I'm looking to buy a cheap apple laptop just to last me for the next year until I go off to college. This will be a secondary computer that I will just be using for internet browsing, iming and music. Would it be worth it to buy a used 12 inch iBook for around 300 dollars( or lower if I can find one) or would I be better off buying like a netbook around the same price and just trying to hackintosh it?
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Would an iBook G4 be worth it for me?
- Thread starter feverlax
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I think it would absolutely be fine. Mine is my only computer and runs (Tiger) like a dream, with everything you said in addition to CS3, FCE, and iLife '06. The netbook is also a possibility, but that's basically personal preference- it's more about running OS X flawlessly or with a few hoops, as well as screen size, connectivity etc. Just bear in mind the iBook can't do Boot Camp, while you might (?) be able to run both OSs on the netbook if you so desired.
Tried both, and I much prefer my 12" powerbook. A g4 with 1ghz or better would be fine for browsing (it will shudder a little on flash) if you can max the ram out to 1.25 gigs.
My dad recently bought his first mac, a 1.07 ghz g4 ibook last winter, and I was impressed how well safari worked on it with a decent wifi connection.
Stick with tiger 10.4 if you can. 10.5 will run on it, but I'd also suggest turning off all eye candy and processor eating programs like widgets. There's a couple of good online guides to getting all the performance you can out of the machine.
The biggest thing I didn't like about my hackbook airs were the keyboards and postage stamp sized trackpad.
My dad recently bought his first mac, a 1.07 ghz g4 ibook last winter, and I was impressed how well safari worked on it with a decent wifi connection.
Stick with tiger 10.4 if you can. 10.5 will run on it, but I'd also suggest turning off all eye candy and processor eating programs like widgets. There's a couple of good online guides to getting all the performance you can out of the machine.
The biggest thing I didn't like about my hackbook airs were the keyboards and postage stamp sized trackpad.
If you're considering a Hackintosh netbook, you may want to read this.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/six-months-with-a-hackintosh-netbook-it-aint-pretty/
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/six-months-with-a-hackintosh-netbook-it-aint-pretty/
Great! Thanks for all the quick replies guys!
I think I will definitely go for the iBook. I'm going to wait till around the middle of June just to see how much money I have by then, and then decide if I want to buy the iBook to tide me over, or get something a little more powerful. I probably will buy the iBook since like I said I will be getting a new laptop in a year or so.
Thanks for your insights!
I think I will definitely go for the iBook. I'm going to wait till around the middle of June just to see how much money I have by then, and then decide if I want to buy the iBook to tide me over, or get something a little more powerful. I probably will buy the iBook since like I said I will be getting a new laptop in a year or so.
Thanks for your insights!