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iBook G4 problems ?

MacHamster68

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
hello i am getting older and dont want to carry around one of my eMac's from my office into the garden downstairs twice a day , so i was looking for a ibook , i know they have some problems like the bad soldering , which isnt one for me as i know how to solder , but i came across quiet a few "usb 2.0 not working ""ethernet not working " on ebay so how widespread are these other little problems and are there more of these little niggles to look out for on the iBooks or may happen :confused:
 
D

drewdle

macrumors regular
Apr 26, 2010
201
1
Nanaimo, BC
USB and Ehternet ports not working are typically a logic board problem, as there is no soldering in that area (well, none that you could get to without precision industrial robots anyways). I hadn't noticed much in the way of that issue on Ebay here, that being said, it likely differs from market to market.

What was suggested to me when I mentioned I was looking for a laptop was a PowerBook G4, which seem to be much more tank-like by comparison. It'll also have power more comparable to what you have in the Emac (if you have one of the newer 1.25 or 1.42 models, with the 64Mb of graphics memory). Or you could go completely the opposite direction and get a Clamshell. :D Those are indestructible too. They're just slow.

You carry an Emac up and down flights of stairs twice a day? I don't care how old you are, I'm impressed. Those things are beasts.
 
MacHamster68

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
yes i do my office is in the top floor (floor number 4 )and the garden is accesible from the basement and yes the eMac's are heavy , but its nicer to work in the garden in summer , my mini's would be lighter but carrying a big tv downstairs is also not really light ..not to mention all the cables
so i thought about the right thing for that dilemma would be a laptop and i quiet fancy the iBooks , ok the powerbooks would be a bit more powerful , but also more expensive ..seems they are the only apple products that do not drop in price here in the uk
 
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iThinkergoiMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 20, 2010
2,664
4
Terra
MacHamster68 said:
ok the powerbooks would be a bit more powerful , but also more expensive ..seems they are the only apple products that do not drop in price here in the uk
Click to expand...

They still cost $2000 in the UK (not sure what the conversion rate is)? I got mine for about $400 almost 2 years ago, surely you can find one on eBay (I'm assuming there's an eBay in the UK as well) for the UK equivalent?
 
MacHamster68

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
iThinkergoiMac said:
They still cost $2000 in the UK (not sure what the conversion rate is)? I got mine for about $400 almost 2 years ago, surely you can find one on eBay (I'm assuming there's an eBay in the UK as well) for the UK equivalent?
Click to expand...

no they do not cost the equivalent of $2000 , but they still fetch extreme prices compared to their condition , dents, scratches and battery dead ,dead harddrives thats what you get here on ebay for the equivalent of your $400
while for the equivalent of your $400 you get a iBook in mint condition

i mean people here pay $400 for a powerbook that looks like it was stored on a building site and had numerous contacts with a digger
 
666sheep

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
Pesonally, i would not buy any iBook G4, except last series (Mid 2005).
Biggest G4 iBooks issue was R9200 chip bad soldering. To be exact, any iBook G4 with this chip is potentially affected (mostly first series - 2003, but problem was occuring in later series too).
Only method for repair it is complete GPU reballing, and it's not always working for long time.
Second issue (known to me) is thermic sensor failure in some % of iBooks. I had 2 with this problem and they were working well for about 30 mins. After that time - overheating and freezes. Due to damaged thermic sensor fan didn't start at all.
Other issues (like bad ports) were at average level AFAIR.

If i may suggest anything: get Mid 2005 one.
 
MacHamster68

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
cheers i guess thats what i am trying to get a late 2005 iBook
seems like with every Mac once they solved all the problems and maxed out the processor they always discontinue the line at apple
 
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iThinkergoiMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 20, 2010
2,664
4
Terra
MacHamster68 said:
i mean people here pay $400 for a powerbook that looks like it was stored on a building site and had numerous contacts with a digger
Click to expand...

That's nuts...

Oddly enough, a quick search on ebay.co.uk shows that PowerBook G4s are selling for about what they do here in the US. I'm not doubting your experience at all, just thought I'd throw that out there...
 
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