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Which low end Laptop is best ?

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macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 21, 2008
202
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My old Pismo running Panther finally died....
So I'm looking for a cheap 2nd hand Mac.
As you can imagine a Pismo Running Panther in 2010 my computing needs are not too high.... e mail, surfing the net, a bit of photo retouching, downloading films and music.... What 2nd hand Mac should i look for;.. G3 G4 ? macbook ?
I have about 250/350 euros budget
PS. I need something with Fire wire because all my stuff was backed up on Firewire ext . HD
There are so many 2nd hand Macs on ebay its difficult to know what too look for.
Thanks in advance
 
Get something with Intel CPU because support for PPC is disappearing so you may end up using very outdated software in couple of years with e.g. no Flash or other stuff you may want. Something that can run at least Leopard is what you want
 
I'm not sure what kind of Intel Mac you can find on a 250/350 Euro budget. Maybe an early Mac Book? If not, look at a G4 iBook or Powerbook that you can eventually upgrade to Leopard (Leopard requires a G4, among other things). The 14" iBook has the same form factor as the Pismo, but the Powerbooks are more powerful.
 
Wait until you have a little bit more money
buying a laptop that old (2004 ibook or powerbook) is risky IMO because 6 years is a long time in the computer world for things to start to break down like fans and hard drives and stuff all of which can be working fine one day and die the next. Not to mention laptops tend to get a lot of abuse like being thrown into backpacks and dropped or have water spilled on them and you cant always tell what its been through just by looking at the surface.
Just a suggestion from a guy whose bought a few used laptops in my life and had nothing but bad experiences. That being said I've never bought a used Mac so maybe there's something to be said for their build quality.
 
My current laptop (specs below) I bought on eBay back in March. It's about a year old and I got it for $540.00 US (~460 euros).

I wouldn't get anything older than about two years old, if at all possible. Even with the best of care, that's at least middle age in machine years.

Good luck!
 
A Macbook would suit your needs very well.

Start searching for the "deal." Craigslist or eBay might have some good ones.
 
Go for a G4 PowerBook, but if you can, get a MacBook.

It's really worth it to invest in an architecture that will be supported.
 
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