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Reception of the iBook G3 in the early 2000s?

WalnutSpice

WalnutSpice

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Jun 21, 2015
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Canton, Oh
I was just curious, what the reception from the public like for the iBook G3s when they came around? I've been playing on mine and it really just doesn't do anything for me. I've used many other computers and laptops from the same era and the iBook G3 is really not that fast compared to anything. Also the video issues, that had to stir something else up as well. If you were old enough at the time, what did you think of it?

The iBook G4 is an entire other story for me though. It was my first laptop and even now, still pretty speedy. The G3 though, is kinda useless and for some reason just comes off as boring to me.
 
I have no affinity for the iBook, G3 or otherwise. My daughter has one because it was just a better idea to get her that instead of a PowerBook.

I didn't start paying attention to Apple until the 17" PowerBook G4 came along even though I've always worked on Macs.

I traded three iBook G3s plus $50 for my PowerMac Quicksilver to RedCroissant. Those three have since floated around amongst the members here. But they started life as yearbook Macs for my mom's yearbook class in the Beaumont Unified School District (Beaumont, Calif.).

Here's something though…an iBook G4 but it may give you an idea.

http://forums.exmac.net/showthread.php?tid=6&pid=6#pid6
 
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How much RAM did it have? The stock 128MB can hinder the performance.

I'm happy with mine, performance wise. It is the last version, using PPC 750fx
which was quite an exciting move from previous models for a low-end portable machine.

I like the exterior design but hate its structure, very hard to take apart for servicing
and the procedure leaves scratches and cracks on the white plastic body.
 
as i remember things if you wanted an apple laptop back then it was ibooks vs powerbooks as we all know. back then desktops outsold laptops and one of the selling points was that ibooks came with appleworks which powerbooks did not. of course you could buy appleworks for extra money.
 
for this said:
How much RAM did it have? The stock 128MB can hinder the performance.

I'm happy with mine, performance wise. It is the last version, using PPC 750fx
which was quite an exciting move from previous models for a low-end portable machine.

I like the exterior design but hate its structure, very hard to take apart for servicing
and the procedure leaves scratches and cracks on the white plastic body.
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My iBook has 256MB. Pretty low, but enough for what I was doing
 
One of the iBook G3s eyoungren mentioned above made its way here. It's 900mhz and doesn't really seem to have issues. It's running the Leopard 2006 WWDC preview now, which it handles quite well.

With that said, these iBooks(IMO) really come into their own with OS 9-and I've found OS 9 likes a little more "breathing room" than 256mb. OS 8/8.5 really fares better on lower amounts of RAM(and with an update to 8.6 can run most everything that will run on OS 9), although without researching it I'm not sure if any snow iBooks will run 8.6.
 
bunnspecial said:
One of the iBook G3s eyoungren mentioned above made its way here. It's 900mhz and doesn't really seem to have issues. It's running the Leopard 2006 WWDC preview now, which it handles quite well.

With that said, these iBooks(IMO) really come into their own with OS 9-and I've found OS 9 likes a little more "breathing room" than 256mb. OS 8/8.5 really fares better on lower amounts of RAM(and with an update to 8.6 can run most everything that will run on OS 9), although without researching it I'm not sure if any snow iBooks will run 8.6.
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Can I ask where you found a preview compatible with G3 Macs?
But yeah, I remember my iMac G3 awhile ago performed worlds better with OS9. I'll probably throw that on my iBook at some point. Probably the bump the RAM if I can do it cheap.
 
bunnspecial said:
One of the iBook G3s eyoungren mentioned above made its way here. It's 900mhz and doesn't really seem to have issues. It's running the Leopard 2006 WWDC preview now, which it handles quite well.

With that said, these iBooks(IMO) really come into their own with OS 9-and I've found OS 9 likes a little more "breathing room" than 256mb. OS 8/8.5 really fares better on lower amounts of RAM(and with an update to 8.6 can run most everything that will run on OS 9), although without researching it I'm not sure if any snow iBooks will run 8.6.
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LOL, yes. Altemose has one of the others. But I'm not sure if Red still has the third one or not.

The 900 was actually in the best condition of the three. It's the one I was doing TM backups to and congrats, the ram in it came from my PowerBook G4. :D

Glad they are still seeing use.
 
WalnutSpice said:
Can I ask where you found a preview compatible with G3 Macs?
But yeah, I remember my iMac G3 awhile ago performed worlds better with OS9. I'll probably throw that on my iBook at some point. Probably the bump the RAM if I can do it cheap.
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Bunns and Lightbulbfun have been working on getting the preview to run on a G3. It's still experimental at this point. Any of the links to the former drivers that were used have all been blown and aren't accessible via the Internet Way Back Machine either.
 
eyoungren said:
LOL, yes. Altemose has one of the others. But I'm not sure if Red still has the third one or not.
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I have the one that Altemose formerly had.

In any case, the 2006 WWDC preview will actually install on any G3 Mac that supports Tiger(officially) with no trouble at all(I haven't experimented with xpostfacto). All said and done, though, it's not actually that much different from Tiger(the UI is virtually indistinguishable), has the instability problems inherent in early betas, and it lacks the software support of either Tiger or Leopard. 10.4.11 is actually newer-having come out in November of 2007-and the most recent Tiger security update is a full three years newer than Leopard WWDC.
 
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The original white iBook G3s may seem a little un-interesting now, but it was a really popular machine. The thing weighed a lot less, had a much better screen, and just a more "professional" look to it. They went over really well with schools because of the smaller form factor and lower price. Along with the Titanium PowerBook, i think the dual USB iBook is a design that has aged extremely well. Despite being almost 15 years old, you can take one out in public without most anyone realizing its a computer thats older than some high school students.
 
