Garageband on a G3

[lilsuprano]

Hey guys, I'm verrrrrrrrrry close to buying a 500MHz G3 iBook with 640MB of RAM, and I was wondering how it would do when making beats in Garageband? The reason is, I've been DJing for quite a bit, but it would be really handy to have a laptop to be able to record mixes and stuff on, but also as a source to have a freshly made loop to be mixed directly from the iBook with one of my turntables...now I figured if I could get Garageband to work well enough on a G3, I'd do that....Otherwise I'll just spend a bit more money on a PC laptop and use Fruity Loops and Traktor DJ Studio...but is this iBook going to be able to run Garageband?

Eric

 

[Flowbee]

The minimum system requirements for Garageband are:

600MHz G3 or faster required for GarageBand
G4 or G5 required for GarageBand software instruments...
DVD drive required to install GarageBand...

If Garageband will even install on a G3/500, chances are you wouldn't be too happy with its performance.

Maybe a better choice would be a refurbished G4 ibook from apple.com.

 

[eleveneastgate]

iB to PB for GB.

From my DJ experiences with my iB (G3 900 mhz, 640 RAM, 60G HD)... I found that GB stalls & just quits when you ask it to do too much. Also, you don't have audio line-ins. You'll have to use an iMic (Griffin or similiar) to get a signal in.

I've since upgraded to a 12" PB, and could'nt be happier...

Hope this helps!

 

[lilsuprano]

The problem with refurbs is that I live in Canada..and the refurbs aren't available in Canada....you guys think a Mac Mini (next cheapest on the list ) would suffice then? I mean, it is running a G4 Chip..

Eric

 

[Flowbee]

The problem with refurbs is that I live in Canada..and the refurbs aren't available in Canada....you guys think a Mac Mini (next cheapest on the list ) would suffice then? I mean, it is running a G4 Chip..

Eric

I run GB on a Mac mini 1.42/512mb and it works just fine. No problems with projects as large as the NIN "Hand That Feeds" remix. Should be pretty solid for beat making.

 

[xsedrinam]

My son has loaded all the Jam Packs, runs GB2 and has produced and burned to CD over 15 original songs, some stacked with up to 8 layers, all on a G3 Pismo with 1Gb RAM. It's had no problems handling it. The quality is quite good. I don't know though about the iBook scenario.
X

 

[mad jew]

I run Garageband on an 800MHz G4 iBook and it's stable and relatively hassle-free. I wouldn't recommend a G3 iBook though. Still, I think you'd find it a much more intuitive program than the PC equivalents. I know I prefer it to Frooty Loops and Acid Pro from a pretty amateur point of view.

Scrape together just a little bit more cash and go the G4 iBook route.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I'm running garageband 2 on my iBook, G3 500MHz (see siggy, i think I still have them in there). It runs slow, can't make your own beats or that, you can use custom though. I know how to install it, even though it says you can't install it w/out 600MHz blah blah blah. I recommend GarageBand 1 because on the iBook's, it works (right, cause GB1 required 500MHz or faster G3?)

 

[lilsuprano]

Scrape together just a little bit more cash and go the G4 iBook route.

I think that's what I'm going to do, it'll take a little longer but it's worth it...but I'm still undecided, we'll see what happens with the Intel switch...might be able to pick up a G4 iBook for cheap

Thanks for all your help!

Eric