so i just bought a used ibook g3 800mhz 28 gb. very small i think right? anyway it took me forever to get into it i was locked out by username and password. I have gotten past that but would like to know what i should do to improve this mac. it is my first one and would like it to perform as well as it can. so what can i do? More memory, update software etc... how and where any help on this would be great i know i will love this ibook once i figure it out
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new to my ibook
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How about some specs? If you bought it used, we don't have any way of knowing what's already been upgraded (if anything).
My 800 MHz iBook G3 runs Tiger decently with 256 MB of RAM. You could max it out (to 640 MB I believe) to get the most performance of whatever OS you're running, it's very easy to do. Panther (10.3) would probably run best on it, but Tiger is also good. The hard drive could be upgraded, but it's a few notches tougher to upgrade then the RAM.
Also, just so you know, those white iBook G3's are notorious for GPU problems, (video) so watch out for that.
Also, just so you know, those white iBook G3's are notorious for GPU problems, (video) so watch out for that.
12" ibook powerpc g3 memory 128mb, 27.94gb capacity 24.32 used i think its running panther 10.2 and i guess thats all i know. to upgrade the os x i need to buy the disk? is that correct?
Best thing you can do right now is upgrade the RAM. Look up your iBook model on macsales.com or crucial.com and get the biggest module you can afford. If you're good with taking apart computers, you can try and upgrade the hard drive next.
10.3 Panther is a good match for that model, but you can upgrade to 10.4 too I believe.
10.3 Panther is a good match for that model, but you can upgrade to 10.4 too I believe.
Sounds like you're going to want a bigger HD in addition to that RAM. Take it to someone to have it replaced if you don't want to do it yourself, but a hard disk that full isn't going to be much fun.
To be honest, you've got quite an older machine there. I wouldn't expect much out of it by today's standards. It'll work just fine for what it was meant to do, but it's a bit old to expect anything wonderful.
That said, max out the RAM if it isn't already maxxed. Other than that, I don't think there's really anything you can do to make it faster... It's a laptop, and as with most laptops upgradeability is very limited.