Best OS and Where to Buy RAM for Powerbook G3 Pismo?

[ScKaSx]

Hi All,

I received a used Powerbook G3 Pismo 500Mhz (2000) from someone and wanted to upgrade it as much as possible. My first thought was to buy 2 512 RAM modules and upgrade this sucker to 1GB RAM.

Does anyone know where to get a deal on RAM Apples (specifically, the Pismo)? Hard drives, Optical drive, and/or Airport card suggestions would also be useful.

The other think I wanted to do was upgrade the OS. However, I don't know what the best upgrade would be. I heard 10.2 drags like a snail on this model.

Any suggestions for the OS 10.??? Thanks.

Cheers,
ScKaSx

 

[Airforce]

Hi All,

I received a used Powerbook G3 Pismo 500Mhz (2000) from someone and wanted to upgrade it as much as possible. My first thought was to buy 2 512 RAM modules and upgrade this sucker to 1GB RAM.

Cheers,
ScKaSx

512MB for that old thing is going to run you a decent amount. Around $80+ or so. Might want to rethink that.

 

[heatmiser]

Keep in mind that if you spend $300 upgrading that, you'd be 1/3rd of the way to a Macbook.

 

[motulist]

I have no idea which OS X that system can run, but if it can't run at least 10.3, then I'd suggest sticking with OS 9, because OS X 10.2 and earlier were very rough around the edges.

 

[sysiphus]

You can run up through OS 10.4 (Tiger). However, 10.3 (Panther) will likely be a bit snappier on that hardware; incidentally, 10.3 is generally considered the first really polished/solid iteration of OSX, which works out quite conveniently for you
That said, I have to echo the thought of considering how much is really worth spending on your 7 year old laptop. A new battery, Airport card, a gig of RAM, and copies of iLife/OSX (and maybe a new hard drive) puts you around the halfway mark of what it would cost to simply buy an Apple-refurbished nearly brand new Macbook...which will be light-years faster, thinner, not to mention that it will have a full warranty and the capability to run all the latest software.

 

[ktbubster]

yeah.... I second or I guess third the above. You could spend almost 400 dollars upgrading that thing (about 120-150 on a gig of ram, another 30 on an optical drive, 50+ on an airport... another 30+ on the OS etc) You could find a CD macbook for about 600 or 700 refurb even that would KICK ASS compared to that pismo. Heck. A G4 ibook runs about 450 and that would be light years ahead of it.

Perhaps your money is better spent elsewhere, unless you really really really love that pismo.

 

[Xeem]

If I were you, I'd install Panther, buy one 512 stick of RAM and a third-party PCMCIA wireless card. I had a Linksys card for my old Powerbook G4 (you can find them for like $30 if you shop around, which is less than half of what an Apple Airport card will cost you). Also, DVD drives can be had for under $50 on eBay for the Pismo, so you might want to look into that too. Lucky for you, Firefox 2 runs in Panther, so you won't have to use Safari 1.x for your browsing.

 

[Tom J]

My G3 Pismo (1GB RAM) has been used every day since 2001. That is until 4 days ago when I got my new 24" iMac. It's still a VERY capable machine.

lowendmac.com is the best source of info for these older Powerbooks.

EVERYTHING you want to know about running 10.3 and 10.4 on the Pismo and other upgrades can be found here:
http://lowendmac.com/pb2/pismo.shtml