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Goftrey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 20, 2011
1,853
75
Wales, UK
Hey guys, I am the owner of a 700mhz ibook g3 with 384mb Ram, the common problem of the screen backlight dying and going off, so I sent it in to the shop, 4 weeks later they give me a quote of £60 ($100), not a chance. So it's back here at home again gathering dust. It's going on eBay soon for parts, my question today is.. What shall I buy as a replacement? Here's the shortlist...



12" iBook G4 (1.33ghz, 512mb RAM, 10.5 Leopard, 40gb HDD, CD-RW)
__________
£140 ($225)



15" iMac G4 (700mhz, 1gb RAM, 10.4.11 Tiger, 40gb HDD, DVD-RW)
__________
£85 ($140)



17" eMac G4 (1ghz, 1gb RAM, 10.5.1 Leopard, 80gb HDD, DVD-RW
__________
£70 ($115)



OR... Go back to a Windows PC

A *NEW* 10" MSI Wind U130 (1.66ghz, 1gb RAM, Windows 7, 160gb HDD, No CD/DVD Drive)
__________
£125 ($205)





The Windows PC has far better specs than any of the Macs, but I prefer Mac OS... Help please?
 

MacuserRX7

macrumors newbie
Jun 16, 2011
4
0
Honestly, I have an ibook g4 that has all the same specs that you posted about the ibook above and I love it. It runs better than my 2009 2.4 Ghz HP running windows 7. I'm even using it as my main computer right now and to make this post. The computer even plays video just as good also. I've always used PowerPC Macs and never once had a problem and never once had to go back to windows and never will. Hope this helps.

-Dan
 

4JNA

macrumors 68000
Feb 8, 2006
1,505
1
looking for trash files
i love ibooks more than most, but with your budget, i'd look for a netbook that you could 'hackintosh' like a dell or hp.

you would have newer hardware and the choice to run either OS as required. better batteries, sata drive, webcam, etc. just seems a better use of money to me. best of luck.
 

Psychomacuser

macrumors member
May 3, 2011
67
0
Honestly, I have an ibook g4 that has all the same specs that you posted about the ibook above and I love it. It runs better than my 2009 2.4 Ghz HP running windows 7. I'm even using it as my main computer right now and to make this post. The computer even plays video just as good also. I've always used PowerPC Macs and never once had a problem and never once had to go back to windows and never will. Hope this helps.

-Dan

Amen to that! :)
 

stroked

Suspended
May 3, 2010
555
331
I also have the same iBook, with 1.5 Gbs ram, and it works great as a netbook.
 

max¥¥

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
640
29
Over there....
i recommend you stay away from netbooks, why there screens are horribly small even for web browsing (i found allot of websites wouldn't fit on the screen and even if they did things like drop down menus, and pictures went off the screen, those 2 inches make a lot of difference), i would go with the ibook, another thing is after ~2 years my netbook is sitting with 2 broken hinges, dead pci-e slot ( so no wifi) and the battery clips have snapped off so the battery falls out, and my 10 year old ibook g3 still works fine (i even ran into a wall with that:) )
 

Bloodstar

macrumors regular
Mar 19, 2011
137
0
Philadelphia, PA, USA
i recommend you stay away from netbooks, why there screens are horribly small even for web browsing (i found allot of websites wouldn't fit on the screen and even if they did things like drop down menus, and pictures went off the screen, those 2 inches make a lot of difference), i would go with the ibook, another thing is after ~2 years my netbook is sitting with 2 broken hinges, dead pci-e slot ( so no wifi) and the battery clips have snapped off so the battery falls out, and my 10 year old ibook g3 still works fine (i even ran into a wall with that:) )

Was that netbook an Acer? Mine's kinda in bad shape - the reason I bought this iBook, actually.

MSI machines are decent, I hear - if you prefer Mac OS X enough, look up whether or not you can squeeze OS X onto it. However, I'm not sure how well it'd run compared to a PPC machine - I generally enjoy my iBook more than my netbook, especially before the fan noise kicks in on both.

