PBG4 12" in clamshell mode a decent print server?

[kylera]

Now that I have a new Air, the PowerBook is mostly gathering dust, and suddenly an often-mentioned idea popped up in my head: using it as a print server by connecting it to a printer, enabling InsomniaX and leaving it on 24/7 in clamshell mode.

Would that be okay for the Book? Would there be any issue of overheating, etc.?

 

[kdogsup]

I wouldn't do it, chances are you'll kill the thing as generally laptops (any type, including apple) are not designed to be powered on 24/7.

Sell it on ebay or CL to someone who'll get use out of it as a laptop and take that money to buy an actual print-server, or even an airport express which has USB for print server.

 

[Intell]

I wouldn't do it, chances are you'll kill the thing as generally laptops (any type, including apple) are not designed to be powered on 24/7.

Laptops are designed to be on 24/7. I've had a 550Mhz Ti Powerbook G4 running non-stop for 6 years now. Not one problem. I've setup cheap Dell and HP laptops to be POS terminals. They work very well, pending you don't care about the battery's health.

 

[kylera]

Laptops are designed to be on 24/7. I've had a 550Mhz Ti Powerbook G4 running non-stop for 6 years now. Not one problem. I've setup cheap Dell and HP laptops to be POS terminals. They work very well, pending you don't care about the battery's health.

My battery is pretty shot as is anyway.

 

[01mggt]

FWIW, I tried using a g3 ibook with 10.4 as a print server. But newer versions of os x failed to actually work correctly with the shared printer. But from my understanding, sharing with version 10.5 works great with both newer and older versions accessing the printer.

 

[charlieroberts]

I wouldn't do it, chances are you'll kill the thing as generally laptops (any type, including apple) are not designed to be powered on 24/7.

Sell it on ebay or CL to someone who'll get use out of it as a laptop and take that money to buy an actual print-server, or even an airport express which has USB for print server.

I don't have any laptops running 24/7 but what I do have is a couple of printers that I connected to a hub, and this hub to a time capsule. All printers showed under OSX, but it was a PITA to get them to print. So I started using one of the iMacs as a print server and everything works perfectly now.

So, in my experience, airport devices suck as print servers.