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Laptop for my Mother: G3 or G4 iBook?

S

simp

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2006
18
0
Hi All:-

Having brainwashed my mother into the cult of Mac, she'd like to upgrade from the clamshell iBook I picked up for her a couple of years ago.

She doesn't want to upgrade in a hurry, but, being retired, and not being a power-user she doesn't want to spend too much money, either.

So I've located two options for her:-
- a 600mhz iBook G3 ($490)
- a 1ghz iBook G4 ($792)

She seems to be leaning toward the G3, but I'm wary, as my own (much used) G3 iBook died after 4 years (of heavy use). Or will the g3 last her? She will not be doing much more than browsing, mailing and word processing... I know that the G3 will do this just fine under 10.3 - but will the machine last as long, do you think?

Opinions welcome!

Thanks.
 
simp said:
Hi All:-

Having brainwashed my mother into the cult of Mac, she'd like to upgrade from the clamshell iBook I picked up for her a couple of years ago.

She doesn't want to upgrade in a hurry, but, being retired, and not being a power-user she doesn't want to spend too much money, either.

So I've located two options for her:-
- a 600mhz iBook G3 ($490)
- a 1ghz iBook G4 ($792)

She seems to be leaning toward the G3, but I'm wary, as my own (much used) G3 iBook died after 4 years (of heavy use). Or will the g3 last her? She will not be doing much more than browsing, mailing and word processing... I know that the G3 will do this just fine under 10.3 - but will the machine last as long, do you think?

Opinions welcome!

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The G4.
 
I have a G3 500 iBook that gets used for the same sort of things that you say your mother will do and it's still a usable machine.....however, if I were buying a used iBook right now, I would definitely get the G4 as I suspect it's going to last longer
 
Both of those are probably overpriced, especially the G3. Since she's in no hurry, I'd spend some time and look around for a good deal on a G4. Apple have been dropping support for the G3s and it's not unreasonable to expect Leopard to require at least a G4.
 
The G4 does sound like a better idea.

But if she does decide to go in the direction of a G3, she can deffinately get one for less than $500. I currently have my 800MHz iBook on ebay, and it will probably go for around $400.
 
simp said:
Hi All:-

Having brainwashed my mother into the cult of Mac, she'd like to upgrade from the clamshell iBook I picked up for her a couple of years ago.

She doesn't want to upgrade in a hurry, but, being retired, and not being a power-user she doesn't want to spend too much money, either.

So I've located two options for her:-
- a 600mhz iBook G3 ($490)
- a 1ghz iBook G4 ($792)

She seems to be leaning toward the G3, but I'm wary, as my own (much used) G3 iBook died after 4 years (of heavy use). Or will the g3 last her? She will not be doing much more than browsing, mailing and word processing... I know that the G3 will do this just fine under 10.3 - but will the machine last as long, do you think?

Opinions welcome!

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Oh come on, those prices are ridiculous!

Definately get her a G4. I bought a 15" PowerBook G4 1.33Ghz, 60GB HD, 512MB RAM, BT + Airport for around $550.

David
 
I wouldn't even consider the G3. Those things had enough hardware problems when they were new.

Frankly, I can't say I'd jump on the G4 either, considering, Apple just dropped the refurb Macbook prices again today. For $849 you can get a low end refurbished Macbook. $790 looks pretty ridiculous in comparison.
 
I've been thinking of getting my mother a G3 iBook as well, just for the heck of it.... I really need to get my family off pc's and into macs. I wouldn't spend over $300 on a g3 iBook though.
 
Thanks for your replies.

Yes - I do agree that the G4 is the better idea.

The problem with the price is that I'm based in Ireland - but most of the keenly priced laptops on eBay won't ship outside North America - and we have to stump up for shipping. Best deal I've found so far on ebay is $625 with $90 shipping(!). UK refurb prices tend to start around the $700 mark, with around $30 shipping... Irish sellers ask for incredibly unrealistic prices...

But yes - I've already found a better deal than the $790 laptop I mentioned at the top of the thread - so the moral of the story is to just keep on digging away on ebay... But I'm not sure where to get a $550 bargain! Any suggestions gratefully appreciated...

(It is so ******* time-consuming being the techie in the family...!)
 
livingfortoday said:
There's a 1.2Ghz G4 iBook in the Marketplace right now, and the seller is looking for around $550 for it. It's a little more than the G3 you were looking at, and a lot less than the G4. Faster, too!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/256755/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link - I just posted there to ask him if he'd ship to Europe... But I don't think he wants to ship outside North America...

