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Powerbook G4 12", new to Mac computers and need adivce..

J

Johnny7

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 31, 2010
45
0
Hey guys, I'm new to the forums and need a bit of information. So for the past four years or so I've been dieing for a mac and didn't want to start off with some beastly new machine so I thought I'd start small with a powerbook.
Last night I found what I thought was a good deal, a powerbook g4 12" 1.0GHz, 60GB HD, 1.25gb of ram and a super drive. It was on ebay so I bought it then and there for 200 bucks :S. First, was this a good deal? It looked to be in great cosmetic condition plus it came with a tiger dvd. I am starting to feel I could have done better for the price and by that I mean a higher GHz model. Now, I know a good amount on computers but as far as gigahertz goes, I have no clue. What would the speed difference be on a 1.0GHz g4 processor to a 1.5GHz(in a powerbook)? Is it dramatic? Did I get a good deal :x?

Thanks!
Johnny
 
Hello and welcome :)

I am positive you will enjoy the Powerbook and i think you got a good deal. Seems about the right price range for the machines.

In terms of speed, 1.0Ghz will be fine for some light browsing and using the apps that come with tiger and iLife. You also have 1.5Gb of ram which will help a ton when you want to run multiple apps. I think you would notice a bit of a speed difference if you had a 1.5Ghz but it is nothing to fret about, you got a good deal.

Enjoy the Apple experience, it will be alot of fun :)
 
The 1.0GHz was a lot better than the 867MHz model which I had for a while. They improved a lot of things and just made it a much better computer. $200 is pretty good since you don't have to worry about buying RAM or something to make it more usable. I sold my 867 and bought the 1.5GHz model because I loved the form factor, but wanted the best I could get. You can always sell and upgrade later if you love it, but need more speed.
 
Wait... the max in a PowerBook G4 12" is 1.25ghz (unless you get an allusive 2gb low-density stick)

It sounds like an okay deal. I woulda gone with the 1.5ghz though.
 
Ah, sorry made a mistake, it has 1.25GB of ram. So I guess this is maxed out then :D. And thank you for the replies, I am feeling much better about my buy, now I have to wait for it to get here :mad:. But hopefully, it'll be worth the wait. Thanks for the replies so far!
 
Johnny7 said:
Ah, sorry made a mistake, it has 1.25GB of ram. So I guess this is maxed out then :D. And thank you for the replies, I am feeling much better about my buy, now I have to wait for it to get here :mad:. But hopefully, it'll be worth the wait. Thanks for the replies so far!
Click to expand...

Just don't expect it to be the fastest machine, but since it has 1.25gb of ram. I would put Leopard on it. Sure it won't be quite as snappy in some areas as it would be with Tiger, however, it will breathe some extra life in software support. It's a beautiful machine. Only second to the MacBook Air in aesthetics if you ask me.
 
For $200, you got a fine deal as long as it's in good shape.

How's the battery? I bought a 1.5 ghz 12" PowerBook in December of 09 ($400, by the way) that came with a non-functioning battery. However, the battery that it came with was part of the recall, so Apple sent me a new one.

As far as speed goes my 1.5 ghz model is fine (but slightly lacking on ram, I only have a pathetic 512 mbs). Need to order more some day.

I run Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign CS2 on my laptop without any trouble (unless I have more than one open, but that's a ram issue).

I hope you enjoy it.
 
*update* :D

I got the powerbook in the mail today. It runs great, a little sluggish online, but very very swift. Thanks for the replies, I am very happy with this machine. My only concern is that they did not give me the tiger dvd that was in the picture, but a pirated one :mad:. Just curious, is a copy of tiger like what I got still good as a regular one? I was thinking about doing a clean install of osx. But eh, at least the laptop is good. I will be posting a lot more on this for mac os questions, I'm brand new to this.


-Johnny
 
Johnny7 said:
*update* :D

I got the powerbook in the mail today. It runs great, a little sluggish online, but very very swift. Thanks for the replies, I am very happy with this machine. My only concern is that they did not give me the tiger dvd that was in the picture, but a pirated one :mad:. Just curious, is a copy of tiger like what I got still good as a regular one? I was thinking about doing a clean install of osx. But eh, at least the laptop is good. I will be posting a lot more on this for mac os questions, I'm brand new to this.


-Johnny
Click to expand...

It should be just fine, although I'd be annoyed if the unit I got wasn't the one in the pictures and I wasn't told this at all (if you read over it that's your fault) but glad to hear it seems all good :D
 
Only thing I'd add to the good advice you've had so far is to download ClickToFlash and set it so that Flash stuff doesn't load automatically when you're browsing. I'm running a G4 PB and it made a huge difference.
 
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