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My Newly bought G4 Powerbook is failing...

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PwerbkG4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 19, 2008
3
0
So i recently was on my car forum, and a friend of mine on there had a 12" G4 powerbook...price....$325..shipped..got it and showed up and it works fine other than these issues that are concerning me.

It works fine when it is plugged in, then after i plug it and use it as an actually laptop it dies after a measly 10 mins maybe 20 if i'm lucky. The battery ALWAYS stays at 99 then drops straight down to 1 percent and goes into sleep mode. Could this be my battery? or could something be seriously wrong with the computer.

Another minor issue is while i am on the internet if it seems to be too much going on for the computer it closes safari completely.

SOMEONE HELP.....lol:confused:
 
annk

annk

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,140
9,351
Somewhere over the rainbow
I would guess the battery issue is just a case of what normally happens to a laptop battery over time - it dies. You can choose to use the lappy plugged in (which is what I do with my PB G4 17" when I need to use it), or you can maybe get a replacement (someone here can probably direct you to some sites).

As for Safari closing, does this happen with Firefox, Camino, or other browsers, too?
 
Fallinangel

Fallinangel

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2005
200
20
Well the first thing that you have to know is that the Powerbook G4 is already a pretty old machine! It was released between 2001 and 2003, and has been discontinued since then.

On the other side, the internet has evolved quite rapidly in last few years! Only think about all the "web 2.0"-sites, all the video content and java-coded homepages.
The internet is not a lightweight, text- and image-only network anymore, but has become a multimedia giant, which ergo needs more processing power and memory than years ago!

Futhermore, depending on the manufacturing date (can be determined with the free CoconutIdentity: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutidentitycard/index.html) of your Powerbook, it might well be up to 7 years old!!! Think about it and keep in mind that a frequently used computer wears of quite quickly, as does the battery.
You should get a replacement!
It is surely going to provide more juice for the Powerbook and will keep it running longer, although it won't improve the overall performance of your laptop!

In my opinion $325 was far too expensive, considering the age and the weak battery!
 
teleromeo

teleromeo

macrumors 65816
Dec 2, 2006
1,285
34
kidnapped by aliens
I bought my powerbook G4 in 2005 so it's not that old. On the other hand, my battery is dead, when I unplug it I almost immediately get a low bettery warning. For me that is not a big issue since I have two power bricks and maily use it on two fixed spots. Replace the battery or use it plugged.
 
AdeFowler

AdeFowler

macrumors 68020
Aug 27, 2004
2,317
361
England
Buy a new battery.

My PowerBook's 4 and a half years old and Safari never crashes, though I have increased the ram to 1.5gb. What version of OSX is it running?
 
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PwerbkG4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 19, 2008
3
0
I'm running Mac OS X Serve 10.4.11

I love the computer...it works great. I have not yet added Firefox to my computer...Should i?

Where can i get a decently Priced computer...also can i upgrade my RAM on the powerbook. I'm a REALLY REALLY new mac user...been PC all my life. As far as the price goes, i'm really happy with the price considering how much better it runs my music production programs. I have found the same powerbooks on ebay for like 400 plus so i don't think it's that bad.

Oh well...you live and you learn.
 
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