PowerBook G4, 17" - worth it?

Altemose said:
Sadly, CS4 just doesn't seem optimized for PPCs.
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It's probably not. All I can say is that from what I've done with it, it's worked fine. I just don't have the same reference point you do to be able to say, wow, it's slow compared to CS2 or 3.

That said, I don't believe Adobe ever advertised it as being universal. It just may have been coincidence that it was. Certainly, the CS 4 Suite installer will tell you it's not. Which is how I found out that you can install most of the apps individually.

But hey, you're the guy that likes Office 2004 better than 2008, my preferred version on PowerPC. So, we don't see eye to eye on that already, LOL! :D
 
eyoungren said:
It's probably not. All I can say is that from what I've done with it, it's worked fine. I just don't have the same reference point you do to be able to say, wow, it's slow compared to CS2 or 3.

That said, I don't believe Adobe ever advertised it as being universal. It just may have been coincidence that it was. Certainly, the CS 4 Suite installer will tell you it's not. Which is how I found out that you can install most of the apps individually.

But hey, you're the guy that likes Office 2004 better than 2008, my preferred version on PowerPC. So, we don't see eye to eye on that already, LOL! :D
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What!? I love Office 2008. 04 is clunky. I just like that on older Macs with limited RAM it runs better. We see eye to eye on that.

CS4 on large graphics with millions of pixels takes much more time to save and open as an example compared to CS2. CS2 was definitely optimized as well PPC was the only Macs around then.
 
Altemose said:
What!? I love Office 2008. 04 is clunky. I just like that on older Macs with limited RAM it runs better. We see eye to eye on that.

CS4 on large graphics with millions of pixels takes much more time to save and open as an example compared to CS2. CS2 was definitely optimized as well PPC was the only Macs around then.
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Got ya!

QuarkXPress 8 was defintely NOT optimized for PowerPC either. Sigh. I always had to do our legals in XPress 6 because of it!
 
Altemose said:
So web browsing what do you use on your PPCs?
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TenFourFox. I have it all optimized using config tweaks I found online. Anything that applies to about:config in Firefox will apply to TenFourFox.

I actually much prefer Aurorafox over T4Fx, but it's outdated now. Fortunately, I found a way to alter the default UserAgent string in about:config so that it does not report TenFourFox in the UA. It actually shows me as being an Intel Mac using a later version of Firefox.
 
eyoungren said:
TenFourFox. I have it all optimized using config tweaks I found online. Anything that applies to about:config in Firefox will apply to TenFourFox.

I actually much prefer Aurorafox over T4Fx, but it's outdated now. Fortunately, I found a way to alter the default UserAgent string in about:config so that it does not report TenFourFox in the UA. It actually shows me as being an Intel Mac using a later version of Firefox.
Click to expand...

While TenFourFox was my favorite browser up to 17, I found Leopard WebKit to be quite the best and less clunky... Do you use Leopard WebKit at all?
 
Altemose said:
While TenFourFox was my favorite browser up to 17, I found Leopard WebKit to be quite the best and less clunky... Do you use Leopard WebKit at all?
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I'm not a real big fan of webkit in any form. My overall user experience has been awful. And I can't really customize it like I can Mozilla based browsers. I don't use SeaMonkey either for the exact reason that I cannot customize it like T4Fx.

I do, however, have it installed on my iMac G5. But that's mainly because my son is used to Safari on his G4 and I don't want to confuse him.

That said, I usually drop to Safari or Camino if I want to view web video. I have all that crap disabled in T4Fx.
 
eyoungren said:
TenFourFox. I have it all optimized using config tweaks I found online. Anything that applies to about:config in Firefox will apply to TenFourFox.

I actually much prefer Aurorafox over T4Fx, but it's outdated now. Fortunately, I found a way to alter the default UserAgent string in about:config so that it does not report TenFourFox in the UA. It actually shows me as being an Intel Mac using a later version of Firefox.
Click to expand...

While TenFourFox was my favorite browser up to 17, I found Leopard WebKit to be quite the best and less clunky... Do you use Leopard WebKit at all?

----------
eyoungren said:
I'm not a real big fan of webkit in any form. My overall user experience has been awful. And I can't really customize it like I can Mozilla based browsers. I don't use SeaMonkey either for the exact reason that I cannot customize it like T4Fx.

I do, however, have it installed on my iMac G5. But that's mainly because my son is used to Safari on his G4 and I don't want to confuse him.

That said, I usually drop to Safari or Camino if I want to view web video. I have all that crap disabled in T4Fx.
Click to expand...

Not sure how I double posted but that makes perfect sense. For some reason T4Fx seems to be a little clunkier in version 24, but 17 runs fluid, fast, and renders properly.
 
