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aradroxar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
2
0
Hey Everyone!

I'm Adi and I'm new here at MacRumours. I have just bought a Late 2001 500Mhz iBook 15GB with 128MB of RAM and a CD-ROM from eBay and am hoping to upgrade it personally bit by bit, making it my own :D
Anyhoo, To my questions;

1. Regarding the RAM;
EveryMac says that my iBook takes
RAM Type: PC100 SDRAM Min. RAM Speed: 10 ns
Details: Uses 144-pin PC100 SO-DIMM memory modules.

Standard RAM: 128 MB Maximum RAM: 640 MB

I want to know what exactly "PC100" means, also I've seen around sites bigger PC Numbers; can I use these as well? I'm unsure because Apple says that it takes at least PC100; Does that mean that I can put a faster RAM stick in it. If so, what is the maximum that I put in my iBook?

I have also searched specifically on SDRAM SO-DIMM's, almost all of which were 168-pins and almost none were 144-pins, could you fill me in on that?

2. Regarding Mac OS X;
Wikipedia says that, in order to run Mac OS X v10.4, I need at least 3 GB of available hard disk space. Obviously space is needed during the installation of a new OS but will that 3GB be available to me again after the installation? Also if I upgrade my hard disk will I need to install it again, (assuming that 3GB won't be available to me in the future)?

3. Regarding the Hard Disk;
Going around looking for hard disks, I've found out that there are two main forms for notebooks; the IDE/ATA drive and the SATA drive. What are the differences in these drives in terms of price, size, durability etc? Also I read somewhere that some iBook models (including mine) aren't capable of using hard disks in excess of 100GB or something similar. Does anyone know anything about this?

4. Regarding the Optical Drive;
I know that iBooks came with either a CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or a Combo Drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM), could I upgrade to any of these using third-party products? And would I be able to upgrade to a DVD Recorder/ReWriter (Also third party)?

That should answer all question I'll have for about a year.

Thank you very much for reading all the way through, I realize that's a lot of writing and a lot of questions. Any answers, explanations and links will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Adi
 

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
1. PC100/133 will work in the iBook
2. 1.9 GB is the base installation of Tiger itself. If you add languages and printer drives it uses more space.
3. You seriously don't want to try to open an iBook
4. Refer to #3.

You'll get a cookie if you reply back within 5 minutes.
 

JG271

macrumors 6502a
Dec 17, 2007
784
1
UK
3. Yeah, you don't want to open an iBook but IDE/ATA drives only recognize 120GB max. Newer sata and sataII drives can read in excess of 500GB, not sure how much though, in case you ever come across them.

4. If it has firewire you could get a mac-compatible external dvd burner if such a thing exists... which it probably does.

Hope that helps.
 
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