Got myself an iBook G3

BrianMayFan123 · Jul 4, 2014

Hi guys,
I thought I would share with you all a bargain I got on eBay this week :

Thats right, an iBook G3 (600Mhz I believe), with power cable and Airport card which was an absolute steal at £11 plus delivery. At this price I couldn't let it go.

Other than a small crack on the plastic frame its in very good condition cosmetically.

Screen is bright and clear of dead pixels, battery holds a charge (No idea yet how long but it turned on when I got it) and all the keys feel nice and responsive. The HDD makes a lovely grinding sound so it has to be replaced (I'm thinking an IDE SSD)

I plan to strip the paint off the inside of the case, and either leave it exposed or dye the plastic to make something funky.

After modding it I have no plans to use it as a main or even occasional machine so I was planning to let my 5 year old daughter use it for drawing/educational games. Would this role be best served by reinstalling OS X (I believe it can handle Tiger) or by finding a lightweight Linux distro?

I welcome all input

SandboxGeneral · Jul 4, 2014

That looks more like a G4 - but some of the PPC denizens would be able to correct me if I'm wrong. I think the G3 is the "clamshell" design, no?

Intell · Jul 4, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
That looks more like a G4 - but some of the PPC denizens would be able to correct me if I'm wrong. I think the G3 is the "clamshell" design, no?

Only the very first two models of the iBook G3 were the colourful clamshell models. The rest look identical to the G4 iBooks.

SandboxGeneral · Jul 4, 2014

Intell said:
Only the very first two models of the iBook G3 were the colourful clamshell models. The rest look identical to the G4 iBooks.

Gotcha. So I was reading on Wikipedia that it could be a G3 "snow" 12" right?

Intell · Jul 4, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
Gotcha. So I was reading on Wikipedia that it could be a G3 "snow" 12" right?

Correct.

Jessica Lares · Jul 4, 2014

I would keep it on System 9 or OS X. That way you can get Kid Pix on there.

Altemose · Jul 4, 2014

SandboxGeneral said:
Gotcha. So I was reading on Wikipedia that it could be a G3 "snow" 12" right?

Yes. G3s had a silver palm rest with a translucent clear keyboard. Later "Snow" G3s were all white including the palm rest with the translucent keyboard. G4 iBooks were all white with white keyboards and had a slot loading disk drive. All models came in both 12" and 14" varieties.

jrsx · Jul 4, 2014

My brother just picked up a 12" 500 MHz G3 iBook for $30 on eBay. It's a pretty nice machine! Currently running a functional dual-boot of OS 9 and Puma (OS X v.10.1).

Altemose · Jul 5, 2014

jrsx said:
My brother just picked up a 12" 500 MHz G3 iBook for $30 on eBay. It's a pretty nice machine! Currently running a functional dual-boot of OS 9 and Puma (OS X v.10.1).

I feel pretty special to have had both the 600 MHz and the final 900 MHz.

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Got myself an iBook G3

BrianMayFan123

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SandboxGeneral

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Intell

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SandboxGeneral

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Intell

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Jessica Lares

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Altemose

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jrsx

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Altemose

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