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What's the best G4 notebook I can get?

Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Original poster
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,062
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
So, I got my G3s, my G5, my Intel, and my Pre-G3 notebook, now I just have a G4 left to buy. Which one do you recommend? Which ones were the last ones to come out? Don't give me the whole slowness talk, because I already know that, and that's what I'm looking for.
 
I'd get a 12" 1.5Ghz model, I beleive those were the last. I think if you want a bigger screen they went up to 1.67Ghz, but I personally prefer the 12" ones.
 
They are similar to the pre-unibody Macbook Pros. They just don't have an iSight camera, Magsafe, or IR for the Apple remote. And they are PowerPC inside instead of Intell.
 
12" was a 1.5ghz PowerPC G4 with a GeForce Go 5200fx

A 15"/17" maxed out was a 1.67ghz G4 with a 128mb Radeon 9600

If you're going to buy any model get a 1.67ghz 15" with the 128mb card. A lot only had the 64mb.


In a couple years, you should definitely not buy one. Hell, I don't even recommend getting one at this point.
 
Most powerful were 15" HiRes and 17" HiRes. It was last rev of PB.
They came with DL DVD RW, HiRes screen, 128 MB R9700 video and DDR2 memory support.
I got 1.67 GHz 17" one from earlier rev and I'm typing this post of it now :)
It's still nice and quite capable laptop, depending on needs ofc. It can run 10.5 pretty nice with max RAM (but I prefer Tiger). I'd change it maybe for 17" HiRes only, but it had to be in mint condition, like mine is.
 
666sheep said:
I got 1.67 GHz 17" one from earlier rev and I'm typing this post of it now :)
It's still nice and quite capable laptop, depending on needs ofc. It can run 10.5 pretty nice with max RAM (but I prefer Tiger). I'd change it maybe for 17" HiRes only, but it had to be in mint condition, like mine is.
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Yeah those are the best of the powerbooks. Not to sound nosey but how much did you pay for one of those? :confused:
 
The only really unique G4 Powerbooks are the 12" model, and of course the Titanium ones (15" only). Sounds like you're building a collection--in that case, go find a good condition TiBook. There's no good reason to buy any G4 Powerbook for use now given what else you already have, so you might as well go for the cool design. The 15 and 17-inch Aluminum Powerbooks look nearly identical to the first-generation Macbook Pros, anyways.

The TiBooks maxed out at 1GHz; if I recall correctly, they were also the only ones with Bluetooth.
 
sysiphus said:
The only really unique G4 Powerbooks are the 12" model, and of course the Titanium ones (15" only). Sounds like you're building a collection--in that case, go find a good condition TiBook. There's no good reason to buy any G4 Powerbook for use now given what else you already have, so you might as well go for the cool design. The 15 and 17-inch Aluminum Powerbooks look nearly identical to the first-generation Macbook Pros, anyways.

The TiBooks maxed out at 1GHz; if I recall correctly, they were also the only ones with Bluetooth.
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I agree, go with a TiBook if it is simply for the sake of collection. They are my favorite look for any of the PBs
 
Ti books are very nice indeed. But finding one in good condition is going to be fairly hard.
 
Intell said:
Ti books are very nice indeed. But finding one in good condition is going to be fairly hard.
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Yup. Best bet is probably to see if anyone you know has one (ideally original owner). For example, my high school calculus teacher had one of the original TiBooks that literally never left her desk, except to be locked in a desk drawer. It still looks like new. (And no, she isn't selling it).
 
I know loads and loads and loads of people with old computers, including Macs. The iBook Clamshell I bought was HARDLY ever used and I snagged it for $50 and found a cheap airport card. All the other G3s were just sitting around on desks too. The G5 I just got was a school machine only used for Photoshop and Final Cut Pro.

And actually, today we just got another Toshiba that was just sitting around. Put a new hard drive and installed Windows 7, works great!

Hopefully someone leaves a G4 Mac behind one day. That's how we got the 180c in 1995 (when it was still worth about $3,000). We even gave that to a friend who used it in college and brought it back to us in the same great shape.

I think I posted the story here once, but a few years ago we found a G4 Cube in the dumpster. We think someone stole it and was looking for a place to hide it. It had water everywhere. We brought it inside, they cleaned it up, and it got sold for a couple $200-300. We should have just kept it ourselves LOL, but it was on the school's property so it could have been someone's.
 
raysfan81 said:
Not to sound nosey but how much did you pay for one of those? :confused:
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It's hard to believe, but I've paid equivalent of $666 :D about a year ago. It was from original owner, no scratches, no dents - like new. In a box with all original stuff. I've always wanted top line PB 17" and when I've found this one just couldn't resist.
 
if your going to get a powerbook and already realize performance isn't going to be top notch grab a 12" (this one), they were arguably the sexiest Apple notebooks ever, super small and still very usable.

Why buy a gigantic 17" obsolete tank when you can buy a 12"? the performance is going to be the same more less anyway, may as well pick the sexiest one.
 
bobbytomorow said:
if your going to get a powerbook and already realize performance isn't going to be top notch grab a 12" (this one), they were arguably the sexiest Apple notebooks ever, super small and still very usable.

Why buy a gigantic 17" obsolete tank when you can buy a 12"? the performance is going to be the same more less anyway, may as well pick the sexiest one.
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The 12" didn't have the backlit keyboard did it? I find that to be the coolest part of those computers. So the 15" and 17" 1.67ghz models are better.
 
raysfan81 said:
The 12" didn't have the backlit keyboard did it? I find that to be the coolest part of those computers. So the 15" and 17" 1.67ghz models are better.
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no it didn't, that's the only downside, but I still think they were the best powerbooks apple made. I was sad when Apple didn't make a 12" intel Macbook Pro.
 
mrkramer said:
no it didn't, that's the only downside, but I still think they were the best powerbooks apple made. I was sad when Apple didn't make a 12" intel Macbook Pro.
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The 13" is the intel version of the Powerbook 12" I haven't compared them in size side by side so I don't know if there is really that much difference.
 
raysfan81 said:
The 13" is the intel version of the Powerbook 12" I haven't compared them in size side by side so I don't know if there is really that much difference.
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its a big enough difference that I don't find it a good replacement for the 12" PowerBook. You have to realize how on top of the screen size, how much more empty space there is on the MBP13", especially with that giant screen bezel.
 
PowerGamerX said:
its a big enough difference that I don't find it a good replacement for the 12" PowerBook. You have to realize how on top of the screen size, how much more empty space there is on the MBP13", especially with that giant screen bezel.
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Interesting... Like I said I've never seen them side by side. :(
 
I just got my first 12" PowerBook. It is small, much smaller than a 13" MacBook. I know see why people loved these things, it really is a great commuter laptop.
 
I've already got my 12" 1.5GHz Powerbook, and its great. If you don't already have one, its a good buy. They're also pretty cheap now. My girlfriend just got one 2 weeks ago for under $250 with a nice case, video adapters, and original box. If you want the most powerful, the go for the hi-res 17" Powerbook. 15" is nice, but a 17" would be much cooler.
 
Hrududu said:
I've already got my 12" 1.5GHz Powerbook, and its great. If you don't already have one, its a good buy. They're also pretty cheap now. My girlfriend just got one 2 weeks ago for under $250 with a nice case, video adapters, and original box. If you want the most powerful, the go for the hi-res 17" Powerbook. 15" is nice, but a 17" would be much cooler.
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Where did she find it?
 
I just picked up a 15" 1.67Ghz HiRes for $250 on Craigslist. It's in great condition cosmetically and the battery life is amazing. Just keep looking and you'll find a good deal.
 
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