Is It Worth It?

[ryannel2003]

My cousin has a Tangerine iBook 300MHz G3, and she also has a iPod Mini. I was talking to her today and she told me that she can't use her iPod Mini because she is still running OS 9, and she doesn't have enough RAM to install OS X anyway. She asked me how she could upgrade her Tangerine, and I told her that if she wanted to use the iBook still she was going to need Panther ($70 or so), RAM ($100 for piece of 512MB from Crucial), and a new HD (At least a 20GB, not sure how much $$$). However, the one thing she can't upgrade is her lousy 1 USB 1.1 port (Which would sync VERY slowly with iPod Mini). Anyway, is it worth it for her to upgrade her iBook? Or should she go ahead and get another kind of Mac (I suggested this, but she doesn't use her computer that much and she doesn't have a lot of $$$). Thanks for suggestions!

 

[macmanmatty]

She should get a refurbished mac mini. It saves the trouble of upgrading the ibook, and will run osx MUCH better than that ibook ever will.

 

[DarkNetworks]

My cousin has a Tangerine iBook 300MHz G3, and she also has a iPod Mini. I was talking to her today and she told me that she can't use her iPod Mini because she is still running OS 9, and she doesn't have enough RAM to install OS X anyway. She asked me how she could upgrade her Tangerine, and I told her that if she wanted to use the iBook still she was going to need Panther ($70 or so), RAM ($100 for piece of 512MB from Crucial), and a new HD (At least a 20GB, not sure how much $$$). However, the one thing she can't upgrade is her lousy 1 USB 1.1 port (Which would sync VERY slowly with iPod Mini). Anyway, is it worth it for her to upgrade her iBook? Or should she go ahead and get another kind of Mac (I suggested this, but she doesn't use her computer that much and she doesn't have a lot of $$$). Thanks for suggestions!

Well...i would just get a new iBook which're pretty cheap now or mac mini...but since she doesn't use her com that much and doesn't have that much $$, i would just suggest her to upgrade the RAM, i mean if she doesn't have that much cash, she could go with 256MB and the HD yeah pretty much 20GB...the OS, i think she can get it somewhere...

 

[ryannel2003]

Well...i would just get a new iBook which're pretty cheap now or mac mini...but since she doesn't use her com that much and doesn't have that much $$, i would just suggest her to upgrade the RAM, i mean if she doesn't have that much cash, she could go with 256MB and the HD yeah pretty much 20GB...the OS, i think she can get it somewhere...

That's what I was thinking, but upgrading HD on Clamshell iBooks (any iBook for that matter) is really difficult and she would need to pay someone to do that for her (I would, but I've never done it and I think I would screw something up). I suggested to her to get a older eMac 700MHz for like $350 (Mac mini is better deal, but she would also have to buy keyboard, mouse, and most importantly a monitor which would add up pretty quickly.) She is bringing the iBook by my house next Sunday and I'll check to see how much RAM and HD she has (cause 6GB would be ok for the time being). I know she is going to have to upgrade her RAM and to Panther, but if the HD is larger than 4GB she'll be fine (Doesn't have that many songs to put on iPod anyway). The only other thing I'm worried about is the slow syncing speed that would be between iPod Mini and USB 1.1. Even though she doesn't use her computer that much, it takes awhile to upload 300-400 songs to iPod Mini on slower USB connection. At least on eMac or Mac mini there's the option of Firewire. I'll ask her what she wants to do. Thanks for suggestions so far!

 

[spencecb]

That's what I was thinking, but upgrading HD on Clamshell iBooks (any iBook for that matter) is really difficult and she would need to pay someone to do that for her (I would, but I've never done it and I think I would screw something up). I suggested to her to get a older eMac 700MHz for like $350 (Mac mini is better deal, but she would also have to buy keyboard, mouse, and most importantly a monitor which would add up pretty quickly.) She is bringing the iBook by my house next Sunday and I'll check to see how much RAM and HD she has (cause 6GB would be ok for the time being). I know she is going to have to upgrade her RAM and to Panther, but if the HD is larger than 4GB she'll be fine (Doesn't have that many songs to put on iPod anyway). The only other thing I'm worried about is the slow syncing speed that would be between iPod Mini and USB 1.1. Even though she doesn't use her computer that much, it takes awhile to upload 300-400 songs to iPod Mini on slower USB connection. At least on eMac or Mac mini there's the option of Firewire. I'll ask her what she wants to do. Thanks for suggestions so far!

I could be wrong about this, but I'm not sure Apple even supports USB 1.1 with iPods... I think they require USB 2.0 or Firewire. This would be easy to find out, however, on Apple's website.

 

[DarkNetworks]

I could be wrong about this, but I'm not sure Apple even supports USB 1.1 with iPods... I think they require USB 2.0 or Firewire. This would be easy to find out, however, on Apple's website.

USB 1.1 will work i think just slow...if not maybe she can get something like a switcher to convert USB 1.1 to USB 2.0 i think there's tis kind of device out there...i think there is...

 

[poolin1243]

i thought all usb 2.0 was backwards compatible though?!?!

 

[londonweb]

USB 1.1 will work i think just slow...if not maybe she can get something like a switcher to convert USB 1.1 to USB 2.0 i think there's tis kind of device out there...i think there is...

USB 1.1 won't work with ipod- I bought my girlfriend an ipod mini last christmas and it wouldn't work through the usb, only the firewire port. I think it's to do with the power level on 1.1.

You could try to get a powerbook pismo from ebay- usually £180-200 here in uk, probably about $300-350 over there. Then you could just use the firewire ports.

Mac mini would be a much better option if you can stretch to it.

 

[Will Cheyney]

I've never had any problem connecting my iPod via USB 1. It all works fine, just at around half the speed of a machine equip with USB 2.

Don't forget that you'll have to plug it into a powered port - directly into the computer - not one, for example, on a keyboard.

Upgrading the iBook should be fine - 512MB RAM will allow you to put 10.4 on it, and the reinitialise will probably help matters too. eBay is a brilliant place for low-cost, NEW hard drives and RAM chips.

 

[DarkNetworks]

USB 1.1 won't work with ipod- I bought my girlfriend an ipod mini last christmas and it wouldn't work through the usb, only the firewire port. I think it's to do with the power level on 1.1.

You could try to get a powerbook pismo from ebay- usually £180-200 here in uk, probably about $300-350 over there. Then you could just use the firewire ports.

Mac mini would be a much better option if you can stretch to it.

yeah iPod do work with USB1.1 i just tried hooking it up to my friends PC a very old one that has USB 1.1 and it works...

 

[zap2]

sell the iBook buy a refub Mac Mini for 380(apple.com)


should be able to get 200 for that iBook

 

[mduser63]

I definitely think she should sell the iBook and get a Mac mini. For about the price of the upgrades you're talking about, she'll get a new, modern Mac that will last her for a few more years and will work as well as anything with her iPod. You should be able to get a monitor that will work pretty cheaply. Buy a $30 Apple keyboard, and a generic $10 USB mouse, and she'll be up and running.

 

[ryannel2003]

sell the iBook buy a refub Mac Mini for 380(apple.com)


should be able to get 200 for that iBook

I suggested that to her as well, and she says she doesn't want to sell her iBook. I'm not sure. I'll talk it over with her when she comes down. Thanks for all the great suggestions so far!