Getting new Mac iBook G4! Need some advice!

[agirlwithadream]

Hello! I recently purchased a mac ibook g4 12'' off of ebay. I did alot of research on them and from what I read they seemed to be great portable computers. What I got it originally for is to do online courses on and work with photography. I know VERY little about laptops though unfortunately.

One of my questions is what kind of internet service is best to go with? and why? I know Comcast says you can buy a router through them and get internet service with basic cable for 80 dollars a month. This seemed like alot of money to me! but I dunno if this is just how much people charge today. lol

My computer comes with Blue Tooth and Airport Card. Could some one explain to me why this is really important to have and what can I do with it? I know there is a very obvious answer ! but again I know very little about all of this.

THe last thing I was wondering is about the price I payed for it. This ibook is a month old. The guy was getting rid of it to upgrade to the new pro mac book. I made sure he was not trying to scam me before I bid on his item. He had good feedback and comunicated with me for a l ong long time through email. Also talked on the phone with him. He was offering this ibook at a 1000 if anyone wanted to buy it now or you could bid on it to. I did bid on it but kept on being outbid so I bought it for 1000. It has 1.33 Ghz. He upgraded it to 1.5 GB from 512 MB. The only catch was that this computer came PRELOADED with Abobe Photoshop CS2, Proffesional Microsoft, excel, powerpoint, ect. There are no disks to go with these though so I guess if computer crashes I lose all of it. There are some disks coming with it just not those programs. Is there any way to save those ones or no?

Heres the link to it

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-iBook...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It says I won but I didnt . I bid on it and then decided to have him close the auction before it was over because i needed the computer now for school. If yall could let me know what you think about that it would be great!! I was happy it had 1.5 GB ! at least that wont go anywhere lol

Look forward to hearing your advice!!! sooo glad I found this forum Please be honest about the questions. And if u feel that I got a bad deal or whatever that is fine to tell me. all those things will help me out alot!

 

[disconap]

Hello! Ok, to answer in order:

I personally love the G4 pb and ibook line, I think they are great machines, and in fact know several graphic designers who opted for them even after the MB line came out...

$80 a month is a bit high. Make sure that they're not offering you a package deal with TV included. Comcast here is usually around $35-45 for internet. As for better or worse, there isn't much difference between DSL and cable (a lot of people will argue with me, but I've used both and they both have their pluses and minuses). Upload times seems a bit faster on DSL and, oddly, downloads seem a bit faster on cable. Again, just my experience, but unless you're transferring gigs a day, either will suit your needs so go for whatever is cheaper (ask around locally as well, in your area one might be a lot better than the other).

Bluetooth is more about peripherals (cell phone integration, wireless mouse, stuff like that). Airport is the apple wireless network system; it will allow you to connect oto wireless networks, whether from a router in your house or at your local coffee shop (provided, of course, it has wireless internet).

$1000 is a good price, especially including CS2. The only real way to preserve that set-up that I know is to use Disc Copy Cloner and make a backup of the entire hard drive (which you can do for pretty cheap, just buy a cheap external drive and clone your main one to it), which should keep the settings, but will only work on your laptop, as CS2 has a live verification (you are given 2 licenses, and you have to enable any machine you install it on; if you have it on two already, you won't be able to enable it on a third until you disable it on one of the others). So if it works currently, cloning it should work to keep it safe (though someone else here might be able to correct me on that if I am wrong).

Provided it's not a scam, you got a pretty good deal on a great machine that will last you a long while.

 

[agirlwithadream]

Hey Disconap!

thanks soooo much for all that great advice. Appreciate you taking the time to answer all those questions for me ! The 80 dollars comcast fee includes basic cable with it but I think you have to buy a router seperately. Also the cable connection and wireless computer connection costs 100 dollars. Is this unreasonable ? Sometimes these companies will charge u a ton if they know u will pay it not to knock comcast or anything but ive just noticed that! I want to check into Bell South as well as Verizon. heard both of those have a cheap DSL program on them. This is so crazy when I originally ordered this it was my idea that you can take your laptop ANYWHERE with you to get internet connection. Again ive never had a laptop so didnt realize this wasnt possible lol. Now im realizing that is not the case at all and even if you go through Comcast you have to keep your laptop in your house or u lose internet connection. ahhh it helps to do the research I guess! Im still happy I ordered mine though.

