[Lastof]

Recently my iBook started having problems, freezing soon after it started up. A couple of days ago, Tuesday to be precise, I was informed by my local apple repair shop that it was the mother board, and they would need to replace it, which will cost £430, that's about $760 USD.

That left me with a choice, either pay that, or pay slightly more for a new iBook. As Tuesday was keynote day, I hoped they would replace the iBook as the rumours claimed, giving me a choice between an intel iBook, or a discounted G4 iBook, unfortunately, as we all know, they didn't.

So, I have a choice, do I buy a new, G4 iBook, or do I get the old one fixed. The advantages of a new iBook are more inbuilt ram, faster processor, iLife 06 included, a copy of tiger, meaning that my current copy could be installed on my iMac, and a minimum of a Year's warranty, even without applecare, rather than 3 months that would come with the repair.

However, it's more expensive, could become obsolete at any point Steve decides to call a keynote (but, it would still be better than my current one, which is enough for my needs anyway).

I also have an additional gig of ram in my current iBook. My old iBook took PC2100 DIMM chips, where as the newest model takes PC2700 DIMM chips. From my research, it seems that the 2100 vs 2700 is to do with the speed at which the ram can load things on and off itself. However, I can't find an answer as to whether the older, slower ram chip will be compatible with the newer iBook.

So, I have two questions.

Firstly, does anyone know whether the older, PC2100 ram chip will work in the newer iBook.

And secondly, what do you guys think I should do, settle for just getting the old one fixed, or get a new one.

Your opinions are appreciated.

[mduell]

Newer iBooks require a minimum of PC2700, so your PC2100 is a paperweight.

I'd get a new one. Is your older iBook part of the mass recall? You may be able to get Apple to fix it.

[Lastof]

I assume you mean the recall over the batteries. Unfortunately, my iBook is 14" not 12", so it's one of the few models not part of that recall.

If it's another recall that I'm not aware of, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

[mduell]

No, I meant http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/, because you have a logic board failure.

[RadarBob2]

I'd say if you're prepared to keep your repaired iBook for 2.5 more years then the repair might be worth it. The way I figure it, I calculate the cost of my iBook over the time I expect to reasonably keep it. If I need a repair or upgrade, then I'd want to keep it longer. Long enough to meet (approximately) that same $$/year ratio. This is why I used my 300MHz iBook for 6 years.