Old(er) laptop for parents. Price? Spec? Model?

[maddav]

Right, I am asking for a bit of help from you guys (and gals) my parents are moving to France soon, and currently they're using my year old iBook and my brother's PC, they want their own laptop, and they keep putting off buying one, they both like my iBook, but won't get one for themselves due to the price I thought I'd surprise them and buy them one for Christmas, I just need a hand finding what I'd need.

I don't particularly want to buy them a new one as I have very little money myself, so I thought I'd go for a G3 iBook or something, here is essentially what they'd be using it for, and what they'd need:

Transferring & viewing photos from DigiCam (USB 2.0)
Browsing the internet & e-mail (Airport)
Word Processing
Music storage (20GB+ HD)
Watching DVDs (Combo Drive)
Something thhat could run at least OS 10.3.9

Could someone give me some idea of a particular model and how much it would go for (on here or ebay).


Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks,
David

 

[katie ta achoo]

a G3 iBook would be best, IMO.
The airport cards can be hard to find, and be sure to max out the ram.

I had one, then it got passed to my bro, and it's still chugging along. Just watch out for logic board probs.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

A couple of potential issues with a second-hand G3 – firstly, the G3's didn't have USB 2.0, that's only appeared on more recent iBooks (I think they started with the first generation of the G4 models). Secondly, unless you get your hands on one with AirPort already installed you're going to have to track down an older AirPort card, which Apple don't manufacture any more. You can get them from eBay but prices can get a little high. There are also some issues with certain G3 iBooks relating to the logic boards.

Personally, I think trying to get your hands on a G4 iBook with USB 2.0 might be a better bet. Either that, or let them keep yours and get them to get you a new one for Christmas.

 

[maddav]

Either that, or let them keep yours and get them to get you a new one for Christmas.

That's just plain rude

Personally, I think trying to get your hands on a G4 iBook with USB 2.0 might be a better bet.

Yeah, that sounds good, as they'd definitely need the Airport card and USB 2.0.

Thanks

 

[doucy2]

my parent are using a
g3 700mhz ibook
384 ram
40gb hd
combo
14in screen
airport

great forthem they love it

probally more orthan they use though, but i use it sometime it feels slow comared to my powermac

 

[shadowmoses]

Keep an eye peeled for a REV A iBook G4 they are good value on ebay and will cover all of your criteria, they come in 800mhz and 933mhz versions and there HD's came at 30gb and 40gb unless they were BTO...

ShadOW

 

[maddav]

Thanks for the tips guys!

It seems that USB2.0 isn't as much a priority as I'd once thought, as it seems my camera that they've been using only supports USB1.1

Since these two configurations seem to fit their needs perfectly I'm going for:

g3 700mhz ibook
384 ram
40gb hd
combo
14in screen
airport

or

REV A iBook G4...

Again, Thanks!

 

[maddav]

Does around £400-£450 for a ~700mhz G3 with Airport sound about right? I'm not looking at a particular auction, but as a general guide.

 

[aquajet]

Does around £400-£450 for a ~700mhz G3 with Airport sound about right? I'm not looking at a particular auction, but as a general guide.

That's too much for a G3. You might as well get an iBook G4 or even a refurb model from the Apple Store if you're prepared to pay that much. The US refurb store currently has 12" iBook G4 1.2 Ghz with CD-ROM for $699.