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leahnc · Feb 19, 2006, 06:52 AM

This will be my first Apple Purchase.

I found a

Refurbished ibook G4 1.33 GHz / 256 MB / 60GB / Superdrive / AP Extreme Card / E/ 56k / 14inch

Q1) Since I am purchasing a refurbished Apple, will I need to purchase accessories or will it work right out of the box?

Q2) I want to hook this ibook up to my Dell monitor. Is that possible?

lookmark · Feb 19, 2006, 07:00 AM

1. It will work right out of the box (if you're purchasing it from Apple, it will also have the same 1 yr. warranty as new 'Book). However, you will almost certainly want to buy more RAM for that puppy right away. Check on Crucial or dealram.com for a nice 512MB stick to add. Well worth it.

2. For video mirroring, that should be no problem (the iBook will hook up to any VGA monitor); for dual display, it's been unfort. crippled for the iBook. The good news, it's easily tweaked -- do a Google search for "iBook dual display hack" and you'll find instructions.

leahnc · Feb 19, 2006, 07:26 AM

Thank you for the prompt reply!

Berman · Feb 19, 2006, 05:53 PM

make sure you upgrade the memory = it'll be slow as all hell with only 256 megs of ram.

Mojo · Feb 20, 2006, 03:12 AM

Don't buy the RAM from Apple. Save money and get it at a reputable online dealer like Other World Computing.

RadarBob2 · Feb 20, 2006, 06:30 PM

My 1.8 decades of Macintosh experience tells me that adding RAM is the best bang for your upgrade buck.

History also suggest that you max out RAM if you can afford it. Get a 1GB RAM stick. If you cant afford that right now, wait till you can. There is only 1 RAM slot and if you want to upgrade RAM a second time (512MB - 1GB) - oh about when OS XII comes out - then you'll have to remove that 512 stick. IMHO if you keep your iBook for, say 5 years then you'll be glad you only had to upgrade once.

IMHO the stock 256 will be OK for a while until you can get a 1GB stick. In fact get very familiar w/ how your machine works w/ 256 - then when you do upgrade you'll really appreciate it!

Again, in the long run, if you intend to keep your 'book this is the best way to go.

ghporter · Feb 21, 2006, 10:35 AM

Add RAM, but don't buy it from Apple. Their pricing makes it look like they're saving all the RAM they have for new computers.

Read here for what RAM people like and where they get it-I got our 512MB upgrade from Kingston, but Corsair, Crucial and others are also highly regarded. Go for AT LEAST 512, preferably more.

Welcome to the Mac universe and enjoy!

mikochu · Feb 21, 2006, 10:59 AM

I bought OWC brand RAM (macsales.com) for both my PowerMac and iBook. They have life-time warranties and they ship pretty quick. I'd definitely recommend them.

Also, for my 12" iBook, that is the only hardware upgrade I have... Now, I have 1.5gb of RAM.

naomiharvey · Mar 2, 2006, 08:59 AM

I'm lookign at buying a G3 Ibook and its listed as having 384MB of RAM - how much can I upgrade to?

mduell · Mar 2, 2006, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by naomiharvey

I'm lookign at buying a G3 Ibook and its listed as having 384MB of RAM - how much can I upgrade to?

640MB by replacing the 256MB chip with 512MB.