Thanks for the good review on the ibook. ive had alot of people say I got ripped off because of the fact he doesnt have disks for the photoshop and all that is on it. I was happy he had that on there because its like over 300 dollars! and it also has iphoto on there. Its not cool though if I am going to lose those if lightning hits and info is lost. That has happened recently to people ive met! I got alittle confused when you said this

"The only real way to preserve that set-up that I know is to use Disc Copy Cloner and make a backup of the entire hard drive (which you can do for pretty cheap, just buy a cheap external drive and clone your main one to it), which should keep the settings, but will only work on your laptop, as CS2 has a live verification (you are given 2 licenses, and you have to enable any machine you install it on; if you have it on two already, you won't be able to enable it on a third until you disable it on one of the others). So if it works currently, cloning it should work to keep it safe"

Do I need to buy a disk copy cloner? How much are cheap external drives? and how exactly do you go about cloning your main one to it? lol sorry i have never heard of this. Its great that there might actually be an option to keep this on the computer! I dont think he had the disk to begin with seems like he said he got the computer with it already on it or something so im not sure. Would that affect keeping CS2?

Thanks again for all the help you gave me!!! Looking forward to hearing back from you and anyone else who would like to help me out on any of these things. ! still interested in other peoples advice to about if this was a good deal or not and why/why not. Thanks! Bye!

 

[x704]

Yeah, the iBook are very solid rugged computers. Did you know that the plastic shell is the plastic in bullet proof glass? And yes I too (and everybody else) would recomend backing up your hard disk with DVDs, Cds or another external hard drive. I reacently got a external 200gig Maxtor hard drive for backup and extra storage, I would recomend the same.

 

[iTwitch]

My iBook will be a year old in a few days, great little machine.

I've had a $14.95 DSL for about 10 months and it's been great for surfing the net. 768k/128k Do you need all that speed?

I use Bluetooth for my mouse, nice, one less cable. The Airport with my wireless router means I can operate my iBook untethered.


$1000 seems a little steep but not by much considering the ram and software. You do need or will use the software? You will get the licenses for the software?

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

$1000 is a good price, especially including CS2.

It's not as good of a deal as it seems. The reason no discs are provided for this and the Office software is because he's not transferring a license. I could download CS2, Office, and anything else off of Bittorrent or Limewire. That's EXACTLY how legal the copies of the software on this machine are. Therefore, I don't think it's right to include that in consideration of the price.

Secondly, the new low-end MacBook is only $1050 when purchased through the Education Store, which it sounds like the OP would be eligible for. Add to that the fact you can get a free printer, and a free nano (either of which could be sold to subsidize a RAM purchase), and it's not much more (if any) for a newer computer.

 

[steamboat26]

The cost of an external hard drive would depend on the size you need. But you can get a decent external hard drive for about $100-150 dollars. My experience with external hard drives has shown that they sometimes include software to back up your hard drive.
Otherwise i think software to back up your hard drive is like $20 or something.

 

[agirlwithadream]

Hey x704! thanks for your advice. I have heard that the iBooks were made very well! I guess that is good just in case they were ever dropped to be that strong huh Will look into that dardrive that you mentioned thanks!

Hey ITwitch! thanks for your input as well. What DSL is it that you use? that is a wonderful price!! MUCH better than comcast!! if that can work on my laptop I will look into getting that one. Unfortunately I dont think im recieving any liscence from these programs. i do not honestly know where he got them from ,,who gave them to him.. or anything but I know that they are working and are on there. How much does a Blue Tooth mouse cost?! That sounds really cool. im with you one less wire is great! And yes I will be using the programs on the computer that im getting. i definatly need photoshop CS2 because im very into photography and will be getting a digital camera soon.

