Is a PowerBook G4 Worth Buying?

[Hrududu]

Indeed that should be how it looks.

I just saw a 15" 1.67GHz; 1GB Ram; 80GB HD PowerBook G4 go for $315. Is that about the price I should expect or should I expect to get one cheaper?

If you're looking at Macs on eBay, here is my advice. Look for the ones that end at odd times of day and during the week. For example, I was helping my girlfriend find a 12" Powerbook over the last month or so. We watched a few sell for over $300 and up to $400 on one just because they ended at "prime time." This is anytime after 4pm and weekends. She won hers for $225 in the same condition and with even more accessories than the $400 one simply because it ended late at night on a Wednesday. I also won a pair of 2.0GHz G5's in perfect working condition for $125 each shipped. I would attribute that to them ending at 3AM central time US. So basically when buying on eBay, the time it ends can have just as much to do with price as anything else.

 

[Jony Mac]

Wow I actually never thought of that. I will have to keep that in mind.

 

[Ram0n]

PowerBook G4

I was thinking of that. The only problem is most people really don't take care of their MacBooks. Too get a MB in good condition I'm around $500 - $700 which I'd rather not spend that right now, which is why a PB was more appealing.

I just bought a pretty good looking PowerBook g4 1.67 ghz, needs another gig of ram (open slot) but other than some wear it is great. So what if I can't upgrade to 10.6.X I am stuck at 10.5.8 and I can use it pretty much for what I want it for... bwuhahahahaha... convert it to a tablet.

Oh, and I bought it in a Waco Texas Goodwill computer outlet for $249.

 

[666sheep]

^ Man, that was good deal, at least in comparison with my local aftermarket. Congrats It's 15 or 17", DDR2 or DDR one?

 

[11colmil]

Powerbooks are great machines. I've known people that love theirs and even though they have Intel Macs, they love their Powerbooks.

I'm looking for a Powerbook for school. I have my Macbook Pro and what not, but I need a computer strictly for word processing, research and so forth. My old iBook that i used to use (G3 900 MHz) took a dive with the dreaded GPU problem. (I already had it shimmed) I was going to get it fixed, but most places wanted way more than it was worth.

 

[666sheep]

Instead looking of PB, try to fix your iBook by yourself. It's worth to try, you'll find directions over the net. It'd be costless and it could help (for some time at least).

 

[11colmil]

Instead looking of PB, try to fix your iBook by yourself. It's worth to try, you'll find directions over the net. It'd be costless and it could help (for some time at least).

I have already tried. I gave up on it. Honestly, it wouldn't be worth it. It is a G3 only capable of Tiger without the Leopard on older machines hack. And even then, its still not going to work 100%.

I don't want to spend too much on a simple school computer and I sure as hell don't want to go to (dare I say it?) pc.

A Powerbook fits what I need.

 

[Jony Mac]

Hmmm after reading all of this I think I feel comfortable looking / hopefully buying a PowerBook.

 

[Davy.Shalom]

It's a great computer, but they don't handle Leopard well, and with Tiger being the latest OS you can put on it and have it run smoothly, you'll be in a tight spot when looking for modern software.

I still love mine to death, but it's just not the same as an Intel Macbook. They're great machines, but only if you're willing to use older software. I'm taking mine to college, and getting a couple new batteries for it.

 

[Davy.Shalom]

So...my answer is no. It is not worth buying because you will later regret the fact that it's not as fast as the other macs (or even PCs.. =( ) you see around you. PowerBooks are still beautiful, and even semi-functional, but unless you have patience and extra money sitting around, you're going to regret it. I think you should go for a more modern computer, just because you can put modern software on it.

 

[charlieroberts]

Mi 15 inch 1.67 GHz 2GB PB was an excellent computer, then I upgraded to 320GB and it is as good as it gets.

Handles everything perfectly. But I must note that its used mostly for mail, pages and itunes.

It has some trouble with large iphoto libraries but other than that, no problems (it handles sd youtube just fine btw).


As for the price, I think it is worth paying up to 350 dlls for one in good condition, including a new battery and upgraded HD.
Good luck

 

[motulist]

It really all depends on the price and the specs. Laptops that are named "powerbook G4" actually span a VERY large range of different models over MANY years and many different levels of technology. I wouldn't consider spending any hundreds of dollars on a PB G4 that's earlier than a 1.5 GHz model, or maybe even a 1.33 GHz if you can get some sort of insanely cheap price on it. But if you can find a 1.5 GHz or faster PB G4 that's in very good condition with a brand new battery and maxed out RAM, then I would say that you should spend a MAXIMUM of $300 on it, but I'd say even that's pushing it.

I know of what I speak - I'm typing this on an Aluminum PB G4 1 Ghz right now. It has been downgraded to kitchen surfing duty only. Its battery hold about 30 seconds worth of power, the screen has grown very dim and yellow over time, the command key on the left side just cracked right in half, it's gone through a couple of charging cables that seem to die after 2 or 3 years, etc. I mean, this machine was a true workhorse for its day, and it was built like a tank, but after 8 years or so, time takes its toll and technology marches ever onward. I'm very happy to have this PB G4 1 GHz around as a light duty entertainment machine around the house, and it's still super useful in many way. But just like an old car, at some point you have to decide that it's not worth the money to repair it anymore and that your dollars would be better spent saving up for a new (or newer used) car.

You said:

She will use this mainly for email, web, facebook, (facebook games), YouTube, etc.

