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Brand New 12" G4 Powerbook...Good buy?
- Thread starter gazfocus
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Bet if you went in there with £425 in cash, they'd take it. Wonder what sort of warranty it would have on it?
MST
macrumors 6502
As much as I'd like to buy a brand new 12" G4 PowerBook I think that £499 sounds like a lot of money, but then I suppose it is £204 less than the cheapest MacBook. I guess a lot depends on the age and the specs, G4 PowerBooks were produced right up until 2006 so if it's 1 of the later units with fairly decent specs then it doesn't seem too bad.
Has your brother got any more info?
Has your brother got any more info?
I'll be very honest. PowerBook's are only good for the following now.
1. If you're using supported apps. (iMovie, etc)
2. Presentation/Work things.
3. BASIC surfing. The flash implementation on PPC Macs is horrendous. Honestly, if you like the new HD and even high quality video features on YouTube and other sites, then say goodbye, because it won't run. (I used a 1.67ghz PowerBook G4 with a ATI Radeon 9700, and I couldn't get High Quality videos to play without Stuttering.)
Also, be ready for slow downs on any site that uses flash.
4. Blizzard Gaming 😛
If that's all you want the PB for than by all means, go get it!
But if you want something faster, look for an Intel MacBook. The MacBook will run 800000 CIRCLES around the G4 any day (with the exception of the GPU of course 😛).
Oh and 499 pounds seems a little steep.
1. If you're using supported apps. (iMovie, etc)
2. Presentation/Work things.
3. BASIC surfing. The flash implementation on PPC Macs is horrendous. Honestly, if you like the new HD and even high quality video features on YouTube and other sites, then say goodbye, because it won't run. (I used a 1.67ghz PowerBook G4 with a ATI Radeon 9700, and I couldn't get High Quality videos to play without Stuttering.)
Also, be ready for slow downs on any site that uses flash.
4. Blizzard Gaming 😛
If that's all you want the PB for than by all means, go get it!
But if you want something faster, look for an Intel MacBook. The MacBook will run 800000 CIRCLES around the G4 any day (with the exception of the GPU of course 😛).
Oh and 499 pounds seems a little steep.
MST
macrumors 6502
You can bet your life that if you were to phone up Curry's customer service line and ask them about this they would have no knowledge of it whatsoever; the product probably isn't even on their system anymore, it was most likely written off as a loss many moons ago and has since been buried somewhere in their stock room.
I'd say you've got a fair amount of bargaining power, as Blue Velvet said if you go there with "cash on the hip" (to use a Del Boy quote) and speak to the store manager I imagine they'll give in to your offer, Curry's managers usually do give in afterall 😛
I'd say you've got a fair amount of bargaining power, as Blue Velvet said if you go there with "cash on the hip" (to use a Del Boy quote) and speak to the store manager I imagine they'll give in to your offer, Curry's managers usually do give in afterall 😛
It's looking more like a dead-end product by the day. Still no news of PPC support in Snow Leopard. Unless you have a need for running some Classic apps, I just do not see the point, even for the sake of nostalgia. The screen on this will look very dim and washed out compared with contemporary notebooks.
If you have to have one, I would not pay more than £350 for it, assuming it was one of the 1.5GHz vintage. You might be unlucky and end up with one of the toasty 867MHz revisions, since your brother did not find out the specs. You would be able to get a Mac Mini for not much more cost, which would run rings around it.
If you have to have one, I would not pay more than £350 for it, assuming it was one of the 1.5GHz vintage. You might be unlucky and end up with one of the toasty 867MHz revisions, since your brother did not find out the specs. You would be able to get a Mac Mini for not much more cost, which would run rings around it.
JG271
macrumors 6502a
It'll be longer than 10 years, I recently saw someone selling a brand new in box mac from 1993, at a lower price than the original though.
But that sounds like a good idea if you have the cash. If not, use it as normal anyway, keep the original boxes and documentation, keep it in good condition then sell it on and profit... just a bit less of a profit than selling it never opened.
Greenturtle
macrumors member
Aaaaah, I despised it when people do that. I worked at Currys part time up until two weeks ago and this used to drive me mad. For something that old it would have negative margin, plus it's a rule of thumb that you don't give more than 10% discount.
With 'Whateverhappens' they'll probably offer you £7.99 monthly payments which you can cancel whenever you like which will cover you for Accidental Damage and Hardware faults.
Also Currys managers hate giving discount and Christmas/Sale seasons are the worst time to ask.
Find someone that works at PC World/Currys and ask them nicely if you can use their staff discount.
Hey thats not all true
My Powerbook G4 runs great. Check the specs in my sig. I upgraded the ram and I run CS3 on it with 10.5.6 and have next to no issues when watching videos online or flash based websites. I do design and this is the computer ive been working with for...4 years now.
Sometimes it chugs when the files get heavy but other then that it runs like a champ.
Id say buy it max out the ram and you will be happy.
California
macrumors 68040
MST
macrumors 6502
puckhead193
macrumors G3
i would pass, my powerbook is showing its age and i'm thinking of replacing it.
If your just surfing the web its fine but for anything else might want think of a macbook
If your just surfing the web its fine but for anything else might want think of a macbook
Until recently, the advantage of the 12" G4 Powerbook was the small size and light weight (4 lbs). I still use mine for travel (and leave the heavier MPB at home) because I do a lot of quick 2 or 3 day business trips with only carry on luggage, and on those trips all I really need is basic text editing and simple web/internet access, it works fine for those things. But the Macbook Air is even lighter and faster, if I was buying new for the same purpose I'd get one of those. And actually the newest MB is only a little larger and 0.5 lb. heavier, although I'm not crazy about the display.
So... do you need the small size and light weight for portability? Can you get by with a machine that's limited by modern standards, and likely to become more so over the next few years? Is the cost savings enough for you to offset the performance issues?
So... do you need the small size and light weight for portability? Can you get by with a machine that's limited by modern standards, and likely to become more so over the next few years? Is the cost savings enough for you to offset the performance issues?
Hmm, If I'm not mistaken CS3 is a PPC supported app. Correct?
Also, unless if my PowerBook was defective, the flash implementation from ADOBE differs on different G4 processors or, you know... a better video card sucks compared to a lesser one in the 12" models...I don't see how Flash runs better on your machine.
Unless if you're talking about High-Quality video, High Definition videos or Flash Heavy sites, I don't see how your objection contradicts what I said.
A friend bought a used 12" PowerBook earlier this year for something simple and portable. He loves it, and it only has 768MB of RAM. Another friend of mine still uses the 867MHz model as a primary machine. I had the 1.33GHz model for a while, and still miss it from time to time. If you max it out to 1.25GB, it'll be a serviceable notebook. Just don't try to encode video on it.
All I was stating is my experience not contradicting you. Ive actually built flash heavy sites using my PB- I also watch HD streaming videos on IGN daily, and I hardly run into any issues - and if i do its because I have CS3 photoshop/indesign/illustrator running and an external hardrive plugged in.
I have reformatted my hard drive within the past few months that might make a difference and of course our models might not be the exact same specs but all im saying is I don't have any issues with what seems to be your experience.
Cheers!
