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newbie here with stupid ibook g4 questions

W

white_castle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 26, 2003
3
0
Hola everyone. I am finally ready to make the big dive and buy a mac! I have 2 simple and ignorant questions about the ibook g4.
1.) I have read that the ibooks max out at 640 megs of ram and come standard with 256. If I put in a 512 chip wouldn't I have 768 megs? Or is there only one memory slot with a 128 chip allready in that I would have to remove?( with another 128 unremovable)
2.) I am planning on connecting to my 32inch TV through either s-video or composite ports. Does anyone know how well the ibooks mirror on a television? I am hoping to be able to surf the net from my couch using a bluetooth keyboard. Will I be dissapointed?

Thanks in advance. By the way, as far as I can tell, this is by far the coolest mac community on the web. Cheers.
 
1) All iBooks have 128 MB RAM soldered onto the main logic board and another 128 MB RAM in the user accessible slot. I highly recommend ordering the iBook in the stock configuration and purchasing your additional RAM from someplace such as Crucial. You'll save about $50 from Apple's price for preinstalled RAM AND if you like, you can sell the extra 128 MB stick for a few bucks if you like.

2) It should mirror to a television just fine. I haven't experienced mirroring to a TV on an iBook, but frequently do so with a PowerBook. You will have to buy an extra adapter to go to S-Video, however. I don't think you'll be able to do so with composite.
 
Remember, if you plan on getting bluetooth intergrated in the ibook, then you must order it installed. It CANNOT be added later. Atleast not internally.
 
external instead easily. a usb/bluetooth adapter is sized less than a cigarette lighter and costs about 50 $. (the other questions were answered already..) .. so if you don't get the bt adapter now, but will later need it (e.g. getting in the next 2 years a new phone with bt etc) you can use the adapter.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I plan on buying in store this friday, so I will need to go with a bluetooth adaptor. I'm a little bit wary about the 640 meg limit, but I assume it will be quick enough. Now I just have to decide if I want the 12 or 14 inch. Everyone seems to bash the 14, but it does have a slightly faster processor. Decisions, decisions.
 
Just remember the 14 inch has the same resolution, so bigger pixels but no extra screen space. Some people like it like that (and most PC laptops are 14" 1024x768).

The extra processor speed will probably not make a huge amount of difference. Decide whether or not you want the extra portability of the 12". If you need power and portability there is always the 12" PowerBook...
 
Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
I highly recommend ordering the iBook in the stock configuration and purchasing your additional RAM from someplace such as Crucial. You'll save about $50 from Apple's price for preinstalled RAM AND if you like, you can sell the extra 128 MB stick for a few bucks if you like.
Click to expand...

My two cents:
While you will save a few bucks buying 3rd party RAM, Apple installed RAM is covered under the iBook's warranty.

Apple often charges way too much for RAM upgrades IMHO, but in the case of the iBook, it seems pretty reasonable.
 
Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
Surely though if you buy extra RAM from, say crucial.com, it will come with its own warranty?
Click to expand...

generally speaking, and of course i'm out of the loop so i may be wrong, but the RAM itself would be covered (so if you got it DOA you could return it for working) but any damage caused to the system by the RAM would not. i don't remember anyone having their computer permanently damaged by 3rd party RAM, but who knows.

pnw
 
Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
Surely though if you buy extra RAM from, say crucial.com, it will come with its own warranty?
Click to expand...

Yes it does. But for the less tech-savvy Mac user, it is probably more convenient to let Apple troubleshoot and repair the entire system. Especially if you live near an Apple store and can bring it in for the 'genius' to look at.

It's just an option to consider when trying to make an informed iBook purchase.
 
Just to throw my 2 cents in, Trans Int'l offers a 1 GB memory chip for $449. A crazy amount of money, but some people really need the RAM....
 
Bluetooth dongle

If you can order the iBook w/ BT installed. The dongle works, and rather well, but it is also yet another thing to have around, you use a USB port, and if you leave it connected to your laptop when it's in your bag you risk damage to both if the bag hit the ground for some reason. The installed BT I think is more convenient and easier to deal with. Further more, 640mb of RAM is a lot for anything but rendering. I have 356mb on my .55mhz TiBook and it simply rocks with OSX.3.1.
You're going to have twice the horsepower and twice the RAM at the max, you should do very well. Also, I believe there's a go-around that allows 1.2 gb of RAM, at least it worked in the first generation 12 PB which is essentially the same machine.
 
the ibooks can take a one gig RAM chip - you just can't get it from apple, and you'd better be willing to pay big bucks. It will be great with the 640 though.

Mirroring to a tv is easy; you just need the optional s-video adapter. I've never mirrored to one that big though... I wonder if it will look right.
 
You can also apply a patch that will let you not only mirror to a TV, but use a TV or an external monitor ins panning mode, just like a Powerbook does.

it's great to know that too !
put bluetooth inside, if you can, the more you have inside the box, the less you have to plug, unplug... it's labtop, it's made to make things easier, without pluging, and unpluging.. and for the RAM, there will be bigger RAM modules soon, but, 512+128 is great. you can go with a 12 " and plug another monitor whern you need more work space, since you can drive 2 independant screnn with the patch i told earlyer.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/ibook_dual_display_mods.html#storytop
 
Originally posted by paulwhannel
generally speaking, and of course i'm out of the loop so i may be wrong, but the RAM itself would be covered (so if you got it DOA you could return it for working) but any damage caused to the system by the RAM would not. i don't remember anyone having their computer permanently damaged by 3rd party RAM, but who knows.

pnw
Click to expand...

