I just got a great deal on an iBook G3

[Redline13]

At least I think so. It's a 500Mhz model with 576 mb of ram, a CD-ROM, a 10 gig HD and an airport card installed. It came with Tiger and iLife 05 installed and comes with an extra battery. I paid 300 dollars. I am thinking of installing a a larger hard drive. I know how difficult it is but I bought this on a whim and figured It would be a fun project. Does anyone know a cheap place to pick up a laptop hard drive?

[SpaceMagic]

eBay?

[shadowmoses]

sounds like a very nice deal, try searching for "60gb 2.5" on ebay to find the correct drives to use in your iBook, i'd go for a 60 or 80 gb drive as anything below that is not worth the hassle as they come pretty cheap anyways.

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by Redline13

At least I think so. It's a 500Mhz model with 576 mb of ram, a CD-ROM, a 10 gig HD and an airport card installed. It came with Tiger and iLife 05 installed and comes with an extra battery. I paid 300 dollars. I am thinking of installing a a larger hard drive. I know how difficult it is but I bought this on a whim and figured It would be a fun project. Does anyone know a cheap place to pick up a cheap laptop hard drive?

Just an opinion ... Tiger? ... On a 500 MHz G3? Hmmmm. I'd like to see that one. CD-ROM? Read-only? Hmmm. Airport? Did they have Airport on the G3 models? Hmmm. 10 GB Hard Drive? I have files half that size. $300 bucks? Seems like a lot for a computer that old. Here's a couple I just found on Ebay for comparison.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...201653383&rd=1

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....1.1.0.0.0.1.0

[IMG]iMac.jpg[/IMG]

Seems like these would have been more worth the investment and could be had cheaper with a student discount or ebay purchase. Your invetment may be what you can afford, but by the time you add a new hard drive the price has increased, and I don't believe Tiger will run (at least not in a useful fashion) on the 500 MHz G3. Good luck just the same.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...202162010&rd=1

[SpaceMagic]

Originally Posted by Mr Maui

Just an opinion ... Tiger? ... On a 500 MHz G3? Hmmmm. I'd like to see that one. CD-ROM? Read-only? Hmmm. 10 GB Hard Drive? I have files half that size. $300 bucks?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....1.1.0.0.0.1.0

[IMG]iMac.jpg[/IMG]

Seems like these would have been more worth the investment and could be had cheaper with a student discount or ebay purchase. Your invetment may be what you can afford, but by the time you add a new hard drive the price has increased, and I don't believe Tiger will run (at least not in a useful fashion) on the 500 MHz G3. Good luck just the same.

That's cr*p. No offense mate. I have Tiger on a 233mhz G3 it's perfectly "usable". I have it on a 366 G3 and a 400mhz G3 too.

[Redline13]

Originally Posted by SpaceMagic

eBay?

Craigslist.org

[tombo]

Great deal you got there. Especially with Tiger.

I'm on a lil' 500 iBook, too. Combo drive, but otherwise the same, would love to have Tiger on mine.

Erm.. I don't see the problem people have with buying a cheap computer.
It's very well saying 'look: for $999 you could get a new one.'
Well, $300 isn't $999, is it? That's just simple maths.

And a new HD won't cost $700- so it looks like a deal you got there.

If I dealt with 5GB files my computer wouldn't be suitable. But I don't, so I use and love my computer.

Happy Computing!

[Redline13]

Originally Posted by SpaceMagic

That's cr*p. No offense mate. I have Tiger on a 233mhz G3 it's perfectly "usable". I have it on a 366 G3 and a 400mhz G3 too.

I agree. Tiger runs fine on a G3. The laptop isn't actually for me. I got it for a friend that could use a cheap laptop. I am on a Rev. D Powerbook 12 incher.

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by SpaceMagic

That's cr*p. No offense mate. I have Tiger on a 233mhz G3 it's perfectly "usable". I have it on a 366 G3 and a 400mhz G3 too.

No offense taken. You have OS 10.4 on a 233 MHz G3? And are running what? iTunes?