Altemose said:
While TenFourFox was my favorite browser up to 17, I found Leopard WebKit to be quite the best and less clunky... Do you use Leopard WebKit at all?

----------



Not sure how I double posted but that makes perfect sense. For some reason T4Fx seems to be a little clunkier in version 24, but 17 runs fluid, fast, and renders properly.
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Yeah, my big issue past version 20 is that I can no longer post photos here. Instead of popping up a new window for that it loads the photo upload window in the main window. That makes it impossible to post photos. There's a workaround, but it's hit or miss.

I'm hoping the next version fixes that but I'm not counting on it.
 
eyoungren said:
Yeah, my big issue past version 20 is that I can no longer post photos here. Instead of popping up a new window for that it loads the photo upload window in the main window. That makes it impossible to post photos. There's a workaround, but it's hit or miss.

I'm hoping the next version fixes that but I'm not counting on it.
Click to expand...

I bet that more of that type of issue will occur as the code base from Firefox and T4Fx starts to differ more...
 
I also have a PowerBook G4 (1.67GHz) and I feel it's a bit too sluggish. It might have something to do with Leopard being installed and my laptop being one of those with a faulty second RAM slot so I'm stuck with one stick of RAM, but in any case I tend to use different laptops when I'm about to couch surf.
 
Starfighter said:
I also have a PowerBook G4 (1.67GHz) and I feel it's a bit too sluggish. It might have something to do with Leopard being installed and my laptop being one of those with a faulty second RAM slot so I'm stuck with one stick of RAM, but in any case I tend to use different laptops when I'm about to couch surf.
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My 1.0Ghz 17" PB had a failed cache (logicboard). So, no L2 processor cache. This forced me to be creative, so I ran Leopard with Spotlight and VM disabled.
 
## UPDATE ##

It turns out this "PowerBook G4" was some FreeCycle scammer in a far-flung country, trying to get drip fed with "Courier" fees of £20-30 (probably from a number of people) for his "wares".

Thankfully I am a methodical programmer, and my brain parses stuff meticulously... and the fact that he had a "follow me" non-geo number which called a foreign number AND which is premium rate, rang alarm bells.

The guy calls himself "Thomson Moore", so if you ever happen across him, beware (UK FreeCycle, Cambridge, by the way):

"From : thomsmore54
Date : Fri, 11 Apr 2014 02:10:38 -0000
OFFER: PowerBook G4 17" laptop (Royston)
An used but solid machine with many features, a sensored backlit
keyboard, an exceptional 17" LCD display, bluetooth, and a very solid
aluminum body.
"


Here's a snippet from one of our few emails back and forth:

"Hello Matt, it may interest you I checked on the cost of delivery to your
home and the delivery charges are not so expensive. the delivery
charges are in two parts you can either go for a standard delivery for
£20 or express delivery for £30, ,depending on which
of them you will wish to take. i tried to find out the difference
between the charges, but they said with the standard delivery it will
take two days before delivery but with the express it will take just
max 8 hours before delivery. if you can afford it then you get back to
me to confirm your details delivery address and full names including
phone numbers ,i will take it over to the delivery agency for
registration . You can also reach me on mobile
07023054651
Best Regards."

Who actually refers to a courier as "delivery agency"? Come off it! :D

Not sad, I am happy that I was alerted to this, and can help others to avoid one more scammer.
 
aluminimac said:
## UPDATE ##

It turns out this "PowerBook G4" was some FreeCycle scammer in a far-flung country, trying to get drip fed with "Courier" fees of £20-30 (probably from a number of people) for his "wares".

Thankfully I am a methodical programmer, and my brain parses stuff meticulously... and the fact that he had a "follow me" non-geo number which called a foreign number AND which is premium rate, rang alarm bells.

The guy calls himself "Thomson Moore", so if you ever happen across him, beware (UK FreeCycle, Cambridge, by the way):

"From : thomsmore54
Date : Fri, 11 Apr 2014 02:10:38 -0000
OFFER: PowerBook G4 17" laptop (Royston)
An used but solid machine with many features, a sensored backlit
keyboard, an exceptional 17" LCD display, bluetooth, and a very solid
aluminum body.
"


Here's a snippet from one of our few emails back and forth:

"Hello Matt, it may interest you I checked on the cost of delivery to your
home and the delivery charges are not so expensive. the delivery
charges are in two parts you can either go for a standard delivery for
£20 or express delivery for £30, ,depending on which
of them you will wish to take. i tried to find out the difference
between the charges, but they said with the standard delivery it will
take two days before delivery but with the express it will take just
max 8 hours before delivery. if you can afford it then you get back to
me to confirm your details delivery address and full names including
phone numbers ,i will take it over to the delivery agency for
registration . You can also reach me on mobile
07023054651
Best Regards."

