Ditch it or fix it?

[512ke]

My 14" 1.2GHZ iBook G4 needs: a new battery and a new DVD drive. My current battery has less than 5 minutes of life at full charge, and my DVD won't recognize discs much less burn them.

Is my iBook worth fixing?

I like to use my laptop for: Final Cut Express, all the iLife stuff, Final Draft and Logic Express.

I'm on the laptop about 8 hours per day...

I'd get a Macbook but the screen's too small for me personally.

Do you think it's worth the investment to fix what I've got, or would I be better off investing more and getting something new?

Thanks, 512ke

 

[chasemac]

Ditch It!

With the amount of time you spend you should go ahead and get a new system.
You will enjoy it that much more. If it is within your means than get a 15" Macbook Pro.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I agree with the above poster

If you got the funds, and spend 8 hours a day on it, you might as well spend 8 hours away on a new, shiny C2D MBP.

 

[Reflow]

Well the cheapest way would be to always keep it plugged in and get a external DVD burner if you are short on funds. Me I would take it apart and fix the drive and buy a used battery on ebay or something like that. Plus I like to take things apart

 

[ITASOR]

The MacBook's screen is better than your 14" iBook's screen. It has a higher resolution, so you can fit more on the screen.

Or don't you like it because everything is physically a smaller size (like text).

 

[Cybix]

gut the old machine, and install it in your kitchen. maybe blu-tack the thing onto the front of your fridge, then you too can have a fridge-PC !!

 

[Bibulous]

New battery and Dive would be about $250. Is it worth fixing is up to you.

 

[Angrist]

Just get a new battery. They run ~$150 and will have better life than the original did when it was new.

External DVD drives are cheap too. Or if you don't use the optical drive much (like me), then don't bother with it right away.

Yea, a nice new MBP would be nice, but it'll be more than 10 times as expensive as a quick fix.

 

[acoustics940]

I would to also agree with just fixing it. People can easily say just buy a new one because something so small is wrong. But I its easier to talk about money than actually spending an extra $2000 for a completely new computer because of a battery. If it runs fine and does everything you need why waste money just because it is the new and cool thing to buy.

 

[Sdashiki]

you selling it?

 

[512ke]

You wanna buy it? It has 1.25 GB of RAM. Some of the letters are worn off the keys because I've typed so much on it. The a, s c and l. Otherwise it's in good shape besides the battery and the non working DVD drive.

Does anyone happen to know, if I buy an external DVD burner, will I still be able to use iDVD? Or is that restricted to internal drives only?

Is it hard to install a new DVD into an iBook G4??? I'm not really skilled when it comes to technical stuff although I'd be willing to give it a go...

For sure this machine does everything I need. I mean, I have to store my iTunes library on my external drive but otherwise it's a great computer.

By the way, is it possible that the DVD drive is just dirty?

Thanks, 512ke

 

[ITASOR]

Is it hard to install a new DVD into an iBook G4??? I'm not really skilled when it comes to technical stuff although I'd be willing to give it a go...

Not something to attempt if you don't think you're skilled at technical stuff. Go to iFixit.com and click guides, then find the guide for installing an optical drive. See if you feel up to the task from that.