I just looked up the system requirements (see link below) and I stand corrected as it shows iBook G3 (i believe those were the plastic hinge ones). It just doesn't seem practical for much more than word processing and iTunes perhaps in today's computing world was my point. Outside of that, I'm glad h got a deal he is happy with and hope he enjoys his purchase.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html

Additionally, I know $300 isn't $999 (by stating "it may be all you can afford" ... or perhaps even all he wanted to spend), and I acknowledged that in my post, if I recall correctly. I guess since I work in a high requirement computing world (graphics), a G3 for any amount seems impractical. That's all.

[zach]

Well, Tiger on it will run faster than Panther... Which in turn will run faster than Jaguar.. Which in turn will run faster than Puma.

So, what are you asking him to run? OS 9?

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by zach

Well, Tiger on it will run faster than Panther... Which in turn will run faster than Jaguar.. Which in turn will run faster than Puma.

So, what are you asking him to run? OS 9?

I'm not asking him to run anything. A newer system does not make the computer faster. It may streamline some processes, but does not make it run faster. And, at the same time, requires more memory to run the OS. I was just voicing an opinion based on my own understanding. I apologized and stood corrected on the OS's ability to be run on the G3. (see previous post)

My point was ... try running Tiger and any other major program, game, or something else designed for today's computers and it seems like an unwise purchase. Word processing may be all it's for and it will likely function fine. Photoshop CS, Doom 3, even iMovie would probably struggle and take forever, if they run at all. Just an opinion.

[Flowbee]

Originally Posted by Mr Maui

No offense taken. You have OS 10.4 on a 233 MHz G3? And are running what? iTunes?

I just looked up the system requirements (see link below) and I stand corrected as it shows iBook G3 (i believe those were the plastic hinge ones). It just doesn't seem practical for much more than word processing and iTunes perhaps in today's computing world was my point.

I run Photoshop and Dreamweaver just fine on my 400mhz G3... with iTunes playing in the background.

[OnceUGoMac]

I had a 500 mhz G3 iBook that ran well, despite the logic board issues. It ran Studio MX and the Adobe Suite with no problems. Also, most people don't use these programs. So what if he's only going to run iTunes and MS Office? Just because he doesn't want to be a power user, doesn't mean that his iBook couldn't handle it. I guess some people need to make themselves feel superior by being negative towards someone's excitement. Good luck doing that.

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by Flowbee

I run Photoshop and Dreamweaver just fine on my 400mhz G3... with iTunes playing in the background.

Photoshop CS? I guess I'm just used to working with large files in the graphic arts industry so my opinion is based on that truth. I often work with files that I'd never even consider trying to open on a G3 (1 GB in size and greater). I've been in the industry a long time and have run photoshop since before the G3 existed and know it runs. But, I'd never try doing the tasks I do today, including modifying large graphic files, editing video, or even running something with any reasonable amount of graphic processing on a G3. I acknowlege the old computers still function, but I rarely even consider processing these types of things on my G4 500MHz Titanium Powerbook. It works in many cases, but is way too slow. I recently processed a simple After Effects show on my Titanium and it took 35 minutes to process a 3.5 minute show. I processed the same file on my Dual 2.0 at the office and it processed in 7 minutes. If I'm processing anything of length or quality or detail or with lots of effects, I go to the big stuff as most older laptops would be laughers (including mine). I've previously processed video on mine that took 7 hours to render. Same thing on more current machines was just over an hour.

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by OnceUGoMac

I had a 500 mhz G3 iBook that ran well, despite the logic board issues. It ran Studio MX and the Adobe Suite with no problems. Also, most people don't use these programs. So what if he's only going to run iTunes and MS Office? Just because he doesn't want to be a power user, doesn't mean that his iBook couldn't handle it. I guess some people need to make themselves feel superior by being negative towards someone's excitement. Good luck doing that.

I have to conclude that you have not read all of my posts. I've said I hope he is happy with his purchase. I've also said the contents of the posts were my opinion. I have no desire to make any negative comments towards anyone, but I am entitled to voice a differing opinion than others. If I have caused offense to anyone, then I apologize. However, no offense was intended, nor was my intent to negate the enthusiasm of the original poster. We base opinions on our own experiences, and I have already acknowledged the areas in which I was in error. If people feel the need to slam me in spite of my apologies and admission of error and or lack of knowledge on a certain subject, then it says more about the person responding to my post, than it does about me. I always try to handle myself with character and integrity and hope others will do the same. Peace.

[tombo]

... yeah.. this is all getting a bit Off-Topic now...