Who actually refers to a courier as "delivery agency"? Come off it! :D

Not sad, I am happy that I was alerted to this, and can help others to avoid one more scammer.
Click to expand...
Well, the tip off for me there was £30 for delivery within 8 hours!

I don't know about your part of the world, but here in the States, unless you're a business or you know exactly where to go (courier, versus shipping company) the fastest delivery time you could get would be next day. And you pay through the wazoo for that. Couriers tend to be in city only and only in the larger citys and again you're going to pay. If you and the shipper do not live in the same city a courier would not be able to help you. Thus you'd have to ship and again the earliest you could get would be next day.

Glad you were alert and did not get ripped off!
 
aluminimac said:
## UPDATE ##



It turns out this "PowerBook G4" was some FreeCycle scammer in a far-flung country, trying to get drip fed with "Courier" fees of £20-30 (probably from a number of people) for his "wares".



Thankfully I am a methodical programmer, and my brain parses stuff meticulously... and the fact that he had a "follow me" non-geo number which called a foreign number AND which is premium rate, rang alarm bells.



The guy calls himself "Thomson Moore", so if you ever happen across him, beware (UK FreeCycle, Cambridge, by the way):



"From :thomsmore54

Date :Fri, 11 Apr 2014 02:10:38 -0000

OFFER: PowerBook G4 17" laptop (Royston)

An used but solid machine with many features, a sensored backlit

keyboard, an exceptional 17" LCD display, bluetooth, and a very solid

aluminum body.

"





Here's a snippet from one of our few emails back and forth:



"Hello Matt, it may interest you I checked on the cost of delivery to your

home and the delivery charges are not so expensive. the delivery

charges are in two parts you can either go for a standard delivery for

£20 or express delivery for £30, ,depending on which

of them you will wish to take. i tried to find out the difference

between the charges, but they said with the standard delivery it will

take two days before delivery but with the express it will take just

max 8 hours before delivery. if you can afford it then you get back to

me to confirm your details delivery address and full names including

phone numbers ,i will take it over to the delivery agency for

registration . You can also reach me on mobile

07023054651

Best Regards."



Who actually refers to a courier as "delivery agency"? Come off it! :D



Not sad, I am happy that I was alerted to this, and can help others to avoid one more scammer.
Click to expand...


One thing that tips me off to scammers is the value on what they're giving away. PowerBook for free, not fishy at all yet. MacBook Pro on Freecycle, either a scam or it looks like it's been through a nuclear war, backed over with a truck, and given to some kids as a Frisbee.
 
eyoungren said:
I don't know about your part of the world, but here in the States, unless you're a business or you know exactly where to go (courier, versus shipping company) the fastest delivery time you could get would be next day. And you pay through the wazoo for that. Couriers tend to be in city only and only in the larger citys and again you're going to pay. If you and the shipper do not live in the same city a courier would not be able to help you. Thus you'd have to ship and again the earliest you could get would be next day.
Click to expand...

The UK is considerably smaller and so if you do want to pay a serious premium (it's a lot more than 30 squid, as you said) you can get it delivered to you same day in one of those little vans by a very sweaty bloodshot-eyed courier driver :p

That's one reason I love living over here - the fact you can know, regardless of where you are in the UK, as long as the item you're buying is shipping from the UK things are going to be relatively tight-knitted & quick to arrive. The number of horror stories I've heard about your delivery services are insane.

Glad the OP had his thinking hat on at the time. I never attempt to claim anything through Freecycle unless the "good samaritan" provides a home phone number with location code. The moderation is seriously lacking on there.

PS: On a related note - I bought another 15" PowerBook G4 (1.67GHz High-Res) yesterday. This'll be my fifth (I think) PowerBook to date. I had a 1.67GHz DLSD/HR G4 a few months back but it died through what I still think to be a 3rd party power adapter. But anyway, I bought another one because they get everything I need to get done on a laptop without an issue. I have a MacBook that is 3 years the junior to the PowerBook that I'll be selling, as it's a sitting duck in terms of depreciation. The PowerBooks are so cheap now it's almost a no-brainer.
 
Last edited:
Goftrey said:
The UK is considerably smaller and so if you do want to pay a serious premium (it's a lot more than 30 squid, as you said) you can get it delivered to you same day in one of those little vans by a very sweaty bloodshot-eyed courier driver :p

That's one reason I love living over here - the fact you can know, regardless of where you are in the UK, as long as the item you're buying is shipping from the UK things are going to be relatively tight-knitted & quick to arrive. The number of horror stories I've heard about your delivery services are insane.