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WalnutSpice said:
I was just curious, what the reception from the public like for the iBook G3s when they came around? I've been playing on mine and it really just doesn't do anything for me. I've used many other computers and laptops from the same era and the iBook G3 is really not that fast compared to anything. Also the video issues, that had to stir something else up as well. If you were old enough at the time, what did you think of it?

The iBook G4 is an entire other story for me though. It was my first laptop and even now, still pretty speedy. The G3 though, is kinda useless and for some reason just comes off as boring to me.
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Had a 600mhz G3 purchased new. It was slow compared to similar era Windows machines, not so much boring but seemed slow with stock ram and stock 10 gig(?) or so hard drive. The 1.33 g4 12" and the 1.42 G4 14" best of the whole line. Ram made a difference, but I had no idea about ram back then.
 
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Hrududu said:
Despite being almost 15 years old, you can take one out in public without most anyone realizing its a computer thats older than some high school students.
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I wouldn't go that far... I, a high school student, took my iBook G4 into school and everyone noticed how old it was. I received multiple comments about it's thickness, how old it was, how small it was, and the fact it had a disk drive (which I find comical, because up until a few years ago, every laptop accept for a NetBook or Ultrabook/MacBook Air had a disk drive. To add insult to injury, I put a rainbow apple logo over the apple logo cut out by removing the back plate and taping it on.
 
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Gamer9430 said:
I wouldn't go that far... I, a high school student, took my iBook G4 into school and everyone noticed how old it was. I received multiple comments about it's thickness, how old it was, how small it was, and the fact it had a disk drive (which I find comical, because up until a few years ago, every laptop accept for a NetBook or Ultrabook/MacBook Air had a disk drive. To add insult to injury, I put a rainbow apple logo over the apple logo cut out by removing the back plate and taping it on.
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I suppose kids that age are probably more in tune with what is new and what isn't. Now that most laptops have gotten really thin, combined with the fact an iBook doesn't have a widescreen display probably makes it stick out a little bit. And yes, the iBooks are pretty chubby by today's standards lol. I don't think I've ever had anyone make a remark about my titanium PowerBook though, it may be a little more under the radar due to its form factor.
 
Hrududu said:
I suppose kids that age are probably more in tune with what is new and what isn't. Now that most laptops have gotten really thin, combined with the fact an iBook doesn't have a widescreen display probably makes it stick out a little bit. And yes, the iBooks are pretty chubby by today's standards lol. I don't think I've ever had anyone make a remark about my titanium PowerBook though, it may be a little more under the radar due to its form factor.
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People will make comments about my DLSD at school! And it looks like an earlier MBP!
 
MacCubed said:
People will make comments about my DLSD at school! And it looks like an earlier MBP!
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I like the looks I get from late model rMBP owners when I'm using my 17" PowerBook or 17" MBP.

Apple dropped a good amount of serious 17" customers when they dropped that size from their lineup. And no amount of saying "pixelwise it's the same amount of space" is equal to 17 inches of real, PHYSICAL screen space!
 
eyoungren said:
I like the looks I get from late model rMBP owners when I'm using my 17" PowerBook or 17" MBP.

Apple dropped a good amount of serious 17" customers when they dropped that size from their lineup. And no amount of saying "pixelwise it's the same amount of space" is equal to 17 inches of real, PHYSICAL screen space!
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I think a 17" rMBP would be beautiful
 
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eyoungren said:
Shhhhhh!

Don't mention that in the Intel forums. They'll get upset and say that you're a bad Apple customer!
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I have a 17" unibody sitting on my kitchen table now that I really wish I could get working-I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a new logic board for it.

In any case, I go back and forth on 17" laptops but I recognize the benefit of them. The only working one I have is a DLSD and I have trouble using it on my lap, but for working at a table/desk it's hard to beat.

But, Erik, you should just take everything Apple gives you and say thank you :) . That's what being a good Apple customer is all about.
 
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bunnspecial said:
I have a 17" unibody sitting on my kitchen table now that I really wish I could get working-I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a new logic board for it.

In any case, I go back and forth on 17" laptops but I recognize the benefit of them. The only working one I have is a DLSD and I have trouble using it on my lap, but for working at a table/desk it's hard to beat.

But, Erik, you should just take everything Apple gives you and say thank you :) . That's what being a good Apple customer is all about.
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ROTFL!!!!

And give up my jailbreak?!!! No, no, no, no! :D

I don't drink out of the same punch bowl as everyone else it seems, LOL!

As for the 17's. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm much more comfortable with them than any of the smaller Macs. Had to use my wife's 12" the other night and I was making typos right and left because my fingers were cramping up trying to squeeze themselves into that keyboard space. Ugh!
 
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eyoungren said:
ROTFL!!!!

And give up my jailbreak?!!! No, no, no, no! :D

I don't drink out of the same punch bowl as everyone else it seems, LOL!

As for the 17's. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm much more comfortable with them than any of the smaller Macs. Had to use my wife's 12" the other night and I was making typos right and left because my fingers were cramping up trying to squeeze themselves into that keyboard space. Ugh!
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I can't give up my JB either! I may get a 6S+ so hopefully an iOS 9.1 JB comes out soon! And a 17" Unibody MBP probably feels a lot more like a smaller size Unibody, the designs are almost identical. Anyhow I hope Apple revives the 17" MacBook Pro
 
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