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by tombo

... yeah.. this is all getting a bit Off-Topic now...

Exactly!

[Flowbee]

Originally Posted by Mr Maui

But, I'd never try doing the tasks I do today, including modifying large graphic files, editing video, or even running something with any reasonable amount of graphic processing on a G3... I recently processed a simple After Effects show on my Titanium and it took 35 minutes to process a 3.5 minute show. I processed the same file on my Dual 2.0 at the office and it processed in 7 minutes.

We're not discussing whether or not an old G3 can run After Effects or do high-end video processing. Obviously, a newer computer can handle those tasks better. Your initial statements implied that a G3 couldn't run Tiger or iTunes well, which is completely untrue. There are a wide range of productivity apps that will run perfectly well on a G3 500mhz iBook.

[Mr Maui]

Originally Posted by Flowbee

We're not discussing whether or not an old G3 can run After Effects or do high-end video processing. Obviously, a newer computer can handle those tasks better. Your initial statements implied that a G3 couldn't run Tiger or iTunes well, which is completely untrue. There are a wide range of productivity apps that will run perfectly well on a G3 500mhz iBook.

Flow, have you read my posts since my original? I've already acknowledged and apologized for my error/misunderstanding of Tiger requirements ... several times ... even including a link to Apple's requirement page for Tiger in one of the posts. The video reference only explained what led me to my own "logical" misunderstanding. I wonder if it is safe to conclude that being forgiven for misunderstanding something is not in the cards out here. This is a rumor site after all ... where misunderstandings and misinformation run rampant.

[deebster]

Some sources for iBook disassembly guides

http://www.phototropic.co.uk/ibook/
http://uk.geocities.com/ibookupgrade/
http://www.yourmaui.com/ibook.html
http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/50.0.0.html

or

http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drived....drivedb.lasso

where you may find some of the same, or even some different links to online guides. The Apple iBook service manual is also handy, if you can find it

Maybe some of these guides are for optical drive replcaement or for slightly different iBook models, but you must basically get down to exposing the HD and CD/DVD drive in order to replace one or both of them, and most non-clamshell iBooks are very similar internally.

I did my combo drive and whilst it was a bit scary it went without problems. Took the best part of a day though.

Some tips:

- Use an old credit card or something plastic to open the outer casing. Metal objects will foul the case edges a bit.

- Use a few egg boxes or ice cude trays to keep the screws separate. There are a lot of different shapes. One or two of these guides have screw info sheets which are very helpful.

- draw / write down what you see and do. It is easy to forget 4 hours after you removed a screw where it goes back

I know you / your friend may not want to spend too much more than what the iBook was bought for, but it might be worth while seeing if you can pick
a combo drive cheap on eBay. Any Toshiba SD-R20XX drive should work, as well as a few others.

Have fun with your new(ish) baby.

And to beat the dead horse of Tiger on a G3, I use it and it is fine. But it likes RAM, especially the more widgets you use. Not everyone is a design pro / opens huge image files on their Mac. Some people just want to do basic stuff and for that pretty much any G3 will do, as long as it isn't terribly crippled in the RAM department.

[ChrisBrightwell]

Originally Posted by Redline13

At least I think so. It's a 500Mhz model with 576 mb of ram, a CD-ROM, a 10 gig HD and an airport card installed. It came with Tiger and iLife 05 installed and comes with an extra battery. I paid 300 dollars.

Hell -- Tiger, iLife '05, and the battery would've set you back $300. You got a free iBook!

Seriously, though, that's a killer deal. I'd love to pick up an old (headless, even) iBook and stick a huge hard drive in it. It would be a great low-power HTTP/FTP/SSH/etc server w/ built-in UPS and half a dozen other "little" features.

[Redline13]

Well I just got done upgrading the hard drive. I found a great deal I couldn't pass up. I got a 40 gig drive for the iBook for 30 bucks. It was almost brand new. I had a a good set or directions (from bpfixit.com) and a good set of small screw drivers courtesy from a neighbor. Total I think it took me about 3 hours start to finish. With all the horror stories I have heard about getting to the hd in the old iBooks I thought it was going to be way harder. I used xbench to test the speed of the old drive versus the new one and even though they are both 4200 rpm drives the 40 giger showed about a 20% speed increase. It was a worth while upgrade.