To Tobefirst Hello! thanks for your advice as well. I definatly understand where you are coming from. He was honest with me though so in that respect I dont think he was trying to scam me. he let me know that these were predownloaded from previously and that they would be on there like that. It just didnt really click with me until I bought it and was like well hey will they stay on there so if this guy did download them from the web like u say or the previous owner that sold it to him did it then is there any point getting an external harddrive? could I still save it even if it was downloaded illegally? or no. prob not lol but again im not sure how all this works. I had considered mac books but I kept hearing such good things about this kind of ibook that I finally decided on it. I wish I had looked over that deal you mentioned with the nano and printer but I did not see one out there like that. Also the main and only reason I turned to ebay is because we dont have any mac store near us in SC there is like one in florida and one way down in georgia. I went to mac website and looked but theres were more expensive than this one that I saw and this one at the time I was thinking it had more programs so I went with it. oh well nothing i can do now. Guess I can sell it if it isnt what I wanted...

Steam Boat 26 thanks for giving me the prices of the harddrives! im guessing they would have these at like Office depot or staples? where is best place to buy them?

ANother question about a Printer. sorry this is more off topic. I need one that has a scanner and it would be great if it can scan in negatives since again im into photography. also would be nice to have one that has a little screen that would show the picture before being printed . I was thinking of a new Photosmart HP 3210 what doyou guys think? any recomendations!? look forward to hearing back

 

[disconap]

It's not as good of a deal as it seems. The reason no discs are provided for this and the Office software is because he's not transferring a license. I could download CS2, Office, and anything else off of Bittorrent or Limewire. That's EXACTLY how legal the copies of the software on this machine are. Therefore, I don't think it's right to include that in consideration of the price.

If the software works, though, that means that it will continue to. In other words, she got one of his two user licenses. CS2 won't operate if it's not enabled (as far as I know it isn't crackable, but then it very likely could be, as anything can be hacked).

Secondly, the new low-end MacBook is only $1050 when purchased through the Education Store, which it sounds like the OP would be eligible for. Add to that the fact you can get a free printer, and a free nano (either of which could be sold to subsidize a RAM purchase), and it's not much more (if any) for a newer computer.

Low end MacBook versus high end Powerbook. Essentially, a newer consumer model vs. a slightly older Pro model. I still would call that a deal, personally...

 

[ITASOR]

I

Secondly, the new low-end MacBook is only $1050 when purchased through the Education Store, which it sounds like the OP would be eligible for. Add to that the fact you can get a free printer, and a free nano (either of which could be sold to subsidize a RAM purchase), and it's not much more (if any) for a newer computer.

$999 when purchased from Amazon, after rebate! Free shipping too.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Low end MacBook versus high end Powerbook. Essentially, a newer consumer model vs. a slightly older Pro model. I still would call that a deal, personally...

It's not a high end PB, though, it's the iBook. Sure the RAM is upped, but that's it (apart from some pirated software). I'd say this is a bad deal. For the same price you can buy a new Macbook, with warranty, and wayyyyy better performance.

Don't buy it.

 

[steamboat26]

You can get external hard drives from staples, circuit city, or best buy, or any electronics store. But i would reccomend newegg.com because their prices are generally lower.
With regard to your printer question, i have an HP Photosmart 2575. It has a scanner, a 2 inch LCD, built in networking, a copier, and built in memory card reader. i looked at the comparison on hp.com, and they seem like very similar printers. The photosmart 3210 prints faster, and has a 0.3 inch larger scanner bed (8.5 X 11.7 in vs 8.5 X 12 in), has a separate tray for photo paper, and has a pict-bridge connector.

 

[kmarketing]

Low end MacBook versus high end Powerbook. Essentially, a newer consumer model vs. a slightly older Pro model. I still would call that a deal, personally...

Yeah, but unfortunately the original poster bought an ibook I believe.

