Cdrw Osx
Is this a good Apple iBook G3?
I bought this Apple G3 off ebay for $360. The specs are:
Processor Type: PowerPC G3
Processor Speed: 900 MegaHertz
Memory: 384 MegaBytes
Hard Drive: 40 GigaBytes
Optical Drive: DVD/CDRW (COMBO)
Modem: 56.6k (internal)
Standard Ethernet: 10/100Base-T & Wireless
USB 1.1 Ports: 2
Firewire Port: 1
Operating System: MAC OSX 10.4.11 Tiger
Built-in Color Display: 12.1″
Good Battery: Included
NEW A/C Adapter/Charger: Included
Wireless / WiFi: AirPort Card
The body is in like new condition…it’s clean!
I am going to be updating the RAM to 512MB when I get home tonight.
Like I said, I paid $360 for it. So I’m wondering if I made a bad decision or not. I just use it for the internet and doing school work. Also if I was to resell it, what should I sell it for?
As far as I’m concerned, $360 for an iBook G3 is quite overpriced even in almost new condition. They’re four generations old (G3, G4, MacBook Core Duo, MacBook Core 2 Duo)… my 500MHz with 256MB of RAM was dog slow on 10.4.9 back when I ran it. Also, the G3’s only have USB1.1 and 802.11b wifi, both outmoded technologies.
I just paid $470 for an IBM ThinkPad X60 (1.8GHz Core Duo, 2.5GB RAM, 60GB hard drive, built early 2007) which is littler and has better battery life. I could also have paid $270 for a Toshiba convertible tablet (1.6GHz Pentium M, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, built 2005-06ish) which is $90 less than you paid for better specs. Sure, they have cover scratches, but they are both in good working condition.
Personally, I think buying used Mac laptops is a huge waste. The prices are exorbitant for what you get. I wouldn’t pay more than $180-200 for a laptop from 2003, which is when your iBook was built. If only I knew this when I paid $280 two years ago for my 500MHz iBook G3. I ended up selling it this fall for $60.
On the other hand, eMacs are a nice deal. I’m considering getting a 1.25GHz for $100 and play around with OS X again.
Full disclosure: I am not a mac fangirl, nor Windows, and I don’t believe Macs deserve a premium over similarly performing PCs. They are not superior, just different, in my opinion.
Dual booting windows 7 and OS X
