Is a PowerBook G4 worth it?

[InsanelyApple]

Hey, everyone. I already have a iMac and my chromebook (CR-48), but I want to learn how to use terminal and I hate trying to do that on my iMac, because I read my book on how to do it at night (around 7-10PM) and I'd prefer to be in my bed while doing this, not a desk.

So I've been offered 200 dollars for a PowerBook g4 12" with the original disks, iLife, and charger. Would you say it's worth it for just my preference of learning location and me having the money, or should I buy a newer Mac laptop, or just suck it up and learn on my iMac even though I don't like it.

OS: 10.5
RAM: 640MB
HDD: 40GB
Processor: PowerPC g4 single core 867 MHz

 

[iLucas]

Hey, all. I already have a iMac and my chromebook (CR-48), but I want to learn how to use terminal and I hate trying to do that on my iMac, because I read my book on how to do it at night (around 7-10PM) and I'd prefer to be in my bed while doing this, not a desk.

So I've been offered 200 dollars for a PowerBook g4 12". Would you say it's worth it for just my prefence and I have the money, or should I buy a newer Mac laptop, or justnsuck it up and learn on my iMac even though I don't like it.

OS: 10.5
RAM: 640MB
HDD: 40GB
Processor: PowerPC g4 single core 867 MHz

$200 is more then i would pay for that particular machine. You can get ones with better specs on eBay for the same price.
But if you do decide to get it I would upgrade the ram to 1 Gb if you plan to keep 10.5 on it.

 

[InsanelyApple]

$200 is more then i would pay for that particular machine. You can get ones with better specs on eBay for the same price.
But if you do decide to get it I would upgrade the ram to 1 Gb if you plan to keep 10.5 on it.

Wow, that was quick. I didn't even finish proofreading my post. I will think about it and would like to hear a few more opinions (yeah, don't know how to spell that. Help with that would be nice.) before I make a decision either way.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Wow, that was quick. I didn't even finish proofreading my post. I will think about it and would like to hear a few more opinions (yeah, don't know how to spell that. Help with that would be nice.) before I make a decision either way.

First off, you spelled opinions correctly

I'd have to agree; the first 12" PBG4 is one to be avoided at all costs, especially for $200. It had many issues that were not present in later revisions; USB 1.1, severe heat issues, and weak graphics being the biggest. If you really want a PowerBook (the 12" ones are brilliant little machines, I still miss mine), go for the last revisions (1.5GHz for the 12", 1.67GHz for the 15"/17"). These have pretty much all of the kinks worked out, and give you the scrolling trackpad (two-finger scrolling) to boot.

That said, if you can't find one for less than $300-400, I'd give it a pass and put your money towards a newer Apple laptop.

 

[adcx64]

I just bought my iBook g4 on eBay for 145. It's am great deal because I got the latest model before the MacBook. You could look for an iBook. See my signature.

 

[InsanelyApple]

First off, you spelled opinions correctly

I'd have to agree; the first 12" PBG4 is one to be avoided at all costs, especially for $200. It had many issues that were not present in later revisions; USB 1.1, severe heat issues, and weak graphics being the biggest. If you really want a PowerBook (the 12" ones are brilliant little machines, I still miss mine), go for the last revisions (1.5GHz for the 12", 1.67GHz for the 15"/17"). These have pretty much all of the kinks worked out, and give you the scrolling trackpad (two-finger scrolling) to boot.

That said, if you can't find one for less than $300-400, I'd give it a pass and put your money towards a newer Apple laptop.

Thanks for both, the spelling and the laptop. I'm thinking I will save up a bit more for a black MacBook off of eBay, so I can do more than just terminal.

 

[Joshuarocks]

Thanks for both, the spelling and the laptop. I'm thinking I will save up a bit more for a black MacBook off of eBay, so I can do more than just terminal.

What do you plan doing on the computer, besides terminal? With the exception of bootcamp, video and audio pro apps, most normal stuff can be done on a PB G4 (at least mine), just like on a macbook.

I have no problems with the performance of my PB G4 for my everyday tasks.

 

[InsanelyApple]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Thanks for both, the spelling and the laptop. I'm thinking I will save up a bit more for a black MacBook off of eBay, so I can do more than just terminal.

What do you plan doing on the computer, besides terminal? With the exception of bootcamp, video and audio pro apps, most normal stuff can be done on a PB G4 (at least mine), just like on a macbook.

I have no problems with the performance of my PB G4 for my everyday tasks.[/QUOTE]

Right now I don't think I would do anything else, but since I would buy it I would more than likely do something else with it. I probably would do the normal everyday stuff on it too.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[MultiFinder17]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)



Right now I don't think I would do anything else, but since I would buy it I would more than likely do something else with it. I probably would do the normal everyday stuff on it too.

Sent from my iPhone

A wise choice; as much as I love the PowerBooks, they are getting rather long in the tooth these days, especially with more and more software leaving them behind. If you're going to go for a MacBook, get one with a Core 2 Duo in it - the Core Duo models are being left behind by Lion.

 

[InsanelyApple]

A wise choice; as much as I love the PowerBooks, they are getting rather long in the tooth these days, especially with more and more software leaving them behind. If you're going to go for a MacBook, get one with a Core 2 Duo in it - the Core Duo models are being left behind by Lion.

I was thinking the black Macbook (2007, I think. 2GB RAM and Core 2 Duo). Then I'd upgrade it to an SSD.

 

[iLucas]

I was thinking the black Macbook (2007, I think. 2GB RAM and Core 2 Duo). Then I'd upgrade it to an SSD.

Get the late 07 with 2.2Ghz C2D. I have that machine in white and it's a nice machine. The ram can be upgraded to 6GB and adding a SSD would make it really nice.