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Mac Newb. Need Help with iBook PwrPC G3 500mhz 128meg ram

C

chwarren

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2007
2
0
Its got a DVD drive, It looks like it has a 20Gig HD but Only 10Gigs are free. Is this because the Mac OS is taking up that space? It was wiped clean, so that is the only explanation i can com up with as to why I have a 20gig hd with nothing on it and only 10 gigs free.

Anyway My question is, this thing runs rather slow. If I open firefox, it plays online videos jerky, skipping 3-4 seconds worth of frames. (But it plays a dvd perfectly).

I need a laptop for school basically one that can run some pretty intensive PowerPoints. 10-50 megs...lots of images.

I was wondering if I added more ram would this thing be able to handle them? I know its a pretty old machine and I may be expecting miracles. I am in Vet School and They have turned us into powerpoint monkeys and my Toshiba Windows PC just died on me before break, so I need something ASAP for vet school. I would like to avoid dropping 1200-1300 on a new laptop, but I really do like the macintosh laptops.

I am just wondering What is the biggest stick of memory I can fit in this old beast, and Do you think that would be enough? I read some threads where people are running leopoard on this machine so I would figure more ram could give it quite a functional boost.

Thanks for the help. This is my first mac given to me by my sister. but right now It really can't even run firefox to my standards....

Thanks
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
A 500 MHz G3 isn't the best choice for running OS X. iLife is more then likely installed on it as well.

Flash is going to be unbearably slow on it.
 
HLdan

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
Need a bit more info, go to the Apple menu up top left corner and choose "about this Mac" and tell us what speed is the processor and which version os Mac OS X is installed?
 
H

heatmiser

macrumors 68020
Dec 6, 2007
2,431
0
I would advise you to save up $500 and buy a modern Windows laptop that'll run everything you need it to and more. You can find great $500 computers at Tiger Direct or Newegg. I can understand wanting to use a Mac, etc, but it isn't worth it to pour money into an obsolete machine. It's your money, of course, and you can do as you please, but keep in mind you could afford a dual core machine with modern stats for a reasonable amount of cash. If I were in your position, I'd think practically, instead of nostalgically, and simply go with a new, solid, stable PC laptop.
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
chwarren said:
mac osx 10.4.2
Click to expand...
Yeah, Tiger is going to hurt on this laptop.

heatmiser said:
I would advise you to save up $500 and buy a modern Windows laptop that'll run everything you need it to and more. You can find great $500 computers at Tiger Direct or Newegg. I can understand wanting to use a Mac, etc, but it isn't worth it to pour money into an obsolete machine. It's your money, of course, and you can do as you please, but keep in mind you could afford a dual core machine with modern stats for a reasonable amount of cash. If I were in your position, I'd think practically, instead of nostalgically, and simply go with a new, solid, stable PC laptop.
Click to expand...
I have to agree.
 
Silencio

Silencio

macrumors 68040
Jul 18, 2002
3,457
1,566
NYC
Upping the RAM will help a lot (add a 512MB PC100 SODIMM for 640MB total), but there is no fix for the old 500MHz G3 processor, 66MHz system bus, and no viable fix for the 20GB hard drive (that iBook requires a near complete disassemble job to replace the hard drive!). You could run your web browsers, do your email, and do your Powerpoint work, but it would all be pretty slow. Modern streaming video is pretty much out of the question on that machine,

A decent used iBook G4 can typically be had for $350 or $400 or so. That would be a much better starting point for you and will do everything you want.

The Apple Store occasionally has refurbished MacBooks at prices well south of $1,000, but they sell out pretty quickly.
 
yellow

yellow

Moderator emeritus
Oct 21, 2003
16,018
6
Portland, OR
I have to agree with everyone.

You should note that iBook is roughly 6 years old (introduced in Oct 2001), so any modern apps and operating systems are pretty far outside it's natural capabilities.

I have found that in iBooks of that age, Panther was the last OS that ran well (e.g., fast) on it. Tiger was terribly slow (the processor just can't handle it well), and Leopard is entirely outside it's specs.

More RAM is always good (you can have up to 640MB in there), but I really wouldn't waste the money.
 
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