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Is an iBook g4 worth buying anymore

M

macfellow :)

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 11, 2010
7
0
Ive been looking at iBookg4's on eBay lately a few i saw come with leopard and with airport extreme card in them would it still be worth getting for someone in highschool also will any iBook/MacBook charger work with it or does it have to be a specific type?

O and I'm kinda skeptical about buying on eBay should I be or not
 
Agreed. The PPC chips are dead for development and most pro-grade use, but they're still exceptional for what they are (and G4s and G5s are plenty for basic needs).
 
No

Only if you get one cheap and only as a netbook alternative. And netbooks suck
 
macfellow :) said:
Ive been looking at iBookg4's on eBay lately a few i saw come with leopard and with airport extreme card in them would it still be worth getting for someone in highschool also will any iBook/MacBook charger work with it or does it have to be a specific type?

O and I'm kinda skeptical about buying on eBay should I be or not
Click to expand...

If you can find a late model one for sub $200 would be OK. Look for a 1.33ghz(12" or 14") or 1.42ghz(14" model). Those also take 1.5gb of memory and come with a superdrive(1.42ghz standard). Also check your local craigslist. Buying on ebay can be a gamble and is also available to more uneducated people so you typically won't find a great deal there but it can happen if the auction ends at a weird time.

They are still good computers for lighter work and I guess would be good for high school.

Any 45w or 65w from an iBook or Powerbook will work. The Macbooks used what is known as a magsafe connection so it won't work.
 
a 1.33 ghz or better ibook G4 with maximum memory is a perfectly decent machine for web browsing, writing repots, and e-mail. It's especially good if you can find a means for backing it up (cloning to HD at home) then if it gets smashed or stolen at school, you haven't lost as much. NOt to mention an old iBook isn't much of a target for thieves. I use an iBook G4 for travel and it works fine. I back it up at home to an external firewire HD.
 
old-wiz said:
a 1.33 ghz or better ibook G4 with maximum memory is a perfectly decent machine for web browsing, writing repots, and e-mail. It's especially good if you can find a means for backing it up (cloning to HD at home) then if it gets smashed or stolen at school, you haven't lost as much. NOt to mention an old iBook isn't much of a target for thieves. I use an iBook G4 for travel and it works fine. I back it up at home to an external firewire HD.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is a good point. If you can get one for less than $200 tham I say go for it. It is still a very useable machine for everyday stuff no matter what people say about PPC being useless.
 
I'd say they are worth less than $100. You are looking at close to a seven year old laptop.

Don't buy on eBay. The G4 iBooks had problems with the logic boards breaking with no exterior damage on them. I've seen an iBook that needed to run hard (1 YouTube video) for 4-5 minutes before the logic board would crap out and freeze the system. After 10 minutes of cooling it worked again. Other iBooks will boot but then the screen fuzzes out or won't finish booting.

You need to test the iBook before you buy it and you can't test it if you buy on eBay.
 
da2005pizimp said:
I have also been thinking about picking one up, I have seen g4 ibooks going for pretty cheap like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-iBook-G4-...89009585?pt=Apple_Laptops&hash=item19bf9e5eb1 I disagree with everyone, I have had mostly good experiences with ebay. also if someone sells you a broken ibook you can just make a paypal claim to get your money back.
Click to expand...

be careful there if someone sells it private (and not from a ebayshop)and sells it as "used" you wont stand a single chance if it comes full of scratches , as long as it matches the description at the time you did bid or pressed by it now ,as it is listed as "used ", which includes signs of wear so the seller does not have to point out the deep scratch or the cracked broken edge , fair if he does but.... he does not have to ,listing as "usual signs of wear" is enough, as he can always point out that other iBooks sold on ebay have scratches and cracks too so it is a usual condition

and be especially careful( as it happened to me , not on a iBook but on a iMac G5 ) when you ask questions ,the seller might quietly remove or add things from the listing ,so always read again and again the listing before you press buy it now or bid , dont assume that the listing you did read a minute ago is still the same after (in case of a iBook) you asked for example if there had been any problems for example bad soldering ,or if the battery gets charged a simple add on to their listing can make your chances zero of getting even from paypal something back, for example if he adds to his formerly listing
" cant give warranties on hardware"
you are out of luck even if it stops working a day later
 
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