We purchased from Crucial once for our old Compaq laptop- the memory was covered under the Crucial.com warranty.
 
why do people bash the 14'' iBook? I'm a few hours away from placing an order for one...guess i should get some opinions.
 
there is nothing bad about the 14 ", it's so great !!
dont worry, the 933 is the best deal i think, wich one do you plan getting ? you a a friend at school ? the rebates are great for students !

good buy
 
Originally posted by sjcaguy
why do people bash the 14'' iBook? I'm a few hours away from placing an order for one...guess i should get some opinions.
Click to expand...

The reason people knock it is they advertise a 14" screen but don't provide an increase in resolution to go with it. So you have the same screen area 1024x768 that the 12" iBook has. This is fine if you have poor eye-sight or want the extra battery life that comes with the bigger iBook.
 
Re: newbie here with stupid ibook g4 questions

Originally posted by white_castle
.............2.) I am planning on connecting to my 32inch TV through either s-video or composite ports. Does anyone know how well the ibooks mirror on a television? I am hoping to be able to surf the net from my couch using a bluetooth keyboard. Will I be dissapointed?
Click to expand...


Don't forget to get the optional video adaptor when buying the iBook that way you can connect to your TV.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...303/wo/VV2Nsj85RXfA2P4p3dT1cf69tmf/1.3.0.5.10
 
Re: Re: newbie here with stupid ibook g4 questions

Originally posted by MacBandit
Don't forget to get the optional video adaptor when buying the iBook that way you can connect to your TV.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...303/wo/VV2Nsj85RXfA2P4p3dT1cf69tmf/1.3.0.5.10
Click to expand...

Ha. I just purchased the ibook today and indeed did forget the video cable. Doh. I've been up and running for about three hours now, and I must say I'm incredibly happy with this machine. OS X is amazing and this laptop is like a piece of art. One question, I'm a big fan of Acid 4pro on windows, and was wondering if there were any similar programs for the mac. Oh and I had them install an airport extreme card but didn't feel like shelling out the dough for the base station. Any suggestions for a cheaper solution ($100 or less). I want to go to circuitcity tomorrow and pick one up. Linskys? Netgear?
 
Re: Re: Re: newbie here with stupid ibook g4 questions

Originally posted by white_castle
Ha. I just purchased the ibook today and indeed did forget the video cable. Doh. I've been up and running for about three hours now, and I must say I'm incredibly happy with this machine. OS X is amazing and this laptop is like a piece of art. One question, I'm a big fan of Acid 4pro on windows, and was wondering if there were any similar programs for the mac. Oh and I had them install an airport extreme card but didn't feel like shelling out the dough for the base station. Any suggestions for a cheaper solution ($100 or less). I want to go to circuitcity tomorrow and pick one up. Linskys? Netgear?
Click to expand...

Glad you like your iBook, if I may I would suggest the Airport Xtreme anyways. It is really easy to set up and administer, setting up WEP, and Apple covers it under your APP for your iBook (something no one points out). Also, the Airport Extreme has a Firewall, router, and allows USB printer sharing. I have the Aiport 2.0 and it's been great for 2 years; I know people who have the Linksys and it has been unreliable and we've never gotten the WEP to work properly.
 
Re: Re: Re: newbie here with stupid ibook g4 questions

Originally posted by white_castle
............Oh and I had them install an airport extreme card but didn't feel like shelling out the dough for the base station. Any suggestions for a cheaper solution ($100 or less). I want to go to circuitcity tomorrow and pick one up. Linskys? Netgear?
Click to expand...

I'm using a Netgear WGR614 right now. I just got it about a week ago and my wifes 15" PowerBook showed up today.

As for setup it took all of 30secs once I had all the wired connections done. You just configure it from a web browser. So you know it is a 802.11g (same as Airport Extreme) with 4 port router and a true firewall. I say a true firewall because not all routers do packet inspection. This one does and it also works on the stealth method. The stealth method means it doesn't reply to pings or any sort of probe to the router unless you initiated the call to that server first. It's about as secure as you can get.

Also I had absolutely no problems setting up 128bit WEP encryption between the Netgear and the 15" Powerbooks AE Card. All I needed to do was to created an encryption key in the settings through the web browser. Once I tried to connect to the wireless network with the router it asked me for a password you then chose the type of password and enter the generated encryption key that you got from the Netgear setup in the web browser.

I also turned on Appletalk Printer sharing and after a few moments and the Powerbook picked it up no problem and I've even done some test prints over the wireless network.

So far I have absolutely no complaints with this router. I picked it up from Amazon.com for $79.99 and it had a $20 rebate also. Something I really like about it is that all settings are well documented right in the setting page. Also the instructions manual is about 1/2 page long very similar to an Apple product because it doesn't need the instructions it's very intuitive.

There are some things you need to know when setting up any router. First if you have a cable modem you need to follow the instructions precisely. This is because the router has it's own IP address so the cable modem needs to be reset to recognize it rather then the computer it use to be hooked up to. Sometimes this reset needs to be done by your service provider.

In any case if you get this router and I highly recommend that you do just PM me and I'll help you out with any questions you have.
 
You can actually add a 1 gigabyte unit to the ibook. I have a rev a powerbook, (which esentially has the same board as the new ibooks) and my wife has a new G4 12" ibook, I have added 1 gig modules to both.

Althought the max ram was listed as 640, if you go to the developers site and look up the board specs, it states that 1152 is the max.

I wound up buying mine from OEMPCworld.com for about $399. Which admittedly is outrageous, but since I photoshop onto an external monitor, it was worth it. Prices are constantly dropping.
 
I just bought a 12"PB w/ Airport Extreme. I had a linksys 4 port router at home that always served me well. So I got a linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router. It has 4 wired ports and G wireless and the admin is all web based. Works great. Much more fully featured than an actual airport and half the price. Ipaid $140CDN at London Drugs and thre's also a $15 mail in rebate.
 
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