Should I buy an iBook G4?

!.2GHz is just borderline for YouTube. I'd hold out for a 1.33 if you want a 12" or get a 1.42 14" model. I know MHz doesn't mean as much now, but back then those single core cpu's really had major benefits from that extra speed.

Actually the OP would be better served if he can find a hi-res PowerBook G4 1.67 with dual layer burner. Thats what I have and at 1,67, Leopard runs great.

Hrududu said:

!.2GHz is just borderline for YouTube. I'd hold out for a 1.33 if you want a 12" or get a 1.42 14" model. I know MHz doesn't mean as much now, but back then those single core cpu's really had major benefits from that extra speed.

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A 1.2GHz will be fine for all the things you list. The main reason I say this is that you already show a willingness to watch YT with a 3rd party app. An app called MacTubes plays YT fine on as low as a G4 450MHz in my experiences.

The 150 price is a bit high though even if it includes shipping. Add 20-30 to that and you could have a 15" PowerBook running at 1.5-1.67GHz.

I'd try to find a 1.5 or 1.67 PowerBook G4 for just a little more. All these G4 laptops are from another time and every extra bit of juice will lead to a better experience. Besides, the aluminum PowerBook still looks pretty damn sexy all these years later.

I've been a Mac user for a long time and have an Intel iMac for the heavy lifting, but just picked up a 1.5 15" PowerBook for $175. If you understand what you're getting yourself into, it could be a good way to get a feel for the Mac universe. BUT - this won't be the seamless out-of-box experience you'd get from a new Mac. Because the machines are outdated, you'll need to tinker, make compromises, and hunt down old or compatible software versions. For me, it's a fun side project, but just don't expect it to do everything you throw at it. Even the cheapest Windows netbook from Walmart will run circles around a G4 these days.

As stated by everyone above me, try and go for a "15 1.67GHz PowerBook if you're willing going to shell out $150. I've been looking for one myself on and off for months and that seems like a reasonable price for them.

If you're looking at an "12 iBook 1.2GHz I would spend about $100-120 with shipping at most.

the "ideal" powerpc based laptop would be a 17inch Powerbook 1.67ghz and max ram running leopard stripped of all intel code with a ssd

PowerPC laptops don't get any better than that
at least for me

I have owned both ibooks and powerbooks (way to many)

-spend the extra money and buy a powerbook G4 1.5 or 1.67GHz. (with this being your first apple laptop,you will find the powerbook just a better overall experience...nothing really that wrong with a ibook,it's just a powerbook will give you the extra power and feeling of a modern laptop)

As said, search for a higher spec powerbook, but keep an eye on the macbooks.
Depending on the country, early macbooks aren't much more priced than high spec powerbooks.
And do yourself a favor, read read a lot on this forum if you want to buy a powerpc mac.
There is the FAQ, there are very worthy threads (most of them linked on the FAQ), after that you will have a nice experience =)

PPC sucks and is slow. Go for an intel mac. Sure its more expensive but worth it as ****.

ConfusedBatman said:

PPC sucks and is slow. Go for an intel mac. Sure its more expensive but worth it as ****.

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We'll allow you this one 'troll' post for now, assuming you'll probably see the error in your ways once you reach puberty.

Well said! You sure will make many friends in this forum with talk like that, but I like it, NOT!

ConfusedBatman said:

PPC sucks and is slow. Go for an intel mac. Sure its more expensive but worth it as ****.

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How do you know he even reached puberty?

ConfusedBatman said:

PPC sucks and is slow. Go for an intel mac. Sure its more expensive but worth it as ****.

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jbarley said:

We'll allow you this one 'troll' post for now, assuming you'll probably see the error in your ways once you reach puberty.

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jbarley said:

We'll allow you this one 'troll' post for now, assuming you'll probably see the error in your ways once you reach puberty.

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Their name has the word confused right at the start so I think that explains a lot for the random attack on PowerPC.

This place is literally crawling with people as young as 10. This is a point of concern for me since it's the internet and adults that talk with teens or children online are rightfully considered pervs.

The issue is that almost none of them ever tell us how young they are. If they are under 15 I think concentrating on life and enjoying their youth is a better choice. They shouldn't be coming online and interacting with grown mature people. I am 43 and unless it's a family member I have zero interest in talking to anyone under 18 on here or anywhere online.

Just my thoughts but I think they are valid.

Well said! I am 25 and I don't tolerate such behavior, esp from those who know nothing about what a PowerPC is or what a PPC mac entails. I agree with you, and I think the majority of us here agree.

zen.state said:

Their name has the word confused right at the start so I think that explains a lot for the random attack on PowerPC.

This place is literally crawling with people as young as 10. This is a point of concern for me since it's the internet and adults that talk with teens or children online are rightfully considered pervs.

The issue is that almost none of them ever tell us how young they are. If they are under 15 I think concentrating on life and enjoying their youth is a better choice. They shouldn't be coming online and interacting with grown mature people. I am 43 and unless it's a family member I have zero interest in talking to anyone under 18 on here or anywhere online.

Just my thoughts but I think they are valid.

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well i'm 14 and have better things to do other than troll powerpc forums Like this poor confused chap

Peterson8765 said:

Hey guys,

For about four years now I've known that I always wanted to own and use a Mac daily. I own a Windows 7 laptop and an iPad but I've always wanted to have an Apple laptop with Mac OS X. I was just wondering if an iBook G4 (1.2GHz, 1.25GB RAM, Leopard, etc.) is worth getting for word processing, light web browsing, and garageband? It is only $150 shipped also, is that a good deal? Lastly, is there anyway I can watch YouTube smoothly with a third party program? Thanks!

