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iBook G3 Specs Questions

6K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  andreww 
#1 ·
Hey Everyone,

I'm in the market for a decent used iBook G3 to use to switch my parents to Mac and I'd like a little information please.

First of all what were and when did they change the video memory sizes. Is this the most important thing to look for after processor speed?
Also, when did they go from tray to slot loading drives?

Any other pointers or what to look out for would be appreciated.

Regards,

Bruce
 
#2 ·
macuserforlife said:
Hey Everyone,

I'm in the market for a decent used iBook G3 to use to switch my parents to Mac and I'd like a little information please.

First of all what were and when did they change the video memory sizes. Is this the most important thing to look for after processor speed?
Also, when did they go from tray to slot loading drives?

Any other pointers or what to look out for would be appreciated.

Regards,

Bruce
All the technical details can be found at www.apple-history.com.

Short answers: VRAM went from 8 MB in 2001 to 16 in 2002 to 32 in 2003.

All the G3 Dual USB iBooks (2001+) have a tray-loading drive. The slot-loaders came in with the G4 models in late 2003.

The 500 MHz models have a slow system bus. (66 MHz vs. 100 MHz for the others).

All G3 iBooks (Dual USB, not the earlier clamshell units) are at risk of random logic-board failure. Machines less than three years old are covered, whether the machine has Applecare or not.

The earlier iBooks, the multicoloured clamshell models, are very rugged but the display resolution is 800 x 600 and processors are a bit slow for OS X. If you do decide to get one of these, you'll probably want to upgrade the HD, max the RAM, and install 10.3 only. For all others, max the RAM (640 MB in most cases) and install either 10.3 or 10.4.
 
#4 ·
What will the iBook be used for?

If this is a person's first computer, even a basic G3 500MHz iBook is fine for basics like e-mail, word processing, internet surfing, etc. They can be usually found for around $500.

Do they want CD burning capability? Watch DVDs?

An increase in VRAM may help performance when it comes to the speed of the OS, or games, but is that speed increase really necessary?

I'm running a G3 500 iBook with 10.3 (soon to be 10.4), and it runs smooth.

Never had a logic board issue. Battery still gives me about an hour. My wife can watch DVDs on road trips. I can surf the Yahoo TV guide from my couch.
 
#5 ·
Do yourself a favour and get a Pismo (400 or 500). Best bang for the buck, and superior to Titanium PowerBooks in many ways.
 
#6 ·
rodkin said:
Do yourself a favour and get a Pismo (400 or 500). Best bang for the buck, and superior to Titanium PowerBooks in many ways.
Care to elaborate?
 
#7 ·
I'd suggest you download this handy program Mactracker. It gives you all the mac specs like ram, processor speed, hard drive, etc. Handy for comparing models or trying to figure out what type of ram you need.

I bought my wife a Powerbook G3 400mhz for Christmas. It has a lot of bang for the buck $300.00 - $400.00, 2 USB, attach 2 monitors, twice the cache size of an iBooks and can play DVD's (only in OS9.) I pumped the ram from the stock 64 to 512 and added a faster (and newer) hard drive. Works great in OS 10.3.5, but iPhoto5 is super slow for editing pics.

If you get the higher model, the Pismo (Powerbook G3 400 or 500 mhz) it has all the bells and whistles, plus 2 firewire ports, plays DVD's in OSX and can be maxed out to 1 gig of ram. Prices are higher $500 plus.

If you're folks are just looking into lite weight computer stuff: web surfacing, sending emails and Microsoft Word, the iBook 466 to 500 is more than adquate and the prices are really affordable. Make sure the hard drive is big enough for loading OSX on it.
 
#8 ·
Elaborate on superior.

Easy - they don't fall apart - that's why you never see a Ti forsale on our web site but you'll see Pismos whenever we get them.

Easy to upgrade - durable - and with the 1 meg L3 cache are remarkably quick - even better with Tiger. Modular set up makes it easier if something like a DVD player goes south.
 
#12 ·
L2 - happy now.

••

Regarding TiBooks it's straight observation.
They fall apart. Like or dislike doesn't come into play. They are are a beautiful attempt at low weight and slim design that is flawed....... so they are not recommended to our clients.
Caveat emptor.
 
#13 ·
If you're considering iBooks in the 700 MHz-and-under range, then a Pismo is definitely an excellent option.If you decide to add it to your list of possibilities, be sure to search these forums for checklists of issues and problems to look for. The threads are there...
 
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