I have been seeing these clamshell iBooks really cheap on eBay and I wanted to buy one for my daughter. Anyone have any luck putting OSX into a clamshell or am I doomed to use OS9 on the clamshell?
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Has Anyone Had Any Luck Putting OSX Into A Clamshell iBook?
- Thread starter Bali Cockfight
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I bet you could install OSX on one of those, but would it be worth it? That laptop would just barely meet the minimum system requirements, if at all.
I don't really know for sure, but if you were able to you would be left with little space, it would run slow because of how old that laptop is, and you might find yourself getting a new computer anyway for her.
Its technology. Its cheap because there isn't much use for it anymore.
I don't really know for sure, but if you were able to you would be left with little space, it would run slow because of how old that laptop is, and you might find yourself getting a new computer anyway for her.
Its technology. Its cheap because there isn't much use for it anymore.
clamshell is G3, right? i think for sure you can get 10.2 in there easily... and depend on the specs, (aka, with or without firewire) you can get 10.4 in there without or with a hack of the installation file..
what is the specs of the one you are looking at?
what is the specs of the one you are looking at?
Well, there is a reason the clamshells are so cheap now. They have an 800x600 screen, they weigh a ton, some of them don't have Firewire, and they are sloooooow. The fastest ones were 466MHz, and that was on a 66MHz bus (!). You can install OS X on them, but actually doing anything on them will crawl, even with the RAM maxed out to 544MB/576MB (depending on model).
You do want to upgrade the RAM to AT LEAST 256MB. You may also want to install a larger hard drive. OS X eats several GBs on its own. On the clamshells, upgrading the HD - just getting the case open and getting access to the drive - is a monumental challenge that requires total disassembly of the machine.
Panther (10.3) would be a good choice over Tiger (10.4) because it uses less RAM and doesn't include things like Dashboard and Spotlight which will only eat up disk space and memory and hog the CPU.
Honestly, if I had a clamshell, I would be running OS 9 on it.
You do want to upgrade the RAM to AT LEAST 256MB. You may also want to install a larger hard drive. OS X eats several GBs on its own. On the clamshells, upgrading the HD - just getting the case open and getting access to the drive - is a monumental challenge that requires total disassembly of the machine.
Panther (10.3) would be a good choice over Tiger (10.4) because it uses less RAM and doesn't include things like Dashboard and Spotlight which will only eat up disk space and memory and hog the CPU.
Honestly, if I had a clamshell, I would be running OS 9 on it.
I've run OSX on worse than those. The 800X600 screen is a major annoyance, but past that, they're slow but serviceable given enough RAM.
And they're kinda cool, in their own toilet-seat way. Also built like a rock--everybody I knew who had one said that it was the toughest computer they'd ever had.
And they're kinda cool, in their own toilet-seat way. Also built like a rock--everybody I knew who had one said that it was the toughest computer they'd ever had.
Xubuntu
HI,
You're not doomed to use MAC OS9, you can also use some varieties of Linux. Check out www.Xubuntu.org and try to find out about linux users experience with that specific hardware. If all you need is a "typewritter" or computer for web browsing, that sturdy G3 might be a bargain.
NL
HI,
You're not doomed to use MAC OS9, you can also use some varieties of Linux. Check out www.Xubuntu.org and try to find out about linux users experience with that specific hardware. If all you need is a "typewritter" or computer for web browsing, that sturdy G3 might be a bargain.
NL
yeah, it will run okay... if you just want to play w/ it and not do much serious work
half yr ago i layed my hand on a imac g3 233mhz rev a 20gb 640mb, i manage to load tiger on there... sure there's lag here and there, but i managed to play a little on there... browse internet, email, even word and excel run on it... sure it's not mac pro 3.0, but it will do for a toy
how old is your daughter?
edit: okay, now that sounds weird... i meant, if she's very young and this is to be her first computer, then it's probably a good buy... but if this is for her college study, probably not...
half yr ago i layed my hand on a imac g3 233mhz rev a 20gb 640mb, i manage to load tiger on there... sure there's lag here and there, but i managed to play a little on there... browse internet, email, even word and excel run on it... sure it's not mac pro 3.0, but it will do for a toy
how old is your daughter?
edit: okay, now that sounds weird... i meant, if she's very young and this is to be her first computer, then it's probably a good buy... but if this is for her college study, probably not...
I had OSX 10.2 Jaguar on the last clamshell iBook I had.....graphite version with firewire port. Ran just fine for web browsing and MS Office v.X.
The only problem I've had (aside from the screen size) . . .
As soon as installed OS X 10.2 the battery started running down faster. Instead of 4 hours it started running only 2. And when I put in 10.3 (which I really really like - expose 'specially) it went to 1 hour.
Could be the battery, but others have complained about it too. Maybe 9.2.2 is better and there alot of programs out there for it.
As soon as installed OS X 10.2 the battery started running down faster. Instead of 4 hours it started running only 2. And when I put in 10.3 (which I really really like - expose 'specially) it went to 1 hour.
Could be the battery, but others have complained about it too. Maybe 9.2.2 is better and there alot of programs out there for it.
Oh hehe, clamshells are awesome! I love them. I have 10.3 on mine and it runs perfectly fine. They are definitely not to the point that there that so "slooooww" that it won't run OS X sufficiently. It runs iChat, Microsoft Office, Safari, those basics just fine. The only complaint I have is that it is 800X600, but I get over that. Mine's a graphite 466 G3, 192 RAM, firewire, dvd. Also, they look cool, and they don't get hot at all like macbooks nowadays... Oh, and make sure you update the firmware when you are upgrading from 9 to X.
Whimsy said:
Thanks. Everyone has given me some very valuable advice. I am sometimes in awe of what everyone offers here.