Cheers!
 
G3. They'll be around for a while. If all your mother does is email, web and word processing, she just needs a G3.

Who says she needs leopard? I imagine even 10.0 will be supported until at least 2009-2010.(And it doesn't even have to be supported for it to work) My iMac 233 MHz G3 with 8.6 would be perfect for all my needs- except I'm a gamer.

G3.
 
Cassie said:
G3. They'll be around for a while. If all your mother does is email, web and word processing, she just needs a G3.

Who says she needs leopard? I imagine even 10.0 will be supported until at least 2009-2010.(And it doesn't even have to be supported for it to work) My iMac 233 MHz G3 with 8.6 would be perfect for all my needs- except I'm a gamer.

G3.
Click to expand...

Thats not entirely true. The G3 would still be sluggish when it comes to word processing even if loaded with ram. Sure, you could get by without Panther/Tiger, but anything before Jaguar has stability issues that his mother could do without.

David
 
simp said:
Thanks for your replies.

Yes - I do agree that the G4 is the better idea.

The problem with the price is that I'm based in Ireland - but most of the keenly priced laptops on eBay won't ship outside North America - and we have to stump up for shipping. Best deal I've found so far on ebay is $625 with $90 shipping(!). UK refurb prices tend to start around the $700 mark, with around $30 shipping... Irish sellers ask for incredibly unrealistic prices...

But yes - I've already found a better deal than the $790 laptop I mentioned at the top of the thread - so the moral of the story is to just keep on digging away on ebay... But I'm not sure where to get a $550 bargain! Any suggestions gratefully appreciated...

(It is so ******* time-consuming being the techie in the family...!)
Click to expand...

The deal I mentioned I got above ($550 for PB G4 15") was from the states, and I am based in the UK. Shipping will vary on these auctions between $65-$90 but the latter range of that is a bit extreme.

I don't know the situation in Ireland, but for anything coming into the UK, if the seller has sent it by insured mail (I wouldn't get it without this and that is also why shipping is high), he has to declare the value on the box. Therefore, it WILL get a customs charge (at least coming into the UK it would).

The simple method I used to get mine so cheap was easy, patience! I searched eBay every couple of days for about 3 weeks until I eventually saw this one. I should add that it is also in pristine condition. One of the best condition PB's (considering its two years old) I ever seen - no sign of wear whatsoever!

Just keep looking, you will get a good deal eventually, and many sellers are reasonable enough to ship to UK.

David
 
Go for the G4. OSX's gonna be sluggish on a G3 600, while the 1Ghz G4 will be quite snappy. And you can upgrade her to leopard when the time comes.

Not to mention, Laptops have a shorter life expectancy than desktops from experience. It'll probably last longer.

But that being said, keep looking for good deals!
 
Definitely G4.

I wouldn't run OS X on a G3 if I had a choice between it an the G4.
 
Thanks for all your comments. I'll hold off for a reasonable priced G4...

My mother is a patient lady, and I enjoy an eBay challenge as much as the next geek..!
 
Xenesis said:
Go for the G4. OSX's gonna be sluggish on a G3 600, while the 1Ghz G4 will be quite snappy. And you can upgrade her to leopard when the time comes.

Not to mention, Laptops have a shorter life expectancy than desktops from experience. It'll probably last longer.

But that being said, keep looking for good deals!
Click to expand...

elppa said:
Definitely G4.

I wouldn't run OS X on a G3 if I had a choice between it an the G4.
Click to expand...

Huh??? My first Mac was a G3 running OS 10.2 and I definitely didn't think of it as "slow". And I upgraded to 10.3 and didn't have any problems with that version either.

But still I'd say in general go for the G4, NOT because it's faster but rather because it's at least a year or two newer, so one can reasonably expect it to last a year or two longer than a G3. But not at $792 though, that's FAR too much. Apple sold NEW iBook G4s for $999 just a year ago!!! I would say pay no more than $500 for a used iBook G4, and even then make sure it's a later model from 2005.
 
When you're checking on a system be sure to make sure the seller has
all the original OS Disks.

You may be fortunate that the previous owner has already upgraded to Tiger, but some older G4's may only come with Panther.
 
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