Honestly, the macbook would be a better deal if you are to spend in the $1000 range. If you can't undo the deal, then just enjoy your nice computer, otherwise see if you can move towards a macbook.

 

[disconap]

Hey Disconap!

thanks soooo much for all that great advice. Appreciate you taking the time to answer all those questions for me ! The 80 dollars comcast fee includes basic cable with it but I think you have to buy a router seperately. Also the cable connection and wireless computer connection costs 100 dollars. Is this unreasonable ? Sometimes these companies will charge u a ton if they know u will pay it not to knock comcast or anything but ive just noticed that! I want to check into Bell South as well as Verizon. heard both of those have a cheap DSL program on them. This is so crazy when I originally ordered this it was my idea that you can take your laptop ANYWHERE with you to get internet connection. Again ive never had a laptop so didnt realize this wasnt possible lol. Now im realizing that is not the case at all and even if you go through Comcast you have to keep your laptop in your house or u lose internet connection. ahhh it helps to do the research I guess! Im still happy I ordered mine though.

You can do that; check with Verizon, you can get a PCMCIA cellular card that works essentially like a cell phone version of wi-fi. I used it on the last tour I worked, and it was a little slow, but pretty good. It's more expensive, though (small price to pay to be able to work in the back of a crowded van, though).

$80 seems high to me, unless it was expanded cable (not basic, which is what? 13 channels?). Then it's about average, I guess...

Thanks for the good review on the ibook. ive had alot of people say I got ripped off because of the fact he doesnt have disks for the photoshop and all that is on it. I was happy he had that on there because its like over 300 dollars! and it also has iphoto on there. Its not cool though if I am going to lose those if lightning hits and info is lost. That has happened recently to people ive met! I got alittle confused when you said this

Well, provided the CS2 works. I have it installed on my machine, but only because one of my coworkers bought it for his other job and has a laptop, so he was able to install it on my tower. CS2 won't start up if it hasn't been verified, so I would immediately check to make sure it works when you get the laptop.

Do I need to buy a disk copy cloner? How much are cheap external drives? and how exactly do you go about cloning your main one to it? lol sorry i have never heard of this. Its great that there might actually be an option to keep this on the computer! I dont think he had the disk to begin with seems like he said he got the computer with it already on it or something so im not sure. Would that affect keeping CS2?

Sorry, I meant Carbon Copy Cloner, which is a free utility you can find here. I don't know that CS2 can be hacked, but it's possible, I suppose. Either way, CCC should preserve everything, it clones your drive, so when you clone it back to the laptop (should it ever fail), it should (read: SHOULD) work just as it does when you get it. I've never tested this theory, though; perhaps someone else on here has...

Thanks again for all the help you gave me!!! Looking forward to hearing back from you and anyone else who would like to help me out on any of these things. ! still interested in other peoples advice to about if this was a good deal or not and why/why not. Thanks! Bye!

Any time, good luck!

 

[disconap]

Yeah, but unfortunately the original poster bought an ibook I believe.

Honestly, the macbook would be a better deal if you are to spend in the $1000 range. If you can't undo the deal, then just enjoy your nice computer, otherwise see if you can move towards a macbook.

Actually, crap, you're right. How did I miss that?

Still a decent buy, but yeah, $1000 is a little pricey for an ibook (though with the extra RAM, it's almost at market price).

 

[disconap]

And, with that in mind, the Verizon option is out, because the ibook doesn't have a PCMCIA slot.

 

[agirlwithadream]

Hey Disconap! thanks for your advice again. I am hoping I got one of these guys liscenses. Mabe he had it on his other computer I am not sure. I will email him about this to see what he says. sounds like I didnt get totally ripped off but that I bought it pretty much at an average price you would pay at the mac store for the RAM. And yeah I cant undo it lol I bought it from the guy and have sent the money so its a done deal as far as that goes. Is there anything similar to that Verizon card that you can get for your ibook that allows you to take it places with you? To bad it wont work in the ibook because that would he helpful I went to the carbon copy website that you gave me. thank you for it! I see that it is free to download. So when you download this what do you do after that? Does it autimatically copy all of your programs onto a cd or how does it work? sorry still confused. Do I need to buy an external hard drive to do this?