For those tasks, once you start to get into the over $300 range for buying a device, I'd suggest that a $500 iPad would be money much better spent for a light duty entertainment machine. She wouldn't be able to play flash games, but overall I would guess that she'd get a lot more entertainment out of the iPad.

 

[Jony Mac]

Yeah due to budget reasons, iPad right now is too much. Even on eBay finding a cheap one is unheard of.

Because I love my MacBook so much I thought she would love OS X too. I've been looking for a 1.33GHz or higher PowerBook. If i can't find one with decent RAM i have two laptops at home I'm hoping I can take out the RAM from them to upgrade the PB to its max amount of RAM. Also I have a spare 100GB hard drive from an Dell Inspiron 9300 I'm wondering if it would work in a PB for an upgrade.

 

[chrismacguy]

Yeah due to budget reasons, iPad right now is too much. Even on eBay finding a cheap one is unheard of.

Because I love my MacBook so much I thought she would love OS X too. I've been looking for a 1.33GHz or higher PowerBook. If i can't find one with decent RAM i have two laptops at home I'm hoping I can take out the RAM from them to upgrade the PB to its max amount of RAM. Also I have a spare 100GB hard drive from an Dell Inspiron 9300 I'm wondering if it would work in a PB for an upgrade.

As far as RAM goes you have to be careful - mine is quite picky, especially if (for reasons I havent worked out) the modules are unmatched. If the drive is a 2.5" Drive with the right connector (I think its IDE) then it should work fine

 

[motulist]

Yeah due to budget reasons, iPad right now is too much.

Then my advice applies even more so. I think you shouldn't spend a penny over $300 on a PB G4, because after that you might as well hold off on buying for a few months so that you can save up and bump up what you can afford to something in the ipad price range.

 

[longwood]

PowerBook will definitely fit the bill. If you are looking to swap the hard drive just make sure it is PATA. The new hard drives are SATA, however, you mentioned that the Dell is 6 years old - which I would assume is also going to PATA so you shouldn't have a problem. Note that hard drive replacement for PowerBooks is kind of scary, but just follow a guide and be patient and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[new2powerbook]

Good Source for refurb PowerBooks

J,

I see your are looking for good quality at a low price for a PowerBook. I just purchased mine from Cedar PC. I have been dealing with these guys for a long time. I buy and re-sell their refurbished models. I just purchased a refurb PowerBook in a condition it looks like it has never been used and it has anew battery, LCD, and power adapter all for $227.00. They cover all of them with a 30 or 90 day warranty and they give excellent customer service. they have tons of accessories too.

 

[milatchi]

So if I can find a 1.5GHz G4 and 1GB of RAM or more do you think this will be enough?

No, it will not.

 

[longwood]

No, it will not.

1.5Ghz with 1GB RAM is more than enough for everyday tasks. I have a 1.25Ghz iMac and a 1.67Ghz PowerBook and they run just as quick as my MacBook.

 

[motulist]

1.5Ghz with 1GB RAM is more than enough for everyday tasks. I have a 1.25Ghz iMac and a 1.67Ghz PowerBook and they run just as quick as my MacBook.

I disagree. I use a PB G4 1GHz as my junker in the kitchen and it can't do lots of stuff these days. Any website with Flash brings it to a crawl, and more importantly there are more and more apps these days that simply won't work at all on non-intel machines. It's still capable of doing lots of stuff, but at this point in time it's simply not worth it to sink any real amount of money into a non-intel machine.

 

[PowerGamerX]

No its not worth buying. It may be worth using to pull up recipes if you already have one. You can get a used Intel MacBook for just about the same price, so it makes no sense to buy a PowerBook or iBook anymore. Sad yes, but that's just the way it is.

Also you should reinstall your OS longwood if your MacBook is as slow as your PowerBook...

 

[Epsilon88]

I'm getting my Powerbook G4 1.5 ghz, 1.25 gb RAM next week and I'll do a test to see who's right!

 

[BigTroll]

Have you ever used a single core Pentium M? They're trash! The G4 will smoke that thing in everyday use. The clock speed may be similar, but I can assure you there is a huge difference in how the CPU's work. A 1.6GHz pentium M is basically a PIII at heart.

okay thats bs right there, a 1.6ghz pentium M is about equal to a pentium 4 at 3ghz they are highly efficient clock for clock, my pentium M dell 9300 has no problem watching youtube 720p fullscreen where my PowerBook G4 15 inch 1.33 struggles at 360p and can only do 240p smooth, if you don't believe me look at all the people that put OS X on older pentium M computers it blows the G4s out of the water in benchmarks and real world perfomance.

 

[PowerGamerX]

okay thats bs right there, a 1.6ghz pentium M is about equal to a pentium 4 at 3ghz they are highly efficient clock for clock, my pentium M dell 9300 has no problem watching youtube 720p fullscreen where my PowerBook G4 15 inch 1.33 struggles at 360p and can only do 240p smooth, if you don't believe me look at all the people that put OS X on older pentium M computers it blows the G4s out of the water in benchmarks and real world perfomance.

Exactly, my ThinkPad T43 with a 2.1ghz Pentium M feels extremely capable still, even with Windows 7, the PowerBook I traded recently (12 1.5ghz 1.25gb)... not so much.

 

[Willis]

Go for a 1.5 or 1.67 Powerbook. They are still awesome machines. I miss my 15" 1.5 PB.