PowerBook 1 Ghz

[mBurns]

Hi fellow Mac addicts. OK -- dilemma. I'm thinking of picking up a PowerBook to use as a beater second laptop when I'm traveling. What are your thoughts guys? Am I nuts? Also, I have owned PPC machines before so I know their qualities and limitations. I don't have any first hand experience running Leopard on one though. I'd ONLY use this machine for web surfing, DVDs while on trips, taking notes, and some minor iPhone SDK programming. Thoughts? I have a Core Duo MacBook Pro.

The specs of the machine in question are:

15", 1 GHZ, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB (I assume 5400 RPM?), Combo Drive

Does anyone have any first hand experience with ram for this machine? Is it extremely expensive? How is the reliability on this model? I would definitely pop Tiger or Leopard on this machine since I have both. What do you guys believe is a good price for this machine? Obviously, with Snow Leopard on the horizon, I'm not stupid and will only pick it up if I get a steal on the machine. What would you guys consider a steal for this machine?

 

[iToaster]

I think you'd just be better off by taking you MacBook Pro with you. The PowerBooks were great (and my 12" still is), but 1 GHz is a little slow by today's standards, so I have to say that you will be disappointed and perhaps angry at the old fellow for his slower tendencies... the MacBook Pro, unless you are really babying it, would be much better to take with you.

 

[mBurns]

I totally agree but I'm nervous about the MBP being stolen. If I could purchase the PowerBook for $200ish then it wouldn't be a major loss if I damage the machine or it gets stolen while traveling.

To put into perspective: I was using an iBook Clamshell as a 2nd laptop until December. I used it while traveling and it was fine (speed wise) except for the screen resolution. I'm not sure how Leopard would run on the G4.

 

[iToaster]

True, theft is something to be concerned about, but as long as you don't leave your computer sitting out in a public place without you or somebody trustworthy watching it, there's not a lot to worry about. $200 isn't really too bad, but I don't know if you can find a 1 GHz PowerBook for that price. As far as Leopard is concerned, I have it installed on a 1.25 GHz Power Mac and a 1.5 GHz PowerBook, and it runs decently, but sometimes they can get a little bogged down with more intensive applications (developing iPhone apps would probably slow it down). If you can get a 15" 1 GHz PowerBook for $200, I would have to say go for it, but in your situation, you're probably not at a huge risk of getting your MacBook Pro stolen... when I had mine, I took it almost everywhere withe me, but it never left my side/lap, so I think it's safe to say you can have one computer to take with you and use at home and not have to worry about it alot.

 

[TheCrazyOnes]

Had one for a while...

I had one of these, same specs

Great machine runs leopard fine, all these whiny power-junkies are complaining about nothing.

Office 2008 runs like a dog though, but everything else is ok. iPhoto, iWeb, some heavy object orientated stuff in pages, great presentation laptop.

My only complaint was that the hinge sometimes gets loose and needs tightening. Battery life is about 2 hours which will get you through most dvd's.

It will run stuff ok, but if you are going from a MBP, you will have to retrain your expectations as things will happen more slowly.

I personally went from a 400mhz G3 iMac serving up my music library in 10.4, so my expectations were fairly low.

Sing out though if you want to know how well it does different tasks, as I flogged it fairly hard since i got it.

 

[mBurns]

Hmm.. lots to think about. Like I said, the machine would have to be in the $200 range for me to have even the slightest interest.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hmm.. lots to think about. Like I said, the machine would have to be in the $200 range for me to have even the slightest interest.

You answered your own question the, you don't have a hope in heck of finding a functional, good condition PowerBook G4 at $200.

(You didn't specify whether the one you cited was a Titanium or an Aluminum Powerbook G4. They use different RAM.)

 

[mBurns]

The one I'm thinking about is an aluminum model. I do believe I might be able to get one in the $200 range on Craigslist locally.

 

[ph03n1x]

Honestly, if you want a computer that's fairly cheap and you could take around with you without worrying, I'd say go for the Asus EEE. It's cheap and and it's not really an eye-catcher.

 

[CanadaRAM]

The one I'm thinking about is an aluminum model. I do believe I might be able to get one in the $200 range on Craigslist locally.

That would be an exceptionally good deal, if it were complete and functional.
Two things to know about the AlBook 1.0 and 1.25 GHz --

1) it doesn't use common PC2700 SODIMMs - conventional Powerbook G4 modules, whether Kingston, Crucial, or generic, will crash and burn. You need PC2700 SODIMMs that are Processor-slewing compatible. Get them from a Mac specialist seller who knows what that means.

2) These machines were prone to failure of the lower memory socket. There is no fix other than a new logic board. Make sure the machine you are looking at shows RAM in both DIMM sockets under System Profile. If it shows that one slot is empty, when there is a module in the slot, then it has already failed, and the most you'll be able to install is 1 GB of RAM in the upper socket. This would be a prime reason someone would sell a machine cheap. If your demands are not high, it still may be worth it, because from all reports, the machine will continue running, just at lowered capacity.

 

[California]

I'd get a 14" 1.42 ibook or 1.33ghz 12" ibook instead of the Tibook if you want a beater that will run leopard.

They take 1.5gbs of ram.

 

[ivnj]

At the airport some guy got his stuff stolen at thing where you put the stuff down to have it scanned. Some guy ran off with his stuff before could walk through and catch him.

As for speed my dad had a 1ghz g4 titanium and 512mb ram. Before the motherboard broke. Speed wise it was blazing fast. The new core duo 2ghz 1.5gb ram he has is no faster speed wise. At least for web and stuff. Maybe if we use video editing and other demanding stuff. But for web and light stuff no difference.

There is a 667 on ebay for 189 in good shape with dvi. Not bad for 200. Might buy, but it seems a lot of others have problems with their g4's.

My Pismo screen died. Backlit went out. But the motherboard still works with external monitor. I even spilled soda on it and it still works. Anciently slow but rock solid and still works.

So I'd like to upgrade but it seems too many failures exist with g4s.

 

[dmw007]

$200 for a 1GHz PowerBook G4 would be a very good price. I have a 12" 1.5GHz PowerBook G4, and I love using it. It might not be able to keep up to my Mac Pro or iMac in terms of speed for some apps, but for the majority of what I use it for it is still plenty fast.