K Marketing thanks for what you said. like I said above I cant undo the deal however I can look into that kind of lap top for the future. Wish I had found this site before I bought the iBook so I could have understood more of what I was doing! u guys make alot more sense and give more feedback. I asked another site and it was kinda split opinions about whether I should get it or not. oh well you live and learn

Steamboat 26 your review on the printer was very helpful! thanks for looking mine up and seeing what you thought. Is yours cheaper and will yours blow up negatives? The printer I was looking at is about $250 right now at staples I think it is. I will look into the external hard drives at those places to since they are all for the most part near me! also will check out that website you gave me! thanks

gauchogolfer I appreciate your opinion to! I have bought the ibook though so i kinda am stuck with it now. if I had come here earlier mabe I would have had different thoughts on it. I did look up a TON of reviews on the iBook though and found very few bad ones for the g4 . I kind of wish it was a 14'' so it would be alittle bigger and burn dvds but if i want it i can always get an external dvd burner. I have one on my computer now and have never really used it. do they work well? I can just imagine people copying their dvds as soon as they get them home from the video rental store lol.

ITASOR thanks for your comment! yes that amazon deal did look good. hopefully other people will see that and go for it. I definatly woudnt mind getting a free printer and ipod nano ~!! why is it that you always find this stuff out AFTER you buy your item . lol

Anyone used the iSkin Pro Touch on their keyboard? I ordered one of those off of ebay to. It was kinda expensive but ive heard alot of things can get down in your keys which can mess up your whole computer. The iSkin had good ratings and alot of people said they liked it. what is yalls experience if you have it to cover your keys? Is it easy to see the keys through the color of the iskin?

Also I am looking to get a basic printer for my hp pavilion 512 MB computer. was wondering what yall thought would be good. This is not the one that would be with my laptop which would be the all in one but just a basic printer that doesnt do anything special nessassarily but that works well and has seperate ink cartridges. Heard this helps you save a ton of money!! thats always a good thing.

look forward to hearing from you. thanks again for all your wonderful help!

 

[iTwitch]

Hey ITwitch! thanks for your input as well. What DSL is it that you use? that is a wonderful price!! MUCH better than comcast!! if that can work on my laptop I will look into getting that one. Unfortunately I dont think im recieving any liscence from these programs. i do not honestly know where he got them from ,,who gave them to him.. or anything but I know that they are working and are on there. How much does a Blue Tooth mouse cost?! That sounds really cool. im with you one less wire is great! And yes I will be using the programs on the computer that im getting. i definatly need photoshop CS2 because im very into photography and will be getting a digital camera soon.

DSL is Verizon, one year contract with a free modem or upgrade the modem to a modem/wireless router for $20 + $20 shipping. Also, the first month was free, I'd imagine most phone companies have a similar deal.

No licenses. Bummer, you won't be able to upgrade or get tech from the company. Probably.

My BT mouse is the BT Micro from MacMall, uses AAA batteries and works well. It was $40 I think. BTW, It's small. You might want to look into the BT Mighty Mouse Apple recently introduced, it's full size but cost more.

 

[agirlwithadream]

Hey iTwitch! thanks for what you said. Verizon sounds like it has a good deal. Will check into that as well as Bell south. I guess you kind of have to look around just to see for sure what the best price is. Companies are always offering some kind of new deal lol I emailed him about the liscences. He said that when he got this computer those things were on it so he has no idea if they were liscenced or not . I think he is being honest because we have exchanged like 50 emails and he has stuck to that story that they were on there. He told me that Macs do not crash very often and he is unsure of what to tell me as far as backing up my system just in case. Did say all programs worked great for him while he had the computer. so hopefully that is the case!!!! mabe there is a way though I can check to see if its liscensed? anyone know?

also has anyone had experience with the iSkin pro touch ? what do you think! thanks Jenny