats a rip off

[Kwyjibo]

lets hope übergeek doesn't see these dogcow and moof references.

[vniow]

Originally posted by garzy
i think thats a rip off


Naw, its about average for those older clamshells, I could easily sell mine for at least $450 without too much trouble.

[5300cs]

$500 for a clamshell iBook DOES sound like a rip-off. Half the price of a machine that's 20x faster? (800-900Mhz iBook)

In Japan they go for about $600, but that's because Mac hardware goes for a premium still ($1,000 for a Pismo, etc.)

Anyway, I use a 500Mhz iBook with Jaguar, and it's not that bad. I can still use about 3-4 programs on it without too much trouble. No Quartz Extreme makes a big difference though.

And the clamshell models will only do up to 800x600 screen resolution, if I'm not mistaken. That's kind of harsh. OS X takes up a lot of screen real estate.

How much for a clamshell these days? If you can find one for $100 or something it might be worth it.

[kylos]

Originally posted by Cheese
Thank you Moofman... Do you know Cowdog? (a question from Gabby, my daughter)

Yup, she'll make a great geek. (Though it's more properly dogcow)

[Moofman]

Why should we fear ubergeek? What's wrong with Claris? On aim, I'm cowman0007, (some idiot has cowman007! What a nerd!). When I signed up here, I decided to make it more mac-y, with the moofman. I like cows, but claris is ok with me, despite her dogness.

[Kwyjibo]

we shouldn't fear her but she has dogcow as her 'tar and shes a fan of claris too. Also in passing its fun to call her dogcow she used to get mad it even caused the demise of one thread although i cna't rmember which.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by 5300cs
$500 for a clamshell iBook DOES sound like a rip-off. Half the price of a machine that's 20x faster? (800-900Mhz iBook)



ok, i admit that the ad i saw was perhaps sometime in 2001 or early 2002, so i assume it might be 350 or 399, or maybe 299 or something

i think the clamshell for one hundred won't happen on an ad in the back of macworld until sometime next year

but dollar for dollar, the 800 mhz ibook for 999 dollars is so hard to beat with the 32 mb video card and the large hard drive

ps - i do remeber seeing the bondi imac for 499 used and the next thing i know, the ad, months later, is selling it for under 300 dollars

[Cheese]

Moofman, Kyle, anyone else who may have found offensive the reference to "cowdog"... In our very small world (the 3 person family I am a part of!), The origin of cowdog, and the word "MOOF" is simply a quote found on the homepage of my ISP. I am previously unaware of it being related to Moofman, Ubergeek, or any other members of this fine forum. Please accept apologies if anyone is slighted in any way. Jefhatfield, you are right on the money (as usual) about the clamshell and the clams I will have to spend to get one. The current iBook looks great as we all know, but a young girl has placed, perhaps, an inflated value on the cute-ness factor of the iBook "Classic". BTW, I have convinced my co-worker to go out and buy a 17" iMac! There should be some kind of bonus system at Apple, where people can earn dividends towards getting knew hardware, or software of their own by turning other people on to the Apple way of life. You know, convince someone to buy an Apple product, get so many points, trade points in on an iPod, or specials at the music store. Maybe for the hard core sell where you have succesfully converted a peecee junkie to throw their Vaio against their H-PEE with enough force to render them both, no longer a threat to society... followed by a trip to their nearest Apple reseller or dealer, where they pickup a new Power PC Pro and Cinema Monitor... Something like that should earn you either two for one... or at least your own new iMac...
Sorry... need sleep!!

[GeneR]

As much as your daughter may want one, perhaps it's still better for her to see the new iBooks so she can compare the two? Maybe if she sees the performance difference, she may think differently (no pun intended! :D)

I wish they could update the processor for these iBooks, but from what I hear they're fused into the motherboard, so that's a no-go. Is that true? If it isn't and a motherboard replacement is possible, I'd be stoked.

My lil' iBook runs at 366 Mhz. Which means that I'm just a bit faster than a snail on OSX. I'm looking forward to the day when I can get a 17" PB. But that's just me.

Anyway, best of luck on your decision. :D

[G4scott]

You have to remember that Macs don't depreciate like most pee-cee's do, because they're better machines...

The clamshell iBook is a very rugged computer. It may not be a speed demon, but it can take a lot.

I have one, and unfortunately, it's out of service (battery & power supply problems, too much of a problem for me), but when the thing was working, it worked fine. I could easily be carried, and knocked around, and it would still work.

For someone as young as her, the clamshell would work for a couple of years. When she gets older, and needs to do more stuff, a newer model iBook would do fine, but right now, a cheap clamshell iBook would work out... just make sure it works...

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by GeneR
As much as your daughter may want one, perhaps it's still better for her to see the new iBooks so she can compare the two? Maybe if she sees the performance difference, she may think differently (no pun intended! :D)

I wish they could update the processor for these iBooks, but from what I hear they're fused into the motherboard, so that's a no-go. Is that true? If it isn't and a motherboard replacement is possible, I'd be stoked.

My lil' iBook runs at 366 Mhz. Which means that I'm just a bit faster than a snail on OSX. I'm looking forward to the day when I can get a 17" PB. But that's just me.

Anyway, best of luck on your decision. :D

most laptops have a tape array fused mounting so they can't be changed by the user

you can play with the jumpers and up the speed, but also fry out your machine, too

[GeneR]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
most laptops have a tape array fused mounting so they can't be changed by the user

you can play with the jumpers and up the speed, but also fry out your machine, too

Ah! So THAT's what I'm doing wrong! j/k! :D