'99 ibook g3 clamshell- can I put OSX and bigger hdd in it?

[dpaanlka]

iTunes for Mac OS 9 went up to version 2.x... it supports older FireWire iPods but not USB ones. No OpenOffice or NeoOffice - that is Mac OS X only.

but the things people here are saying about it - doesn't sound good. Can someone kind of explain what the display issue is? I get the point that 800x600 isn't great - but does it cause "real" problems? or is it just annoying. Does someone have a screenshot or anything? It would be nice to know. Thanks.

It does cause problems with certain programs that won't fully display in 800 x 600 worth of space. But besides that, I don't think you're really appreciating just how bad it is. It really is quite unusable.

What it comes down to is, you're expecting way way too much from this iBook. Maxing out the RAM isn't going to help you all that much - 576 MB of memory is barely adequate under Tiger.

This is just a bad idea. Tell her to buy a newer Mac. It doesn't have to be new, just newer.

 

[heatmiser]

Requoting this is shorter than addressing the 800x600 question again, plus other q's on the matter. Bottom line: No new software without new hardware. Trying to "upgrade" an 8-year old iBook to run current software is a waste of time, money, and effort.

She's not going to get that functionality without upgrading to a machine better equipped to handle Tiger. if she's not willing to upgrade her hardware, she won't be able to upgrade her software. Water into wine, and all that.

 

[da2005pizimp]

My 2 cents, if she likes it then do some of the upgrades and enjoy it, these ibooks are the most versitile laptops out there. i have dropped on and it still worked fine. From what i have read there are a ton of problems with the newer laptops such as video issues, i have tried to work on the Dual USB and G4 notebooks and they are a royal pain in the rear. Now the Clamshells are easy as pie. check it out for yourself at pbfixit.com

 

[skyrider007]

wow!!! i'm impressed a 8 year old laptop still runs these days. anyway i'd suggest keeping it as your vintage item and consider buying a new laptop. the difference between the current macbook and that clamshell ibook is a million light years apart. if you're tight on budget, have a look on ebay or consider buying a Dell.

 

[one1]

The very last clamshell was the only one with any true potential. I wouldn't try any major forced upgrades on any other one. I had an indigo clam and just couldn't make it perform at all no matter what I did. If I'd had the graphite I might have been satisfied when done for a backup computer.

 

[TheNorthWaves]

Thank you all for the feedback. I will try to upgrade within OS9 and if she isn't satisfied we'll look for a macbook to have as well.

 

[razyorv]

I have the Rev A blueberry iBook... and I thought about upgrading it but the 800x600 screen really didn't do too well.

But then again, I'm sure there are 1024 x 768 rez screens I could rip out of some laptop to replace the old screen. If you really feel like upgrading, there're always ways.

EDIT: Just found this off google: http://community.livejournal.com/ibookmod/. I guess it can be done

 

[Josheua]

I know the issue you here is here is that the notebook is her favorite color. Have you looked into biting the bullet and purchasing (for a price) a custom colorized macbook from colorware? This would give you the color option you want as well as update her computer to the 21st Century. Just a thought. Link Below:

http://www.colorwarepc.com/

-Josh

 

[Lord Blackadder]

My dad has a 300MHz clamshell that he still uses. I upgraded it a couple years ago with 288MB RAM and a 40GB HDD. It runs OS 10.3.9 quite well; my dad uses it to surf the net, run Quicken and iPhoto. For that it's fine but I wouldn't try to do much more with it.

 

[da2005pizimp]

if she just uses it for light use, web surfing and ipod, then this should work fine, but if she wants to run some hardcore programs then it's time to upgrade. but i'd at least try panther on it and see if she likes it before junking it.