Ibook G3 or G4? Which has better battery life?

[bannor]

Hi there. I'm looking at purchasing my first Mac. I want to get an Ibook, and I'm wondering if there is any significant different in battery life between the G3 (800 Mhz), and the G4 (1 Ghz). Is there anyone who has owned both of these notebooks that can give me their experiences with the battery life? Any info would be appreciated.

Regards,
Dennis

 

[netytan]

Get the G4, this is already a little outdated as processors go but the G3 is ancient. If you ask me you'll get much more use out of the newer Ibook's which should last you for about 2 or 3 years!

Add to that the difference in features and i'd again go with the new model even though it will undoutadly cost you more right now as all new things do

Last but not least the G4 IBook comes loaded with the latest version of Mac OS X and ILife 2004 aswell as a bunch of other useful software your otherwise going to be shelling out for! That is if they would even work correctly or efficently with the G3?

Just my too cent,

Mark.

 

[macNoob]

Battery Tech

To the best of my understanding, Apple updated their battery technology between the G3 and G4 laptops, giving the two systems equivalent battery life. I have a G3 iBook, and the original battery died, so I recently got a new one, but all they had was iBook G4 batteries (apparently they're backwards compatible). My new battery life is higher than it ever was on the old battery.

 

[flyfish29]

The thing will last you much longer than 2 or 3 years!!!!! Depending on what you want to do with your mac, it might only "work" for you for a few years. What I mean is if you do "power" type stuff (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) it might become too slow for your taste in two or three years, but the quality of the hardware will last much longer and if you do simple stuff like surfing, dig. pics, email, etc. then you might feel comfortable keeping it four years. All of my macs have "worked" for me for four years roughly, then I sell and get quite a bit for them at that point to get my new one.

I would look at the features and software on both machines and debate the price difference at that point in time. If you do basic computing, word processing, email, and surfing the G3 might suffice, especially if you save 30% or more.

Just my own two cents.

 

[bannor]

Thanks for the replies guys. This will not only be my first Mac, but also my first laptop, so I am a little leery of shelling out $1900 Cdn + another $250 in tax (with extra ram, bigger HD, and Airport Extreme). I can get a used 800 Mhz G3 with 640 megs of ram, and Airport installed for about $1000 Cdn. If I decide I don't like it after a couple of months I can always flip it on Ebay for just about what I paid for it. Ah, decisions, decisions...

 

[netytan]

Well good luck with that man. i know it took me about 4 weeks to make a desision between the 12" PowerBook and 12" IBook. I finally got the order placed today after having a few problems ordering form Apple Australia.

I still have to get my mum to transfer my money to apples account - since they have a problem with debiting my UK account - before my order will be shipped though .

I got the IBook, it really is a very nice system! Obviously since i picked it over the PowerBook . Whatever you get you wont be dissapoined i'm sure! Though i think the extra money for a system that will last you much longer, thanks for setting me straight on that one, is well worth it

Mark.

 

[Crikey]

If you're interested in making music with your iBook, Apple's GarageBand software ships on the G4 iBooks but probably wouldn't be found on most used G3s. The software also has important functionality (Software Instruments) that works on G4 CPUs but is disabled on G3s.

When the local places cleared out their G3s for tempting prices, I agonized. For most uses, the G3 is probably Fast Enough. But since I have become a GarageBand user I'm glad I didn't buy a G3.

Cheers,


Crikey

 

[applebum]

Last but not least the G4 IBook comes loaded with the latest version of Mac OS X and ILife 2004 aswell as a bunch of other useful software your otherwise going to be shelling out for! That is if they would even work correctly or efficently with the G3?

I just got a G3 900 iBook in April. I bought it through MacConnection. It came with 10.3, and iLife 04. I just had to install them myself. Mine only has 256 ram, but it works all the basics just fine (Safari, Mail, MS Office) - even Garage Band works. Go for your best bang for the buck.

 

[bannor]

How about the G4 Ibook (1 Ghz) vs. G4 Powerbook (1.33 Ghz) battery life? I went down to a local reseller today to see if they had a 12" IBook demo unit, but they only had a 12" PB. What a sweet machine. Wasn't really considering the Powerbook option because of the price, but after seeing it and trying it out I'm definitely thinking it might be the better option. I liked the keyboard way better than the 14" IBook they had on display. I will do a lot of writing on the machine, so that is an important consideration for me. If the battery life is comparable, I might have already made up my mind...

 

[Finiksa]

How about the G4 Ibook (1 Ghz) vs. G4 Powerbook (1.33 Ghz) battery life?

There are many variables determining battery life, but comparing those two 'Books each with batteries in a similar condition, you could expect the 12" iBook to last roughly 1 hour longer than the 12" Powerbook.