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is an ibook still worth it?
- Thread starter macdame
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That's a ridiculous amount of value loss in one year. What, are they going to be $100 next year?
G4's are still useful if you have a fast HD and lots of RAM. But Snow Leopard will not work on G4's so you will have to replace it when you want Snow Leopard.
I use my 15" PowerBook G4 in College (University for Brits) just fine, and I run plenty of hardware intensive applications as well (Lightroom, Photoshop CS, iMovie occasionally, I love to mess with GarageBand's piano all the time, and of course the basic stuff like safari, iTunes and Mail)
I think its silly for people to be so needy, especially with economic strains on everyones' wallets. Just think, 3 or 4 years ago, these PowerBooks were helping to cut and edit scenes from Professional movies, or even recording some of your favorite hit songs. They were fast back then, with the software of the time. If you want the speed, use the software it was made to run. Don't expect it to rival a MP with Leopard rendering h.264 videos.
Personally, I think a PBG4 with 2GB of RAM and Tiger or Leopard would carry your needs for 2+ years until you decide if you want to take the plunge on a newer unit. I still have an iBook G3 running Panther (10.3) at home, so for people to say these computers are useless is just whiny and pitiful.
I think its silly for people to be so needy, especially with economic strains on everyones' wallets. Just think, 3 or 4 years ago, these PowerBooks were helping to cut and edit scenes from Professional movies, or even recording some of your favorite hit songs. They were fast back then, with the software of the time. If you want the speed, use the software it was made to run. Don't expect it to rival a MP with Leopard rendering h.264 videos.
Personally, I think a PBG4 with 2GB of RAM and Tiger or Leopard would carry your needs for 2+ years until you decide if you want to take the plunge on a newer unit. I still have an iBook G3 running Panther (10.3) at home, so for people to say these computers are useless is just whiny and pitiful.
True, but that's more of a matter of "if" then "when". I'm still running Tiger. I don't have any need for Leopard or Snow Leopard, and by the time I do need to upgrade to a newer OS, this iBook will be slow enough to justify a new machine. So it's not really a big deal.
I agree. You just need a fast HD and lots of RAM and you will be good to go until Snow Leopard which is when I will be upgrading. But if you can stand having an outdated operating system it would be OK. My friend used a 800 MHz TiBook in 2008 and I do not know what he has now. He could still be using it I do not know. He does have a 17 inch CD iMac for a desktop but he used the TiBook more because it is a laptop and he needed a laptop for use at school. He used a PBG3 500MHz in 2008 before he got the TiBook. I took my PowerBook to school every day before I was homeschooled. His TiBook was given to him for free with a dead backlight and broken hinges but the backlight cable was just shorting and was fixed with electrical tape and he had the hinges from his previous TiBook 550 that had a cracked screen. I had to use the TiBook 550 with the iBook's HD and 128 MB RAM while my 1.67 PB was being fixed as my iBook was dead.
In 2006 I was using a 300MHz PowerMac G3 with 768 MB RAM and a 80 GB HD and 10.2 because it was all I had. But I got my iBook in Feb. 2007 and my PowerBook in Dec. 2007. I had a 2.8 GHz dell desktop before the G3 but I liked the G3 better
I had a 233MHz PowerBook G3 in 2006, shortly thereafter followed by a Blueberry Clamshell 300MHz. These were used while my Thinkpad was out of commission, but they still got the job done!
At least you had laptops! I had a hard time with the 550MHz G4 with 128 MB RAM and 10.2 and OS 9 in 2008. It even was missing the screen! I ended up using OS 9 on the G4 550 because of the RAM. Leopard ran better with 128MB than 10.2 actually. But it took me having the 1.67 PB to install it
My old friend has the same iMac!
Yeah, I did. Now go back and read the post where another user stated that ANY Intel was faster than ANY PPC. Now do we understand?
Probably because snow leopard will not work on them
2 years ago PB 1.67's were $1000 now they are $700. When I bought my PB I should of gotten a low end MacBook but they had 13 inch screens which is smaller than my iBook and the whole reason I got the PB was because I wanted a better screen.
That's a misconception, not ALL of the G4 HDs were 4200rpm
System profiler reads my ATA Model number is ST9100823A This original drive, a 5400rpm BTO option on my 12" 1.5ghz G4.
God knows I would never attempt to replace the HD in this thing on my own... the 12" ibook and I have a history....
That's a misconception, not ALL of the G4 HDs were 4200rpm
System profiler reads my ATA Model number is ST9100823A This original drive, a 5400rpm BTO option on my 12" 1.5ghz G4.
God knows I would never attempt to replace the HD in this thing on my own... the 12" ibook and I have a history....
That is a 12 inch PB we are talking about iBook's here!
My PB 100 GB HD is 5400 RPM and it is the original!
Geez, how this thread has gotten off course. All the OP wanted to know is if an iBook G4 would be a good learning machine, not if it would be comparable to a new Macbook. No, its not going to be uber-fast; no, its not going to compare to a new machine. But then again, the price won't compare either, will it?
