Is this a reasonable price?

[NleahciM]

Hi - I'm just about to buy my very first mac (been a PC user for all my life - so this is a very big change!) Anyways - I was offered this computer:

12" Ibook
15gb hdd
500mhz G3
640 MB RAM
802.11b (airport)
cd-rom drive

for $500 shipped. Is this a reasonable price to pay for it? I'm not used to mac prices - so I have no idea! thanks!

 

[Capt Underpants]

Is 500 the max you're willing to pay? Apple has a refurb G3 800 iBook 128 MB RAM, 30 GB HD for $650. You'd have to upgrade the RAM on this model, though. I'd say that 500 is a respectable deal. This iBook is at a little over 500 with the same specs.... and it still has a day to go.

 

[NleahciM]

Is 500 the max you're willing to pay? Apple has a refurb G3 800 iBook 128 MB RAM, 30 GB HD for $650. You'd have to upgrade the RAM on this model, though. I'd say that 500 is a respectable deal. This iBook is at a little over 500 with the same specs.... and it still has a day to go.

Well - I probably could pay more - but I thought this seemed like a really good deal. Was I mistaken?

 

[NleahciM]

Oh, on a related note - if I were to add an aftermarket hard drive to my new ibook - would that void the warranty? Thanks!

 

[jxyama]

unless it comes with applecare, there's no warranty left...

15 GB is a bit small, esp. with no burning capabilities... and 500 MHz G3 is quite old. i think this is the dual-USB model from mid-2001...

$500 is cheap, but it's nothing to get overly excited about. if you didn't need the mobility, you'd get a much, much better Mac experience using an eMac.

depends on what you want to use the machine for, though. if you just want to surf the web and do email, then this iBook is fine. (but that's not exactly "Mac experience.") but iLife apps will be tougher to run.

 

[sigamy]

It's not a terrible deal but it's not very good either. As the other poster said, you'd be much, much, much better off with the 800mhz G3 on Apple's Special deals page. The 800 has a faster bus and more video memory--which is a big help with Quartz Extreme.

The 500mhz iBook will not support Quartz Extreme. This was the first dual-USB iBook ("iceBook") and still carried the 66mhz bus from the old clamshell iBooks. Clamshell models are still selling for $300-$500 so you probably won't see the white dual-USB for much lower than $500. But, the prices should keep dropping because there are a lot more models in the family and now we are on the 2nd rev of G4 iBooks.

I agree with the second post on iLife. iLife '04 may be a bit slow on this iBook, you may have to settle for older versions of iPhoto and iMovie.

If you can save a bit more, keep your eyes on Apple's special deals page. You can get a much better iBook for just a little more cash.

 

[JasonElise1983]

i have to agree with the other posters. A 500Mhz G3 is quite old. Instead of buying a refurb 800Mhz G3 for $650, you could buy a new one from MacMall for $699. I think that is your best bet.