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12" Powerbook G4 867

cleanup

cleanup

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 26, 2005
2,643
10
Toronto
How well can I expect a 12" Powerbook 867/640/Tiger to do with Word/Safari/iTunes/Adium at the same time? Just basic computing? Perhaps the occasional movie?

$400 CAD w/o disks. $430 with. Battery holds about 3 hours (probably under), apparently in perfect condition. Good deal or should I shell out an extra $200-250 or so for a 1.5 Ghz?
 
mcavjame said:
It depends on the amount of RAM, not so much the speed of the processor.

Is it the form factor or price that attracts you to the 12"?
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Both, I suppose. It has 640 MB of RAM. I imagine this is in two DIMM slots. I could replace the 512 with a gig for about $100 to get the max 1.25? Or did the 867 never support that much?

I just wanted an old Apple laptop again. I don't care much for the MacBooks. They're too ubiquitous and too large (yes even 13" is too big for me; I like small). And too expensive for what'd I'd be using this thing for. I have a main PC and currently survive on an Acer netbook. The PB would be an upgrade in some ways and a downgrade in others. I can't imagine the performance would differ too much?
 
cleanup said:
Both, I suppose. It has 640 MB of RAM. I imagine this is in two DIMM slots. I could replace the 512 with a gig for about $100 to get the max 1.25? Or did the 867 never support that much?
Click to expand...

Thats the max the 867 could support. It will work fine using the apps you mentioned. I actually had Leopard loaded on mine for a while and it did work but slowly. Unless you know the seller, you may want to look a little harder or wait since I've picked up 1.5G models for $450-525 U.S. I think the dollars spent is worth the extra oomph.
 
NC MacGuy said:
Thats the max the 867 could support. It will work fine using the apps you mentioned. I actually had Leopard loaded on mine for a while and it did work but slowly. Unless you know the seller, you may want to look a little harder or wait since I've picked up 1.5G models for $450-525.
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This is $400 CAD. That's $320 US dollars. :eek:
 
cleanup said:
Both, I suppose. It has 640 MB of RAM. I imagine this is in two DIMM slots. I could replace the 512 with a gig for about $100 to get the max 1.25? Or did the 867 never support that much?

I just wanted an old Apple laptop again. I don't care much for the MacBooks. They're too ubiquitous and too large (yes even 13" is too big for me; I like small). And too expensive for what'd I'd be using this thing for. I have a main PC and currently survive on an Acer netbook. The PB would be an upgrade in some ways and a downgrade in others. I can't imagine the performance would differ too much?
Click to expand...

I'd check on prices of older RAM before purchasing. Sometimes old stock can be pricy when it is not made anymore. Does the 1.5 GHz come with the same amount of RAM. If it's more, that may answer your question.
 
Well, I can get a gig stick from a reseller here for about $99. If I hunt local computer stores (instead of Apple resellers) I can probably get DDR for even less. So figure $500 CAD for an 867/1.25 gig. Compared to $650 for the same but with twice the processor speed?
 
chaosbunny said:
One more thing to consider: the 12" 867 mhz PowerBook G4 was among the last models that only had USB 1. So if you want to use iPods & external HDs I'd recommend getting a later revision with USB 2.
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Wait. USB 1.0 or USB 1.1?
 
I wish I still had my 12" PB sometimes. But I spent that $500 on an Asus netbook (which is also really nice) so no PB for me, for now.

If you go to www.battdepot.ca, they sell replacement batteries for really good prices. A new battery will give your 12" PB about 5 hours of runtime. They also sell AC adaptors.
 
I have that exact computer right now actually. It will run those apps simultaneously without too much trouble, but don't be surprised if you see a lot of spinning beach balls. iTunes will be slow, slow, slow if you have a very big library at all. Mine's about 60gb on an external FW drive and iTunes takes about a full minute to start up.

As for watching the occasional video, forget about any online services like Hulu... you can count the frames per second and the video rarely keeps up with the audio. Highly compressed movies and tv shows will play fine in VLC, but I'd recommend an older version of VLC if you can find it.

The biggest drawback is USB 1.1. If you get an external drive, better make sure it's FW400. I'd also be REALLY surprised if the battery lasted 3 hours. That's about what it would do brand new. If it's the original battery expect about 5 minutes or so. Seriously.

I've had mine for six years and I tear my hair out with frustration at how slow it is sometimes. My Mac Pro should be here tomorrow and it will be the happiest day of my life.
 
I also own this exact PowerBook configuration, running Leopard. It's about as fast as you might expect, for a computer model now six years old. I believe it can be maxed out to 1.25 GB of RAM, which would help -- some. Either way, you'd want to reboot it fairly often to avoid big slowdowns.

In addition to the comments already made (old battery, USB 1.1) I'd add that any older laptop is going to have a fairly dim screen. This model is coming to the end of its useful life, so you should consider how much it's worth investing in it, especially in upgrades.
 
Cant spend the extra few dollars and pick up the DVI model? They are not much more on eBay and can hold 1gb of ram, 1Ghz G4, mini DVI and USB 2.0
I used one as a daily machine up until I got a new MacBook. I was running 10.5 slowly but it ran all the apps you listed in 10.4 very well.
 
You can also check on old iBooks. Have a 12" one here, running Leopard. Rather slow (very actually, compared to recent machines), but still doing basic jobs. And if you put 10.3 on it (what it was initially shipped with) still very nice. AND you'll find those for even less money. If not, I need to sell mine
 
Zea74 said:
You can also check on old iBooks. Have a 12" one here, running Leopard. Rather slow (very actually, compared to recent machines), but still doing basic jobs. And if you put 10.3 on it (what it was initially shipped with) still very nice. AND you'll find those for even less money. If not, I need to sell mine
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Why would he want yours? it only has 768kb of memory! I have a Macintosh Plus with more than that!

Anyway, I agree, iBook G4 is not a bad idea I think the PowerBook has a little better chipset and the mini DVI but would make a nice machine none the less, better than a netbook I would think.
 
Spock said:
Why would he want yours? it only has 768kb of memory! I have a Macintosh Plus with more than that!

Anyway, I agree, iBook G4 is not a bad idea I think the PowerBook has a little better chipset and the mini DVI but would make a nice machine none the less, better than a netbook I would think.
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Zea74: Seriously, you need to fix your signature forr the iBook. I think you mean 768MB of ram, not 768kb .


Spock: My netbook is quite zippy, as fast or fastter than my co-worker's G4 PB. But it IS a windows Machine :eek:, and I won't "hackintosh" it until I can at least find a build where EVERYTHING works. Hence why I bought a mini.
 
So here's a photo gallery of the 867 on Craigslist. $420 CAD for the unit plus Tiger.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/calebtsang/ApplePowerBookG4#

I imagine I should ask for a picture of the unit with the screen on?

Still pending photos from a couple other sellers. :) To be honest, I think I'm a bit more willing to shell out a bit of extra cash for a faster 1.33/1.5 version like the ones on sale by MR members.
 
I'm really tempted to get a 12" powerbook as a on the go computer myself, i don't want to risk my macbook to the bumps and knocks of the world.

And heck, it's more stylish than a netbook, and is roughly equivalent dimensions wise to most of the 10" ones
 
Courtesy of MR member MistaBungle. Cheers.

PB1.jpg

PB2.jpg


Rev E, 1.5 Ghz. Upgraded to 1.25 GB. 80 GB.
 
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