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Yes that is a pretty good deal , and yes your ibook should preform pretty decent for the stuff you want to do . Garageband might be a little sluggish but you are running it on older mac so that is to be expected and it will probably take some extra time to finish projects but it should work ok . You should have no problem with light web browsing and word processing at all . I recommend if you want a good web browser for a g4 that you download tenfourfox or webkit . When you download tenfourfox make sure you download the g4 version of it .

For youtube there is a great program called mactubes and it will let you watch youtube videos perfectly and even in hd if you want . When you install make sure to go into settings and set the video player to quicktime for videos to play good . Also for watching many different kinds of videos I recommend you download vlc media player it is a great app for power pc macs and leopard . Enjoy your mac .

Just wanted to say, since someone rudely brought it up... A late 2006 Intel model MacBook Pro, or even MacBook would be a $100 difference to a Powerbook G4 at this point and might be better for you. You'd have an experience closer to a new Mac. Stick 4GB, OS X Lion, a new hard drive, and it'll fly and last you a good amount of years. Core 2 Duos are more than adequate for today's web standards.

Jessica Lares said:

Just wanted to say, since someone rudely brought it up... A late 2006 Intel model MacBook Pro, or even MacBook would be a $100 difference to a Powerbook G4 at this point and might be better for you. You'd have an experience closer to a new Mac. Stick 4GB, OS X Lion, a new hard drive, and it'll fly and last you a good amount of years. Core 2 Duos are more than adequate for today's web standards.

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As I just finished hunting for a cheap secondary Mac (and ended up w/ a PowerBook G4), I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that you'll usually pay at least $200 more for an Intel MacBook, let alone a MBP. Many of the steals you might run across for Intel Macs are likely to be "for parts only". Of course, there are always exceptions and I'm sure there is the rare awesome deal out there.

Bottom line: any used Intel Mac is still in high demand and a late model PB G4 is a good value if you're willing to settle for a semi-modern Mac.

Jessica Lares said:

Just wanted to say, since someone rudely brought it up... A late 2006 Intel model MacBook Pro, or even MacBook would be a $100 difference to a Powerbook G4 at this point and might be better for you. You'd have an experience closer to a new Mac. Stick 4GB, OS X Lion, a new hard drive, and it'll fly and last you a good amount of years. Core 2 Duos are more than adequate for today's web standards.

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Sorry but you're looking at it in a bit of a primitive way. Some people (like myself and many here) actually have a preference for PowerPC hardware.

If all I cared about was speed I would have bought a few Mac Pro already rather than invest endless amounts on upgrading my G4's. I make more than enough to buy new.

It's not about cost at all for me and it's certainly based on a lot more than a simple minded thing like speed.

Just get the Ibook G4 it will be fine .

For the basics it will do you just fine , but if you can afford it a macbook or macbook pro will cost you between $400-$800 for a early 2006 model which I believe can not run lion or mountain lion .

zen.state said:

Sorry but you're looking at it in a bit of a primitive way. Some people (like myself and many here) actually have a preference for PowerPC hardware.

If all I cared about was speed I would have bought a few Mac Pro already rather than invest endless amounts on upgrading my G4's. I make more than enough to buy new.

It's not about cost at all for me and it's certainly based on a lot more than a simple minded thing like speed.

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Of course. But how many people do you see come into the PowerPC forums saying that they've always wanted a Mac after owning an iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc? The other day some guy was trying to buy a G3 to replace his awful netbook, and a few months ago someone was trying to get either that or a G4 to do heavy studio work. It really doesn't hurt to tell these people to go buy an Intel. You can't even sync an iPhone 4 under Tiger.

At the end of the day, you're still going to have to pay money to upgrade the RAM and hard drive, maybe even an airport card, so why not use the $100 then and there?

I think he will be fine with a ibook g4 he is a average user it sounds like .

superspartan said:

As I just finished hunting for a cheap secondary Mac (and ended up w/ a PowerBook G4), I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that you'll usually pay at least $200 more for an Intel MacBook, let alone a MBP. Many of the steals you might run across for Intel Macs are likely to be "for parts only". Of course, there are always exceptions and I'm sure there is the rare awesome deal out there.

Bottom line: any used Intel Mac is still in high demand and a late model PB G4 is a good value if you're willing to settle for a semi-modern Mac.

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Agreed but some of them from 2006 can not even run lion or mountain lion so it might not even be worth the extra money and $150 is a decent price .

Jessica Lares said:

Just wanted to say, since someone rudely brought it up... A late 2006 Intel model MacBook Pro, or even MacBook would be a $100 difference to a Powerbook G4 at this point and might be better for you. You'd have an experience closer to a new Mac. Stick 4GB, OS X Lion, a new hard drive, and it'll fly and last you a good amount of years. Core 2 Duos are more than adequate for today's web standards.

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Sorry but I wasn't rude when I suggested.
4Gb and Lion?I had that setup didn't find it fast..maybe because I had 4Gb + Snow Leopard =)

Sounds Good!

Get a iBook There AWSOME

I have purchased an ibook g4 myself. It is a nice little notebook for doing basic things, I would recommend a iBook G4 with 512 MB or higher. I have a 1.33 GHZ model with 1.25 gb of ram. I got mine for $100 but total I spent about
$200. I use it all the time. If you get a 2005 model with 1.512 mb of ram thats great, but my 2004 is nice and quick too. You can upgrade the hd to a ssd. I looked it up and I'm thinking about doing that too. Hope you liked my post. Have a great day!