To the OP: Get the iBook. It'll show you how great Mac OS is and you'll find yourself wanting that new Macbook in no time. My first Mac was a 300MHz B/W G3 - in the days of G5's. Everybody told me it was going to be slow, too - and you know what, it was. But I could still use it and I had good fun with it. Now look at me - for all intents and purposes, other computer makers don't even exist to me (with the exception of netbooks, b/c Apple isn't making one). Try it; love it; get hooked; and be prepared to spend lots of money.
To the OP: Get the iBook. It'll show you how great Mac OS is and you'll find yourself wanting that new Macbook in no time. My first Mac was a 300MHz B/W G3 - in the days of G5's. Everybody told me it was going to be slow, too - and you know what, it was. But I could still use it and I had good fun with it. Now look at me - for all intents and purposes, other computer makers don't even exist to me (with the exception of netbooks, b/c Apple isn't making one). Try it; love it; get hooked; and be prepared to spend lots of money.
To the OP: Get the iBook. It'll show you how great Mac OS is and you'll find yourself wanting that new Macbook in no time. My first Mac was a 300MHz B/W G3 - in the days of G5's. Everybody told me it was going to be slow, too - and you know what, it was. But I could still use it and I had good fun with it. Now look at me - for all intents and purposes, other computer makers don't even exist to me (with the exception of netbooks, b/c Apple isn't making one). Try it; love it; get hooked; and be prepared to spend lots of money.
I started on Mac on a PB 165 in the days of the G4 PowerBooks and iBooks and G5 PowerMacs and iMacs. When the MacBook Pro's were released I had a PB 1400cs. When the 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro's were released I got a 14" iBook 1.2 GHz. Then when the 2.5 GHz MacBook Pro's were released I got a 15" PowerBook 1.67 GHz that I have today. I had 550 MHz G4 with broken hinges and the day I had to give it back I got the iBook
I have seen MacBook's slower than my PowerBook. RAM amount and HD speed matter more than CPU speed. I have explained why a 550MHz G4 can be faster than a 1.2 G4. It is just RAM and HD speed. My 1.67 PB is faster than Mom's 3 GHz P4 Thinkpad because the Thinkpad has 512 MB RAM and a 4200 RPM HD while my PB has a 5400 RPM HD and 2 GB RAM.
In all honesty, used MacBook or refurb MacBook (whether it be White, Black or alum) is always 300% better choice over the iBooks.
You can basically call the PowerPC Processors dead. It is quite evident that it will not be supported by the next Mac OS X, and it's just an overall bad processor compared to the lowest Intel Chips that Apple has ever offered.
Any Intel chips from Apple is better than the best PPC apple has ever offered.
So I would get a used White MacBook
Except that a Quad G5 is still faster than both Mac Mini's, Macbook's, and the baseline Macbook Pro and iMac.
It's a bad processor? IBM's latest Power 6 chips hit 5+ghz and blow Intel out of the water.
Let's try and stay on track here.
Snow Leopard will drop PPC support no matter how fast they are. And I know the G5s are still incredibly capable machines. I'm going to keep my G4 until it can no longer be repaired
Just for the sake of knowing, how expensive are those IBM processors?? I'm guessing more than $1500 each, out of reach for most users.An iBook can still run current software. My friend composes music using Sibelius on his 1.07ghz iBook with 32 MEGABYTES
of video ram and 1 gig of RAM. They will do everything you could possibly need for portable/regular computing and make great computers to learn the OS.
my 1.5 GHz G4 powerbook is running just fine. but i used the great refurb deals to upgrade to a 2.4GHz MBP early 08.
i would not invest any money in a G4 or G5 mac anymore. i'd rather try to get a decent deal on a MB or a used mini. I think you get more bang for the buck, more future proof systems if you go intel.
and if there is any chance i would wait for a refurb MB white plastic with the new GPU. that will be $899 with warranty brand new. certainly a machine that will be great for the next 5 years. so on a per year basis this is better than a used ibook for $300 or so.
i keep my macs usually for 4-5 years before i upgrade. so it's about $ 400 per year.
i would not invest any money in a G4 or G5 mac anymore. i'd rather try to get a decent deal on a MB or a used mini. I think you get more bang for the buck, more future proof systems if you go intel.
and if there is any chance i would wait for a refurb MB white plastic with the new GPU. that will be $899 with warranty brand new. certainly a machine that will be great for the next 5 years. so on a per year basis this is better than a used ibook for $300 or so.
i keep my macs usually for 4-5 years before i upgrade. so it's about $ 400 per year.
I have a 1GHz iBook G4 with 256+512 MB RAM and the standard 30GB HD. It runs - though quite slow - Leopard, iWork'08 and Office 2004, as well as iLife (should check which version I use, don't know). My wife is using it for the same stuff as you mention - except Garageband, no idea what performance you'll get from that one.
So what you ask for can be done on an iBook for quite a low pricetag (guess you can get these for something like 200-250).
As most people post here: if you have a larger budget, a more recent piece of HW will of course boost your speed and possibilities.
Up to you to decide what it's worth for you.
So what you ask for can be done on an iBook for quite a low pricetag (guess you can get these for something like 200-250).
As most people post here: if you have a larger budget, a more recent piece of HW will of course boost your speed and possibilities.
Up to you to decide what it's worth for you.