Where can I get an ibook G4 for a very good price?

You won't be able to get a good user experience with that price range.

Unless you are wanting to treat the ibook like a toy then you should save your money and get a $500 intel mini.

You can probably get a g4 ibook for $300 but its not going to be a good computer.

http://www.wegenermedia.com/
My favorite website for buying cheap Macs.

Don't listen to those guys. You'll be fine with a g4, as long as your not editing video or doing other intensive tasks. I know many people who still use g4 machines for daily use. It just depends on your needs. They're great, lightweight, small machines that are fine for office applications, mail, internet, and watching videos.

That said, check your local craigslist. Some people are overly optimistic on price, but with patience, you should be able to get a g4 ibook in your price range. I'd also recommend the marketplace forum here, but it's being shut down.

I use a G4 iBook 1.33 from my school and it is fine for basic stuff. I only have 512 in it as well- ...but you would be fine if you want to have a laptop Mac for cheap. Not sure on price. Logic boards were an issue for iBooks I think-(G3's maybe?) I heard there might have been a recall on some at my school way back when, but of course the district didn't do anything about them- just let them fail one by one. But this one is a workhorse and runs good.

At my school I run a Smart Board using highly multimedia-based web sites with ease. I also use it to show powerpoints on the smart board using our LCD projector. When not using it for instruction I am often running Safari, Mail, iCal, iTunes, Stickies, First Class and a few dashboard items as well all while only using 512 mb. I don't notice much lag at all. My wife uses an older iBook G4 which is slower, but she tends to store everything on the desktop and her tech dept. doesn't take great care of it. I keep mine in tip-top shape.


Don't do clamshell for sure, G3 would be slow as well. Are you a student? Are you looking for this for a short term computer...what time frame. More info might help us direct you to a good solution.

Also, does it have to be a laptop?

By the way- are you a Kansas Jayhawk rooter? Just curious- I am a TIGER FAN!

If you could pick up a 1GHz or more G4 you'd have a great experience. I'm using my wife's old 1.33 G4 iBook right now and sometimes I love it more than my MacBook Pro!

Running 10.4.11 with 1.5 GB ram.

Sometimes I even play WoW on it. It may be a little slow at times and I wouldn't raid on it, but for doing solo quests and checking the auction house, its a champ!

It also has pretty good battery life. Anyway, good luck on finding one in your price range!

jhawk2 said:

I am planning on using it as a start in mac and for some school next year. (10th grade) So more for a shorter period of time. Will G4 will get me by? Also if anyone wants to or knows someone who wants to sell could you pm me? Thanks! Lol flyfish 29. I am a tigers fan! I live in MI

Click to expand...

I didn't mean those Tigers...I meant Missouri- if you are a Jayhawk fan we won't get along.

I would say a G4 would get you 1-2 years for sure. But remember you won't be able to keep upgrading with the latest at some point...but if it is all you can afford go for it!

OH yeah, I am running 10.4.11 on mine as well- and sync on .Mac no problem.

I would check WegenerMedia. I purchased a G4 iBook with a 1 ghz processor for about $350. You can get cheaper ones though. Look at there website. Just know, it won't be perfect looking. Mine came with some scratches.

eBay is another option -- it is possible to find one on there that only needs a new HD or something similar. You will definitely need patience.

jhawk2 said:

Thanks guys! Yeah I only nead it for a year or so. Just to get in to mac on my limited budget. If I cant find one on craigslist I might start thinking about WegenerMedia. Has anyone done sales with them? What are they like?
Also is it worth upgrading to Leopard? Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Well, I have good feelings from them. I read all over the internet that they were a terrible company, but I had a completely opposite experience. I ordered a 1ghz iBook G4 and upgraded with Airport Extreme and extra Memory. After a few days of not receiving the e-mail from them with the tracking code (they said they would on their webpage), I e-mailed them. Within a half an hour, they had called my home to tell me they had misplaced my order (until I e-mailed them) and they were sending me a 1.2ghz via 2 day DHL shipping. So, like I said, great experience. Now, my iBook isn't perfect cosmetic condition. It has shallow scuffs on the palm rest and the Lcd lid (on the back of the screen) has quite a few scuffs as well. But, I look at it this way: You can get one used, and not worry when you add a scratch to it. Or you can get a great looking used one, and freak out when you first scratch it.
Oh yeah, and iBooks are extremely durable. I dropped mine twice last week. Once from a table 4 ft high onto the concrete below and all is good! I think a G4 iBook would bring a great, first mac experience to you. I think WegenerMedia may help out with this. But, I would also watch eBay, because I have let great deals pass through there as well.

I would also recommend the G4 iBook, as well. My first Mac was/is a 1.33GHz iBook. I moved the heavy lifting to a Mac Pro recently, but I still use the iBook daily and for travel. It does Safari, word processing, etc etc really well. Old versions of PhotoShop will work, etc. I have Leopard on it (with 1.5 Mb of ram). It just runs and runs.

Just remember its a "starter". The new Macs are like top-end bikes. Light, strong, fancy gears and what-not. The iBook is not. It will get you to where you are going. It will be reliable. If it gets a little more banged up, you don't really care. If it gets little rained on, you don't worry too much. Its not likely to be stolen (if a thief has to choose between a new Mac Air or an iBook, you know whose notebook is going to be left behind, eh?)

If there is a Mac User Group nearby, contact them. Perhaps someone there has one they can part with - plus then you might get unofficial "Apple Care".

My one concern with any notebook of that vintage would be the battery. It might not hold a charge for longer than 10 or 15 minutes if it is shot. Check that out if portability is a concern.

Good Luck.

Cassie said:

As far as Leopard goes... you're going to want at least 768 MB of RAM, 1 GB would be better. I ran Leopard on my iBook for a little while, and it does OK, but it was a little too slow for me. You're only able to run about 3 applications at a time, then it starts slowing down noticeably. I recommend Tiger anyway, it's much faster and and less buggy.

Click to expand...

I agree- Tiger is best. My iBook actually is very very quick running Tiger!

As always, there are plenty of people who feel only an 8-core Mac Pro will be "fast enough" for checking email

I'm using a 1.33GHz G4 iBook, mainly because Apple hasn't offered anything that fits my requirements in a long time. In fact, if my G3 iBook hadn't been stolen, I probably would still be using that

For web surfing and email, the G4 iBook works just fine. I did bump the RAM up to 1.5GB because I tend to have a lot of different applications open and switch between them often.

I've played around with a 2.4GHz Intel iMac, and web surfing didn't feel all that much different. Maybe a bit faster, but that could have been due to their 5X faster internet connection (I'm on 768kbps DSL right now... I hate Verizon).

Anyway, the iBook will be just fine for general purpose stuff. I haven't gotten around to installing Leopard, but Tiger runs just fine.

I have seen $300 first generation G5 machines on Craigslist.

try this for a iBook http://www.wegenermedia.com

My girlfriend is still using my old 933 G4 ibook. It does fine for surfing,
email. itunes and ebay type stuff. Tiger would be the best OS for it imo.

Good luck on the hunt. I thought I'd poke my nose in to tell you to check Craigslist (I bought my first Mac there) and http://www.macofalltrades.com. I have never used Mac of All Trades but they've been around a long time and I personally heard they are good.

Best of luck.

It's not a bad idea to post a wanted on craigslist. I would advise that you not use your regular email - use a yahoo.com or similar account that you can walk away from when the scammers and spammers come out of the woodwork. Remember, deal with someone who is local only.