If you must have a PPC Mac, though, grab the eMac. Best value of the machines there, even if it won't perform quite as well as the iBook.
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
Honestly, I have an ibook g4 that has all the same specs that you posted about the ibook above and I love it. It runs better than my 2009 2.4 Ghz HP running windows 7. I'm even using it as my main computer right now and to make this post. The computer even plays video just as good also. I've always used PowerPC Macs and never once had a problem and never once had to go back to windows and never will. Hope this helps.

-Dan

your spec are same as above ibook? (1.33,512 ram and running leopard?) your saying that runs faster then a 2.4 hp running win 7. not a chance! not unless the hp with win is not set up right....


goftrey:

can you get the ibook with tiger osx? with 512 ram leopard is gonna run poorly....if not...then the netbook would be the best choice....

i have a ibook G4 1.33,max ram of 1.5 gig,40 gig drive...have done clean installs of both leopard and tiger (dual boot) have optimized both (dashboard and spotlight turned off ect ect)......tiger runs way better...period

but if im comparing my ibook to my acer aspire 10.1 with amd c-50,and radeon hd 6250...with upgraded 2 gig's of ram running win 7 starter (clean install so no crapware) the acer netbook runs circles around my ibook.....

ps: i bought my ibook with above stats on craigs for $100...so $250 is overpriced
 

max¥¥

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
640
29
Over there....
Was that netbook an Acer? Mine's kinda in bad shape - the reason I bought this iBook, actually.

MSI machines are decent, I hear - if you prefer Mac OS X enough, look up whether or not you can squeeze OS X onto it. However, I'm not sure how well it'd run compared to a PPC machine - I generally enjoy my iBook more than my netbook, especially before the fan noise kicks in on both.

If you must have a PPC Mac, though, grab the eMac. Best value of the machines there, even if it won't perform quite as well as the iBook.

it was actually a advent 4211, which is just rebranded MSI wind U100
 

AdrianK

macrumors 68020
Feb 19, 2011
2,230
2
EDIT: That netbook has the Intel GMA 3150 GPU, there are no OS X drivers for this, making it pretty much unusable as a hackintosh.

Maybe you could look at another netbook without the pinetrail atom processor (which is always paired with GMA 3150).

~~~

I'd suggest getting the netbook:

  • It has better specs than the iBook/iMac/eMac, CPU and GPU wise. Should perform better.
  • Depending on the hardware support to osx86, you should be able to run snow leopard (again, less software limitations), and maybe even Lion when it's released.
  • You're not limited to PPC software.
  • Can dual boot with windows, should you wish.
  • Can always connect the netbook to an external monitor if you feel the screen's too small.
  • Since it's new you're getting a brand new battery. The same can't usually be said for an iBook.
 
Last edited:

MacuserRX7

macrumors newbie
Jun 16, 2011
4
0
your spec are same as above ibook? (1.33,512 ram and running leopard?) your saying that runs faster then a 2.4 hp running win 7. not a chance! not unless the hp with win is not set up right....

No, it's just because windows suck. :D But seriously, it works fine yet the ibook works faster. I'm not just sayin that just cause I hate windows, just I've compared the two and the ibook is waaaaaaayyy faster.
 

Riky.loebis

macrumors newbie
i prefer to 15" iMac G4 (700mhz, 1gb RAM, 10.4.11 Tiger, 40gb HDD, DVD-RW)
__________
£85 ($140)

the best design iMac ever made
i have iMac G4 too,,i using for browsing, surfing, iwork, watch movie (.dat, .flv, avi, dvd), listen music, edit photo with adobe photoshop sometime i can edit video.

we know ppc is old mac,,but if ur activity needs are met and fulfilled by iMac G4 or other ppc,,
why you replace with higher Gzh (intel) or pricey (Mac/PC)

:apple: sorry if any mistake with my words

thx
 

Nameci

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2010
1,944
13
The Philippines...
EDIT: That netbook has the Intel GMA 3150 GPU, there are no OS X drivers for this, making it pretty much unusable as a hackintosh.

Maybe you could look at another netbook without the pinetrail atom processor (which is always paired with GMA 3150).

~~~

I'd suggest getting the netbook:

  • It has better specs than the iBook/iMac/eMac, CPU and GPU wise. Should perform better.
  • Depending on the hardware support to osx86, you should be able to run snow leopard (again, less software limitations), and maybe even Lion when it's released.
  • You're not limited to PPC software.
  • Can dual boot with windows, should you wish.
  • Can always connect the netbook to an external monitor if you feel the screen's too small.
  • Since it's new you're getting a brand new battery. The same can't usually be said for an iBook.

