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sokodude · 05:12 PM

ive been a pc user for the majority of my life but since osx came out i have begun to question what kind of system i would like to run. Granted i will stick with my pc but a nice mac lappy would be a great addition to my computer arsenal. Right now im looking to $650 max. I would like a ibook of at least 450mhz - ram and hard drive size dont matter for the most part. Also, if it had a dvd drive that would be great. Please message me or email me at sokodude@san.rr.com if your interested.

Thanks,
Sokodude

fulmer · Oct 10, 2002, 08:26 PM

good job wanting to get into Macs, but unfortunately OS X (any version) will run like molasses on any ibook slower than 600 MHz. You'd be frustrated and might end up chunking it out of the window.

your best bet for decent OS X usage is going to be a 'pismo' model powerbook--400-500 MHz and no less than 256 MB RAM.

I just want you to have a good experience with OS X on a laptop, and don't want you to be disappointed...

sokodude · Oct 10, 2002, 08:30 PM

thanks for the reply and advice. Would a 500 mhz ibook with at least 256 megs of ram and some minor tweaking run osx 10.2 without quartz enable halfway decent - especially for graphic and video editing?

fulmer · Oct 10, 2002, 11:35 PM

unfortunately, no--not for graphics and video. It'd be just horrible. you could calculate the math by hand before that ibook would finish in OS X.

the main problem is with the bus speed on the 500 ibooks--too slow. video and photo data just choke in that pipeline, and 500 MHz doesn't help, either.

again, I don't want to turn you away from Macs, and you don't need top-of-the-line for video and photo stuff, but your 'computing experience' with OS X and video/photo editing on 500 ibook would not be quality.

vmarks · Oct 11, 2002, 10:00 AM

Originally posted by fulmer:
unfortunately, no--not for graphics and video. It'd be just horrible. you could calculate the math by hand before that ibook would finish in OS X.

the main problem is with the bus speed on the 500 ibooks--too slow. video and photo data just choke in that pipeline, and 500 MHz doesn't help, either.

again, I don't want to turn you away from Macs, and you don't need top-of-the-line for video and photo stuff, but your 'computing experience' with OS X and video/photo editing on 500 ibook would not be quality.

And to counter that advice, I attended a MacWorld lecture / class where the presenter was using an iBook 500 and Final Cut Pro, and said there weren't any problems doing so.

Photo editing in OS X on a 500 will be fine. Rendering full motion edited video is a tad slow on a 500, due to the bus speed, but sheesh- you're rendering video, a task that doesn't happen in real-time anyway.

Heck, people used 333mhz machines to render video not too long ago.

fulmer · Oct 11, 2002, 12:40 PM

it's all relative to what you're used to. if you're coming from an old wintel machine, that speed ibook will seem consistent with what you're used to. get your hands on that model ibook for a try-out, if possible.

sokodude · Oct 11, 2002, 03:29 PM

thanks for all the advice so far! I really dont care about the time it takes to render since I could possibly just leave it on plugged in but i want something portable that i can carry back and forth to school that is light as well. A ibook is not only stylish but is a lot lighter than its counter parts. I fell in love with it and now i would really like to own one. Is it possible to buy a 500mhz ibook for $650?

fulmer · Oct 11, 2002, 04:13 PM

I think it can be done. a poster here ('Want iBook') has an ebay auction on an ibook 500, and it's price is $700 as of this posting. if you hunt around on ebay you might find something.

sokodude · Oct 11, 2002, 06:44 PM

Originally posted by fulmer:
I think it can be done. a poster here ('Want iBook') has an ebay auction on an ibook 500, and it's price is $700 as of this posting. if you hunt around on ebay you might find something.

i checked out his ebay auction and with two days left it is already at upwards of 800 dollars. Ive noticed that computers on ebay always go higher than their value. Do you guys know of where i can find an ibook of at least 500mhz in my price range besides ebay?

gdogkzo · Oct 13, 2002, 10:19 PM

The Powerbook G3 400 i posted is on ebay for $750. Take it for $700 here and I will cancel the auction. Look at my add, its a Lombard, and comes with External Drive, and other cool stuff. Will run osx great, but im selling it partially so i can upgrade my G4 and buy os 10.2. What do you think?