New G3 iBook

[Dronecatcher]

I've just got myself an 800Mhz G3 iBook and I'm blown away by the condition it's in - near immaculate! Unbelievably, the original Apple battery, which is at 46 cycles, reports nearly 6 hours at full charge..after 13 years - what are they - nuclear?
It came with Jaguar & OS 9 installed but I replaced that with Tiger/OS 9 and popped in a 512Mb RAM module.
As you might imagine, going online is a bit of a lumpy experience, though Tiger Webkit with Javascript turned off is reasonable and with images also turned off is fast.
The absence of the Velocity Engine in the CPU becomes clear when watching video - H264 isn't workable although MPEG4 plays fine. As a side note, I had to use Perian 1.2 as the later versions hobbled Quicktime - I also installed VLC 0.5.3 and MPlayerOSX 1.1 but there's little between them in performance over Quicktime.
It's when using period software that the iBook shines - internet radio in iTunes 4, Connectix Playstation emulator, Propellerheads Rebirth and Photoshop 6 in OS 9 are all great.
Another bonus is the lack of fan activity - I know there's a fan in there but I've yet to hear it....if only I could same the same about my Aluminium Powerbooks!

EDIT: It also came with the original Jaguar install disk pack with extra software etc.

 

[spf2]

That is one immaculate machine. Congrats.

 

[eyoungren]

Software…

TenFourFox has a G3 version. Still Mozilla, so any tweaking will still increase performance. But you need to be on 10.4 at least.

You can also use Classila if you use OS9.

iTunes 4.0 is the ONLY version of iTunes that ever allowed sharing your library over the open internet. Apple killed this with 4.1 and it was not present in versions before 4.0. This is different than just sharing over your home network.

I use to stream my library from home to my work Mac using 4.0. The only downside to this is that all Macs involved need to be running 4.0 only.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Software…

TenFourFox has a G3 version. Still Mozilla, so any tweaking will still increase performance. But you need to be on 10.4 at least.

You can also use Classila if you use OS9.

iTunes 4.0 is the ONLY version of iTunes that ever allowed sharing your library over the open internet. Apple killed this with 4.1 and it was not present in versions before 4.0. This is different than just sharing over your home network.

I use to stream my library from home to my work Mac using 4.0. The only downside to this is that all Macs involved need to be running 4.0 only.

Yeah, I've got G3 TFF on there too with all the tweaks - it's better than Webkit for compatibility but slower, having said that, I haven't tried switching to a mobile device user agent yet, that should improve TFF. It does however offer Youtube FLV 240P downloads/playback with the appropriate plugin - very slow but amazing there are still those options out there.

I haven't cranked up my retro WEP router yet but when I do I'll put Classilla on there.

I never knew that about iTunes 4 library sharing - that's very interesting - back then, that would have been revolutionary. I might try that with my G4 iMac as a "base station."

EDIT: Just tried TFF with a Nokia user agent - very usable, even Youtube

 

[eyoungren]

I never knew that about iTunes 4 library sharing - that's very interesting - back then, that would have been revolutionary. I might try that with my G4 iMac as a "base station."

I don't recall why Apple allowed it to ship that way, but version 4.1 came out in VERY short order to remove the functionality.

If you use it, you've almost certainly are going to have to dedicate Macs to it. It's so out of date that it's just not useable by daily driver Macs unless all you are intending to do is stream music over the internet.

 

[CooperBox]

That is in amazing condition for a 2002(ish) iBook. Excellent purchase! And from the look of that early copy of Rebirth, you've given me some motivation to look around for some synth software to use with my PowerPC's and Yamaha Clavinova keyboard.
In fact I have a number of vintage Yamaha synths which may have to come out of storage and put to good use.

 

[996085]

iBook 500MHz owner here. Couldn't go higher in spec as I wanted to run Mac OS natively. Just received the new Airport card today. Will be installing over the weekend.

 

[Algus]

Nice! I've been sort of hunting for a clamshell iBook for a couple years now (Sage, no rush, want a good deal). Seen a lot of the pearl white iBook G3s for great prices in that time. They are not as sought after. Lower prices mean replacement parts are more abundant. Probably a better buy if you want a portable from this era, heh.

 

[Dronecatcher]

That is in amazing condition for a 2002(ish) iBook. Excellent purchase! And from the look of that early copy of Rebirth, you've given me some motivation to look around for some synth software to use with my PowerPC's and Yamaha Clavinova keyboard.
In fact I have a number of vintage Yamaha synths which may have to come out of storage and put to good use.

Propellerheads Rebirth and more so Reason were incredible pieces of coding...and even worked on a 604 never mind a G3
[doublepost=1452728123][/doublepost]

iBook 500MHz owner here. Couldn't go higher in spec as I wanted to run Mac OS natively. Just received the new Airport card today. Will be installing over the weekend.

Native OS 9 was the main reason I got the iBook - you can go up to the 900Mhz model and still boot OS 9.
[doublepost=1452728266][/doublepost]

Nice! I've been sort of hunting for a clamshell iBook for a couple years now (Sage, no rush, want a good deal). Seen a lot of the pearl white iBook G3s for great prices in that time. They are not as sought after. Lower prices mean replacement parts are more abundant. Probably a better buy if you want a portable from this era, heh.

The Clamshells are probably better built and certainly more iconic but the later iBooks give you more CPU horsepower if you want some practical use.

 

[996085]

Propellerheads Rebirth and more so Reason were incredible pieces of coding...and even worked on a 604 never mind a G3
[doublepost=1452728123][/doublepost]

Native OS 9 was the main reason I got the iBook - you can go up to the 900Mhz model and still boot OS 9.
[doublepost=1452728266][/doublepost]

The Clamshells are probably better built and certainly more iconic but the later iBooks give you more CPU horsepower if you want some practical use.

Interesting as I had purchased a different model and it couldn't boot natively unless I had an iBook specific disc. Perhaps what I meant to say was natively boot a generic version of Mac OS which I have (version 9.2.1)

 

[Dronecatcher]

Perhaps what I meant to say was natively boot a generic version of Mac OS which I have (version 9.2.1)

Have you tried one from Mac OS 9 Lives?

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?PHPSESSID=u20o31l8ghqur7fgsf1s5f7bm2&board=62.0

 

[996085]

Have you tried one from Mac OS 9 Lives?

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?PHPSESSID=u20o31l8ghqur7fgsf1s5f7bm2&board=62.0

I obtained a copy of the iBook specific media and it worked fine. However this time I wanted to use the retail disc so I ended up buying a model which supported the retail version of the OS. Obtaining a faster version wasn't really a priority as the system rarely sees any use. Aside from the occasional whim to play with Mac OS there's little reason to use it.