Is it a GMA x3150, I thought it was a GMA 950?
 

Badrottie

Suspended
May 8, 2011
4,317
335
Los Angeles
Forget about netbook it is not worth playing games on small 10 inches screen. I had Dell Mini 10 for almost 2 years and I did not find any fun with it until I got 15 in Powerbook last month I am so happy now. I would sugguest you look for Powerbook G4 I bought mine for 200
 

Goftrey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 20, 2011
1,853
75
Wales, UK
Hey guys, I've now bought myself a Dell Latitude D505 for £45!!!!

1.6ghz Intel Pentium M Processor
1gb Ram
60gb Hard Drive
15" Screen
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (64mb)
Windows Vista
Wi-Fi

...Not a bad deal I thought

Thanks for the suggestions though guys!
 

Badrottie

Suspended
May 8, 2011
4,317
335
Los Angeles
Hey guys, I've now bought myself a Dell Latitude D505 for £45!!!!

1.6ghz Intel Pentium M Processor
1gb Ram
60gb Hard Drive
15" Screen
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (64mb)
Windows Vista
Wi-Fi

...Not a bad deal I thought

Thanks for the suggestions though guys!

why you.....Goftery leaving Apple in favor of Dell???? that is the worse deal!!!
 

Bloodstar

macrumors regular
Mar 19, 2011
137
0
Philadelphia, PA, USA
why you.....Goftery leaving Apple in favor of Dell???? that is the worse deal!!!

To be fair, though, performance-for-money, it was the best deal. (£45 for a laptop isn't bad! I'd take it over a G3, admittedly... probably not a G4 or G5 though.)

Do you still have the iBook, however? If you still wanted to use that machine, you could pick up an external monitor (Careful on resolution, though! 1280x1024 should be okay) and an adapter and put it into clamshell mode, since the screen light seems to be a problem. The plus to this is that, even though you need the adapter for the G3, you could use the monitor on another machine - even another PPC or Intel Mac, assuming you had adapters for DVI.
 

zen.state

macrumors 68020
Mar 13, 2005
2,181
8
To get the best bang for your buck I would grab the eMac. The iBook would be a bit faster but it's a good amount more money and the 512MB RAM in it is far too little for Leopard. Leo needs 1 GB min to run decent and 2GB+ for smooth operation IMO.
 

Goftrey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 20, 2011
1,853
75
Wales, UK
To be fair, though, performance-for-money, it was the best deal. (£45 for a laptop isn't bad! I'd take it over a G3, admittedly... probably not a G4 or G5 though.)

Do you still have the iBook, however? If you still wanted to use that machine, you could pick up an external monitor (Careful on resolution, though! 1280x1024 should be okay) and an adapter and put it into clamshell mode, since the screen light seems to be a problem. The plus to this is that, even though you need the adapter for the G3, you could use the monitor on another machine - even another PPC or Intel Mac, assuming you had adapters for DVI.

Yes, although I have chosen it over the G3 (and Mac). It would be a close call between buying the dell and a G4... I adore the Mac OS but the ONLY downfall it has, is the amount of software that's available for it.
 

Goftrey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 20, 2011
1,853
75
Wales, UK
why you.....Goftery leaving Apple in favor of Dell???? that is the worse deal!!!

And dont worry, I havn't left Apple, I'll still be poaching around here for a while yet, I've also got my ol' reliable 1st gen ipod touch here and am planning on getting a 4th (maybe 5th) gen ipod touch / iphone in the near future. So this isn't the last of me...

Im still toying with the idea of keeping the ibook for use as a desktop with an external monitor. Any ideas I'd sell it for if I decided to sell it? Or shall I keep it as an everyday light surfing kinda' thing?
 

AdrianK

macrumors 68020
Feb 19, 2011
2,230
2
I adore the Mac OS but the ONLY downfall it has, is the amount of software that's available for it.
And that's from your experience of using 9 year old hardware, eh? Sounds you're trying to justify your switch from OS X.
 
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