? Upgrade to current 1.2ghz iBook or upgrade my current iBook ?

[slipper]

hey there, just want your opinion. i have a 800mhz G4 iBook and i am considering either upgrading to a 1.2ghz iBook w/ 60gb hd or keeping my iBook and upgrading to the 7200rpm travelstar hard drive. assuming it cost the same(if i sell my iBook on ebay), what is your opinion on what i should do?

 

[Giaguara]

keep the one you have now.

 

[spaceballl]

Haha wanna know what is funny? I had an iBook G3 700 and I added the hitachi 7200rpm drive. Disk performance was GREAT with it. But that's DISK PERFORMANCE which is hardly indicative of computer performance.

I'm right now on a 1.2 ghz G4 iBook, and despite the the harddrive runs at just over half the RPM of my last one, it's a much speedier system. I don't see how the costs would be the same... but if they were, the new computer is a far better deal. You'll get things like BT, a 32mb graphics card, USB 2.0, slot loading drive, etc etc.

So basically, from 100% personal experience, the harddrive is a great upgrade. I have an 80gb stock 4200 rpm drive in here right now (laaaaaaame) and as soon as the 7200 rpm 100gb drives start popping out, i'm going to make the swap right away. That being said, the hard drive doesn't perform miracles like doubling the speed of your processor or turning a G3 into a G4. It just improves disk performance. This can improve system performance cuz OS X OFTEN caches to the disk. Having a lot of RAM limits this, but doesn't prevent it, so when OS X caches, the faster drive helps. App boot up quicker as well, and the system start up time was cut in half...

-Kevin

 

[spaceballl]

So I wrote that whole post thinking that you had a G3 iBook... only to look back and realize it was a G4. Hehe. But I still think since you have the lowest model G4, it is worth going to the newer one. I mean it depends what you want out of the computer. Keep in mind you can get the newer iBook and then upgrade its hard drive in the future, but you can't get the new hard drive and then upgrade the 'book.

haha the only reason i added the 7200 rpm drive into my iBook 700 was so that it would be a bit speedier until the G5 powerbooks came out. Lucky for me, my logic board failed for a fourth time (p.s. as far as HDs, what apple doesn't see, apple doesn't have to know), and Apple gave me this brand spankin' new iBook G4. So now i'll probably just upgrade the HD in Spring and grab the high end powerbook in a year and a half.

-Kevin

 

[Jo-Kun]

First of all... what do you use your iBook for, second: how much ram do you have inside?

why do I ask this?? more ram can be a cheaper solution to get it fatser than selling this iBook, buying a new one... if you need a speedier drive for whatever reasons, get one in whatever -Book you get

for instance my Scanner doesn't need much ram the speed it can write data on the disk matters to get it faster... Photoshop likes more ram (since I work a lot with 700Mb scans...

getting 1GB extra ram and the 7200rmp drive now is no waste when you decide afterwards you want the new iBook since it will fit in there...

ideally (when you want to spend the poney off course is to sell the iBook, get the new one add 1GB ram and the drive and you'll get the fastest iBook...

but do you really need that now?

sometimes its better to max out your existing system now and wait longer to get a new one.

I worked on my old Ti-Book G4 400 for a long time (yes there were new faster -Books on the market allready) I maxed out the ram 1GB for that one, waited sometimes a littile longer before my computer had calculated everything, and 6Months ago someone stole my Ti-Book so I had to buy a new system, went for the G5 2x1.8, and yes there are faster G5's now, but do I bother? no... later on I will add more ram, add bigger or faster drives, maybe when its needed get a bigger graphics card, and wait for some years until this one gets 'to slow' in my opinion and then get a new one...

I think this G5 will have to work with me for 4 years, in one year I'll probably buy a new Power- or iBook wich allso has to work 4 years before getting it replaced, yes its nice to have the new toys every time they come out... but do you need it??? No I guess otherwise you would have bought no iBook but a PowerBook or PowerMac because they're 'stronger' in every way...

J

 

[slipper]

i use it for mostly the internet, online games such as starcraft, and lots of photoshop and illustrator using lots of large files with high resolution for print.

640mb of ram.

now im kinda leaning towards upgrading my current iBook. it was coming time to either purchase applecare or go without it and since i has 3 logic boards so far, i didnt want to risk going without it.

 

[spaceballl]

On my 4th logic board repair, Apple gave me this iBook G4... They also refunded an old $300 repair and I bought $200 worth of upgrades so I ended up making $100.
-Kev

 

[slipper]

lol maybe i should wait for my 4th logic board repair to get my free ibook....

 

[spaceballl]

I would agree

 

[cleo]

What's all this about logic boards? I bought my G4 800 iBook Christmas Day last year, and haven't had the tiniest bit of trouble with it. I wasn't going to buy AppleCare, as I've never wound up actually using it on 3 other machines... but is this logic board thing something I should reconsider over? (BTW, I have an Apple Store quite close, and the geniuses always help me out, warranty or not...)

 

[spaceballl]

It is only the G3 iBooks that had the problem.
-Kevin

 

[joetronic]

I have not had any problems with my G3iBook *knocks on wood*, but most the people I know with one are on there 2nd or 3rd boards. I guess Im just one of the lucky ones.

 

[maya]

What's all this about logic boards? I bought my G4 800 iBook Christmas Day last year, and haven't had the tiniest bit of trouble with it. I wasn't going to buy AppleCare, as I've never wound up actually using it on 3 other machines... but is this logic board thing something I should reconsider over? (BTW, I have an Apple Store quite close, and the geniuses always help me out, warranty or not...)

Don't worry yourself over nothing. Apple has posted the affected machines on they site under the support tab. Yours if not included however if you want to set your mind at ease you can always check it out.

 

[slipper]

Cleo - since the 800mhz model was the first of the G4 iBook lineup, i would suggest the applecare. One logic board repair at regular price would cost much more than applecare itself.

 

[spaceballl]

I have not had any problems with my G3iBook *knocks on wood*, but most the people I know with one are on there 2nd or 3rd boards. I guess Im just one of the lucky ones.

or UNLUCKY considering that I bought a used iBook G3 on eBay for $700 w/ 640mb RAM w/ airport. Apple replaced that with an iBook 1.2ghz, 80gb harddrive, BT, AE, 768mb RAM... sweetness

 

[rhpenguin]

thats frustrating because im on my third logic board, 2nd hard drive and 2nd cd-rom and having a problem with the third logic board and apple (canada) only wants to replace parts...

sucks to be me i guess..

 

[slipper]

First of all... what do you use your iBook for, second: how much ram do you have inside?

i use it for mostly the internet, online games such as starcraft, and lots of photoshop and illustrator using lots of large files with high resolution for print.

640mb of ram.

now im kinda leaning towards upgrading my current iBook. it was coming time to either purchase applecare or go without it and since i has 3 logic boards so far, i didnt want to risk going without it.

based on what i use, i know i will get a big boost on photoshop because of the file sizes i use... hows about starcraft and overall system performance/speed?

 

[slipper]

i guess i found the answer to starcraft performance... according to the Hitachi site, my latency will inprove by 42% over my 4200rpm hd, yay!