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What is your favorite PowerBook Aluminum


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My 12" 1Ghz has become really sluggish with Leopard and current itunes and safari.

I no longer have the Tiger disc (my PB originally shipped with Panther(!))

Any tips on how to downgrade back to Tiger? I long for the days when it wasn't a frustration to use.
 
My 12" 1Ghz has become really sluggish with Leopard and current itunes and safari.

I no longer have the Tiger disc (my PB originally shipped with Panther(!))

Any tips on how to downgrade back to Tiger? I long for the days when it wasn't a frustration to use.

Sorry bud, you're going to have to buy tiger again.
 
I've been using my PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz since I got it 4 and a half years ago. I absolutely love it, but it has gotten a bit slow and the hard drive is full. Any tips on speeding it up? I'm worried there might be dust blocking the fan or something, is it worth opening up?
 
I've been using my PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz since I got it 4 and a half years ago. I absolutely love it, but it has gotten a bit slow and the hard drive is full. Any tips on speeding it up? I'm worried there might be dust blocking the fan or something, is it worth opening up?
Buy a newer & faster hard drive for it. You can get 320GB for less than $100 on newegg. Definitely clean the dust out too. If its gotten dusty and the fans aren't working as well, it could end up overheating and burning itself up.
 
I have a 17" G4 PB that still gets a ton of use - DVDs, music, surfing the net, pages (for homework assignments) etc.

The screen is dying (got about 25 vertical lines of various colors stuck on). I hate to get rid of it, though. I've been thinking about repair, but it is so darn expensive to repair the screen on these things.

I'll probably just use it till it dies.

Definitely the best computer I've ever owned.

If you feel brave enough, I would recommend buying a replacement screen from iFixit, or ebay, and just replace it.

I am considering one of these systems for my "stay at home" laptop.
 
seems as though this is a pb thread i might as well post here, i have a dell latitude d620, core duo 1.8ghz, 1gb ram, 160gb hdd. i am interested in getting a powerbook g4 17inch model, people say ANY mac is faster then pc, is this true? will i notice any speed difference? i'm interested in selling my laptop, and buying the pb, having my pc desktop + an intel imac or mac pro...
 
seems as though this is a pb thread i might as well post here, i have a dell latitude d620, core duo 1.8ghz, 1gb ram, 160gb hdd. i am interested in getting a powerbook g4 17inch model, people say ANY mac is faster then pc, is this true? will i notice any speed difference? i'm interested in selling my laptop, and buying the pb, having my pc desktop + an intel imac or mac pro...

Your dell would be faster. You can see if it is a decent one to hackintosh. Just google dell latitude d620 hackintosh to see if it will work. Since it is a older one it should be easier.
 
seems as though this is a pb thread i might as well post here, i have a dell latitude d620, core duo 1.8ghz, 1gb ram, 160gb hdd. i am interested in getting a powerbook g4 17inch model, people say ANY mac is faster then pc, is this true? will i notice any speed difference? i'm interested in selling my laptop, and buying the pb, having my pc desktop + an intel imac or mac pro...

Depends on the Mac, If it's a 1.33Ghz or above G4, then you should be fine as long as you max out the RAM and put a fast hard drive in it.

for example a 300Mhz PowerMac G3 is NOT faster than your dell latitude.
 
Your dell would be faster. You can see if it is a decent one to hackintosh. Just google dell latitude d620 hackintosh to see if it will work. Since it is a older one it should be easier.
Yeah, I wouldn't trust myself though, I'd somehow blow up my computer haha :/
Depends on the Mac, If it's a 1.33Ghz or above G4, then you should be fine as long as you max out the RAM and put a fast hard drive in it.

for example a 300Mhz PowerMac G3 is NOT faster than your dell latitude.

Well It'd be a Powerbook G4 1.67GHz.
 
Buy a newer & faster hard drive for it. You can get 320GB for less than $100 on newegg. Definitely clean the dust out too. If its gotten dusty and the fans aren't working as well, it could end up overheating and burning itself up.

I've got a 1.67GHz 15" PB, with 1.5GB RAM but the original 80GB HD. It's getting pretty full, too. How easy is the HD upgrade?
 
