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iBook G4 Bought Off Craigslist -- Recommend Install Tiger or Leopard?

D

dcooneyart

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 13, 2008
4
0
Hello,

New here and I teach comic book art at an art school in SF. My old ibook crapped out last year and found a new one (well, used) on craigslist. A 14" ibook superdrive cd/dvd 1.42 ghz ibook with 512 ram 60GB hardrive.

The original install discs did not come with it. As soon as I downloaded the latest software/system updates and restart it. A gray screen with the apple logo came up. I tried EVERYTHING, safe mode, verbose, pram, etc. Luckily, I haven't really put anything on it, I just got it today.

So my question is, should I install a full retail version of tiger or leopard?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Dan Cooney
http://www.redeyepress.net
 
Leopard wouldn't be too bad on the iBook, though you might want to put some more RAM in it, it will run ok, and seeing as comic book art probably can't be too needy of processor resources, I'd say Leopard is the way to go, but more RAM I think would benefit you, but you don't need it.
 
Wow, thanks for the quick reply itoaster! Would my old ram from my 14" 933 mhz ibook work in the new ibook? So, installing a full retail version and doing a "clean install" will be the best bet?

I had this laptop home 1 hour, did the updates and then, nothing! Just a grey screen with the apple logo. I tested it before I left with it, restarting/shutting down to make sure it booted up -- no problem. As soon as I did system update -- no more laptop.

I just want to be sure. I'll be using the laptop mostly for grading, slide presentations, email, music.

Thank you so much!

~Dan
 
recommend buying ram online anywhere? Apple doesn't even sell tiger anymore, so off to the apple store to pick up leopard tomorrow.
 
How long did you wait on the gray screen? I know that installing major updates sometimes will take a few extra minutes to boot and will seem as if it's frozen on the boot screen.

Upgrading your RAM will be the best thing for you and your system. You will need to buy PC2700 1GB sodimm. You can also buy a Retail DVD for Leopard off eBay, you can get both the Leopard and memory for around $100 if you go the eBay route. Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the advice, I was on crucial.com looking at memory. I want to make sure I get the right one. The gray screen stays that way for a long time. I kept thinking after the updates it will eventually boot up. One of the problems was that the seller told me the password and I noticed in the users folder that there were two users. Maybe I screwed up the update w/o authorizing it through the administrator? Better to happen now and go through this a month from now with all my artwork loaded on it.

Thoughts?
 
dcooneyart said:
Thanks for the advice, I was on crucial.com looking at memory. I want to make sure I get the right one. The gray screen stays that way for a long time. I kept thinking after the updates it will eventually boot up. One of the problems was that the seller told me the password and I noticed in the users folder that there were two users. Maybe I screwed up the update w/o authorizing it through the administrator? Better to happen now and go through this a month from now with all my artwork loaded on it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

but if u install a new os then it should fix the admin and 2 accounts and will make u make a new one as the admin
 
Leopard runs well on my G4 1.33Ghz

I took the plunge and bought a retail package of Leopard.

It runs very very well. I can be ripping a DVD with Handbrake which is a major CPU hog (crunching all those frames, 12hours+) and still use Spaces smoothly and without incident. Unlike another crappy O/S that shall remain nameless, I've always been impressed with OS X's ability to make the user's inputs #1, so that it never FEELs like it's dragging.

I agree with all thoughts on RAM upgrades. But I will say that my 768MB's is rarely maxxed out (in the activity monitor). Even when doing a 3-hour iDVD render for burning a DVD.

It's just a guess, but perhaps crunching video is less about memory, and more about simply doing the calculations. When I'm doing CPU-intensive things (video-related), there's usually a large block of free RAM still available. It's slow on the G4, but that's just its nature.

Good Luck!

Oh and one thing. I also bought iLife 08, but be aware that if you do THAT, you can't run the new iMovie, which requires Intel. No big deal, as iMovie 06 HD has far greater capability, and at least for a time was a free download for iLife 08 buyers.

iBook G4 14"
1.33 Ghz, 768MB
80GB, SuperDrive.
50 iMovie's of our Son, and counting...
 
I have leo installed on my wife's 1.33 iBook, runs pretty good. Could use a RAM upgrade (only has 512 on it now).
 
the only thing i do not like about retail is its only one disc and doesnt have part of ilife so i have to install it which kinda pisses me off cause i only have a 40gb on my emac and need as much space as possible
 
Definitely Leopard! But, max the ram. I have an iBook G4 1.2ghz just upgraded to 1.25GB Ram, and wow, it flies! (compared to what it used t). Especially when working in iMovie and iPhoto. Also using Gimp and other photo editors, I am truly amazed at the speed increase. The operating system itself, with all of its "pretty" effects and such, is about 5 times faster. Not exaggerating. Put Leopard on it! I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
 
I upgraded my iBook from Tiger to Leopard and the thing ran like a dog. Wiped it and did a clean install and it actually runs pretty nicely. A bit more RAM helps (I have 640MB). Given the machine shipped with Panther and that was pretty new at the time, it has done very well to be running the current version of OS X. It will be 5 years old in October!
 
ibookluv111 said:
Definitely Leopard! But, max the ram. I have an iBook G4 1.2ghz just upgraded to 1.25GB Ram, and wow, it flies! (compared to what it used t). Especially when working in iMovie and iPhoto. Also using Gimp and other photo editors, I am truly amazed at the speed increase. The operating system itself, with all of its "pretty" effects and such, is about 5 times faster. Not exaggerating. Put Leopard on it! I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Same specs on mine, and same results. Can't say how much faster Leopard is, but it's a huge difference.
 
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