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Fix Powerbook or buy iBook?

L

livingfortoday

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
2,903
4
The Msp
Okay, this is kind of a "vote by hands" sort of deal. I currently have the Powerbook in my sig, and I love that thing, but it's starting to die. This week the battery completely died, meaning that if it's not plugged in, the computer loses all power and shuts down completely. I mean, the system clock even resets itself. I've left it plugged in overnight, and the dang thing holds NO charge whatsoever. iBatt told me my laptop had no battery. Hmmm... The hard drive is also making grinding and clicking sounds, and everything is running incredibly slow now that that noise has started. I've tried everything from running the defrag thingie through Terminal to repairing permissions, and I'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem.

I have two options. One is to buy a new battery and a new hard drive - I'd probably go for a 7200rpm Hitachi one and a NuPower (I think that's what they're called - OWC has 'em) battery that is higher capacity, which I figure would cost me $250 all in all.

Option two is to buy one of those deliciously awesome new iBooks for $949 (student price). It would be guaranteed to work for at least a year, and there's really no chance of anything breaking that Apple couldn't replace, versus the Powerbook which could have more wrong with it than I think.

I can't sell the Powerbook because it technically isn't mine, but my dad's, but I can pretty much do anything else to it. So there's no money coming in from that.

What do you guys think? I'm not doing high-end work that requires a 1.33Ghz processor, but it would be nice to have the extra power. Then again, with a new hard drive and battery, the Pb could fly. Also, as you can tell from the old G3's I recently resurrected in my sig, I hate to leave a good Mac behind... but if I have to...

Opinions? Votes either way?
 
This could be a blessing instead of a curse. If you get a new super-fast harddrive, and a nice new battery-- You're gonna have a nice machine!

I do recommend getting an Apple battery tho. I have one of the OWC batteries for my iPod, and it was so cheaply made I had to bend it to get it to fit. It's literally hand-made with black electric tape. It works... but...

On the other hand $949 for an iBook and an iPod mini is a great deal.
 
Why not do both!! ;)

If you could swing your dad to cover the cost of the repair and then buy yourself a new iBook then you could give the PB back...or keep it.

If it were me i would try to do both

But if you can only do one i woud say buy the new one first then see if you could fix the old.
 
prostuff1 said:
Why not do both!! ;)

If you could swing your dad to cover the cost of the repair and then buy yourself a new iBook then you could give the PB back...or keep it.

If it were me i would try to do both

But if you can only do one i woud say buy the new one first then see if you could fix the old.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he's not paying for either. I'm going to grad school in a month, and I'll have some loan money left over for a computer, so... I don't think I can do both, but either/or, really.
 
Fix the Ti book.

Why? Well i am in grad school as well, and i like the fact that my Ti PB stands out from the rest. (at my school everyone has an iBook or a Al PB)

But thats not really the reason. Spend roughly $1000 to get an iBook that has a smaller screen, and will be more prone to showing signs being used (scratches, etc.), or spend roughly $300 to get a hard drive that is much faster than the one you currently have (not to mention it is faster than the one in the iBook), and a new battery. Hummm...1000 - 300= 700....a $700 price difference that could be put into savings for a new intel PB when they come out. The only diff thing i would do would be to go ahead and max the ram to 1 gig while you are at it. I would get the Ti PB checked out before i made any decisions though. If something else is going down, then the iBook is probably the best choice.

Basically i just decided to keep my Ti PB for at least 2 more years, so i am going to upgrade my ram to 1 gig, and maybe do a internal HD upgrade around christmas time. I figure then that my Ti will last me a good two years, and still be kickin. :p
 
Buy the iBook. Mmm... New iBook smell... :cool:

You'll likely have fewer problems with a new machine as opposed to taking the gamble on an older, and ultimately slower, TiBook.
 
Faintember - That's some good advice, it WILL stand out in contrast to the millions of iBooks. Also, I like how you have your computer names in your sig, I'm going to steal your idea and do that too... *steal!*

Marano - Can't sell the Powerbook, like I stated in my original post, or else I'd be all over that idea. Then again... even If I COULD sell it... man, it's such a nice machine...
 
Sorry missed that in your post. If you like standing out from a sea of ibooks your best bet is the Apple Certified 12" Powerbook it's $1099 on Apple's site
 
marano said:
Sorry missed that in your post. If you like standing out from a sea of ibooks your best bet is the Apple Certified 12" Powerbook it's $1099 on Apple's site
Click to expand...

Good call.

However, i think the big deal (now that i am thinking) is the screen size. going from the nice 15" PB to a 12" would KILL me. I used my friends 12" Al PB for about 30 mins, and in that time period i had to put my reading glasses on to actually read the screen. I guess it is a matter of what you are used to. To me, when i am writing a lot of papers (like all good lil grad students do), i want as much screen space as possible.

Oh and btw, you arent really stealing the idea from me, i think i stole it from someone else, although i didnt do it intentionally. lol
 
Yeah, I had actually been thinking about a 12" instead of the 15" a while back, because I use my Cube as a dekstop machine where I do most of my work, and the Powerbook more as a going to the library or sitting outside typing type machine. Not a heavy performer, in other words, something where I'd value weight over size. Of course, when you're GIVEN an old Powerbook, you don't complain about the screen size, you say "thank you very much omg, etc".

faintember said:
Oh and btw, you arent really stealing the idea from me, i think i stole it from someone else, although i didnt do it intentionally. lol
Click to expand...

To quote Krusty the clown: "If this is anyone but Steve Allen, you're stealing my bit!"
 
Okay, well, taking what everyone has said into account, I've decided to just fix up the Powerbook and hope for the best.

Now my problem is - I can't find those dang 7200rpm laptop drives anywhere under $160. Newegg.com seems sold out of the Hitachi ones, and the Seagate ones sell for over $200 nowadays. Anybody know of a good place to get these things?
 
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