Glad the OP had his thinking hat on at the time. I never attempt to claim anything through Freecycle unless the "good samaritan" provides a home phone number with location code. The moderation is seriously lacking on there.

PS: On a related note - I bought another 15" PowerBook G4 (1.67GHz High-Res) yesterday. This'll be my fifth (I think) PowerBook to date. I had a 1.67GHz DLSD/HR G4 a few months back but it died through what I still think to be a 3rd party power adapter. But anyway, I bought another one because they get everything I need to get done on a laptop without an issue. I have a MacBook that is 3 years the junior to the PowerBook that I'll be selling, as it's a sitting duck in terms of depreciation. The PowerBooks are so cheap now it's almost a no-brainer.
Click to expand...

It is possible it is simply the DC in board portion on the PowerBook that can be repaired or replaced... Glad you got a new one though.

If you want, we could help you get the other PowerBook going.
 
Goftrey said:
The number of horror stories I've heard about your delivery services are insane.
Click to expand...
You do not know the half of it. I worked for United Parcel Service for 7 years (from age 22 to age 29) in their Ontario, California West Coast Air Hub. I was a bulk/irreg driver (delivers bulky/plastic/metal/wood items from unload to load side) during that entire time so driving around I saw a lot of crap, and got a lot of crap from management.

Considering that very few people I knew working there were conscientious about the job and that it probably got worse after my wife and I left I can only imagine the things going on now. And that's just UPS!
 
eyoungren said:
You do not know the half of it. I worked for United Parcel Service for 7 years (from age 22 to age 29) in their Ontario, California West Coast Air Hub. I was a bulk/irreg driver (delivers bulky/plastic/metal/wood items from unload to load side) during that entire time so driving around I saw a lot of crap, and got a lot of crap from management.

Considering that very few people I knew working there were conscientious about the job and that it probably got worse after my wife and I left I can only imagine the things going on now. And that's just UPS!
Click to expand...

I am going to be very honest with you. UPS is the worst company to ship anything. The rammed my Apple Studio Display with a fork lift... Jerks...
 
Altemose said:
I am going to be very honest with you. UPS is the worst company to ship anything. The rammed my Apple Studio Display with a fork lift... Jerks...
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Oh, don't worry about offending me. Management where I worked too care of that a LONG time ago.

Your story is typical.


  • Once watched an entire tote (about 3ft x 3ft x 1/2 ft) of letters get shredded going through a bottleneck on the belts. People's documents, paychecks, etc.
  • Belts caught fire a few times
  • Tug driver once dropped an entire air container (A2) full of packages flat off the dolly on to concrete
  • Watched a truck driver smash in his roof mounted air foil trying to go under a belt which was too low
  • One of our managers lost an entire 747 full of packages on the ramp. We sorted it the following night. UPS punished us by reassigning that manager to be our sort manager!
  • Some supervisor once forget to label the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet, hazmat) properly on one of the trailers going out. That trailer caught fire and the fire department let it burn to the ground because they didn't know what hazardous materials were on board.
  • One of our bulk drivers was driving a tug which had our bulk carts connected. Way overpowered because management could never get us the right equipment. Took a turn and accelerated which whipped the last two or three carts around right into two tug drivers unloading a container. Sent one of them flying so hard she came out of her shoes. Both went to the hospital.
  • One guy drank an entire pack of Zima before showing up for work. Seriously drunk
  • I won't get into management issues, but there were plenty. That's why I soon changed my mind about unions
:D
 
eyoungren said:
Oh, don't worry about offending me. Management where I worked too care of that a LONG time ago.

Your story is typical.


  • Once watched an entire tote (about 3ft x 3ft x 1/2 ft) of letters get shredded going through a bottleneck on the belts. People's documents, paychecks, etc.
  • Belts caught fire a few times
  • Tug driver once dropped an entire air container (A2) full of packages flat off the dolly on to concrete
  • Watched a truck driver smash in his roof mounted air foil trying to go under a belt which was too low
  • One of our managers lost an entire 747 full of packages on the ramp. We sorted it the following night. UPS punished us by reassigning that manager to be our sort manager!
  • Some supervisor once forget to label the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet, hazmat) properly on one of the trailers going out. That trailer caught fire and the fire department let it burn to the ground because they didn't know what hazardous materials were on board.
  • One of our bulk drivers was driving a tug which had our bulk carts connected. Way overpowered because management could never get us the right equipment. Took a turn and accelerated which whipped the last two or three carts around right into two tug drivers unloading a container. Sent one of them flying so hard she came out of her shoes. Both went to the hospital.
  • One guy drank an entire pack of Zima before showing up for work. Seriously drunk
  • I won't get into management issues, but there were plenty. That's why I soon changed my mind about unions
:D
Click to expand...

A day in the life of UPS...
 
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