I've got a 1.67GHz 15" PB, with 1.5GB RAM but the original 80GB HD. It's getting pretty full, too. How easy is the HD upgrade?
I've never actually done a 15" Al Powerbook G4. If they didn't change too much between the Powerbook and first MacBook Pro's then it isn't terribly difficult. I replaced the HD in my MBP in about 35 minutes, but I have the service manuals.
 
I've never actually done a 15" Al Powerbook G4. If they didn't change too much between the Powerbook and first MacBook Pro's then it isn't terribly difficult. I replaced the HD in my MBP in about 35 minutes, but I have the service manuals.

I think you just take the top case off and swap the drive. Then put the top case back on. I have a PDF of the service manual for a 15 inch PB. (first gen)
 
I think you just take the top case off and swap the drive. Then put the top case back on.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. It's about 25 screws or so and once you get the top case off the drive is right there on the lower left.

In my experience, the worst machine to take apart is the beloved 12" Powerbook G4. Love that machine with a passion but hate to take it apart for the life of me.
 
Depending on what you do you'll be more than fine. I was on a 1.67 15 inch for a very long time and very happy. Since it was the latest version there were basically no issues with the machine. I used if for 3 years for work and personal and never had 1 problem. I actually just picked up a 17inch version for my girlfriend since i wasn't wanting to drop the dough on a new 17inch machine. Finally have all PCs out of my house :D. It's still more machine than she needs since she basically uses it for writing, surfing and school work. It handles 10.5 without a problem. Telling us what you use it for would help us give you a better recomendation

Yeah, I wouldn't trust myself though, I'd somehow blow up my computer haha :/


Well It'd be a Powerbook G4 1.67GHz.
 
I plan on getting a 15" or 17" PB 1.67 for a bedside media center and a Mac laptop that can perform very well and I can take it with me places where I wouldn't take my MacBook because of the chance of it being broken or stolen,I'd be upset but I'd rather have a PM stolen than my MB.
 
I just picked up non-booting 12" PB G4 from the e-waste bin from my building. I cracked it open and replaced the HD with a working one I have lying around. Loaded up a Tiger Install disc and it ran!!!

After putting in parts I have lying around, including a new battery, RAM, and airport extreme card, I have a fully functioning G4. Its only a 1Ghz processor, but after putting in the 1GB stick, its pretty snappy. My only complaints are that flash video (YouTube) is choppy and it runs hot.

I'm debating whether or not to sell it, or just keep it as my new travel computer.
 
I just picked up non-booting 12" PB G4 from the e-waste bin from my building. I cracked it open and replaced the HD with a working one I have lying around. Loaded up a Tiger Install disc and it ran!!!

After putting in parts I have lying around, including a new battery, RAM, and airport extreme card, I have a fully functioning G4. Its only a 1Ghz processor, but after putting in the 1GB stick, its pretty snappy. My only complaints are that flash video (YouTube) is choppy and it runs hot.

I'm debating whether or not to sell it, or just keep it as my new travel computer.

my 12" 1.5 acts the same, it'l run youtube fine but can get very hot.
 
Help!

Hi Guys,really need your help and expert advice.My Powerbook G4 1.25 1G RAM and 80g hdd runs sluggish esp on facebook games(hehehe) and you tubes,do i need to replace faster harddive?do i need to boost up my RAM?sorry im a complete noob.
Btw PB runs OS Leopard

Thanks
 
Hi Guys,really need your help and expert advice.My Powerbook G4 1.25 1G RAM and 80g hdd runs sluggish esp on facebook games(hehehe) and you tubes,do i need to replace faster harddive?do i need to boost up my RAM?sorry im a complete noob.
Btw PB runs OS Leopard

Thanks

You are SOL. Flash sucks on PPC chips. A faster HD or RAM will not solve it.
 
You are SOL. Flash sucks on PPC chips. A faster HD or RAM will not solve it.

Thanks for the reply.SOL means?S***t Out of Luck?lol!,anyhoo.so with my situation, imean having my 15 PBG4 running sluggish, will there be no more remedy at all?
 
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