[latinfunboy]

Greetings,

I am looking at getting myself a 2nd hand ibook as im going overseas and i need a computer to take with me- I currently own a g4 quicksilver tower which has been very good to me for a number of years, but sadly i cannot take it with me.

So i need to know whether this ibook that im looking at would be suitable for my needs. Basically I'd need it mainly for photoshopping and some final cut po work (although Im not fussed if i can't use the ibook for extensive fcp use), as well as everydasy use such as word proccessing, internet browsing, etc. So here are the specs:

ibook g3 12" (with cd burner/dvd reader)
900Mhz
40gig hdd
384mb ram (Im thinking that I may need to bump up the ram to its full capacity of 640 but i would see how 384 would go before i packed more into it.)

So yeah- any advice as to whether this ibook would be suitable for me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much!

[Mister Elf]

It'll be fine for Word, Safari, iTunes, stuff like that...but it'll choke and die on Final Cut and PhotoShop. I'd go for an older Aluminum PowerBook if you want any kind of performance under those apps.

[latinfunboy]

thanks for your advice- one thing im puzzled with- why would apple supply in their operating system a program like imovie if the hardware (in this case the above mentioned ibook for example) could not cope with it? does this seem strange to anyone?

[jamil5454]

iMovie would probably be useable. Not fast my any means, but able to get some projects finished. If you already have final cut pro, it should run on the iBook, but I wouldn't buy the new Final Cut Studio. Photoshop shouldn't give you any problems, although it will run slow too.

384 isn't enough. Bump it up to the max and you'll be fine. The aforementioned apps will be slow as molasses but they'll certainly run, which is what matters.

You might want to think about getting a Mac Mini instead and then purchasing a cheap monitor/keyboard/mouse when you get overseas. Shouldn't be much more than an iBook G3 and you'd have a warranty on it too.

[production_coordinator]

The G3 is the weak link. I have a new iBook and probably wouldn't try FCP with it.

I think Photoshop is fine as long as you accept it's going to be SLOW.

[production_coordinator]

Why not consider an Mac mini. You can get a referb. one for $519.00

[latinfunboy]

thats fantastic advice!

after looking into it i think mac mini is definately the way to go. i actually just dropped by a mac store and was amazed at the mac minis....i can't believe i over looked them. whats more ive also checked out some 2nd hand prices on the net and i think i may even end up spending less than i would have on the ibook but end up with a much faster and more suitable machine.

needless to say i think im gonna go down the mac mini avenue. which now brings me to the mac mini question- though maybe i should post this in the mac mini forum but what the hey......

what would you guys think would be a fair price for a 2nd hand mac mini (say between 2months to a year old) with the following specs:
G4 1.42MHz (obviously not the intel version)
SuperDrive,
1GB ram,
80GB HD

thanks very much for this invaluable advice guys.

[businezguy]

Originally Posted by latinfunboy

thats fantastic advice!

after looking into it i think mac mini is definately the way to go. i actually just dropped by a mac store and was amazed at the mac minis....i can't believe i over looked them. whats more ive also checked out some 2nd hand prices on the net and i think i may even end up spending less than i would have on the ibook but end up with a much faster and more suitable machine.

needless to say i think im gonna go down the mac mini avenue. which now brings me to the mac mini question- though maybe i should post this in the mac mini forum but what the hey......

what would you guys think would be a fair price for a 2nd hand mac mini (say between 2months to a year old) with the following specs:
G4 1.42MHz (obviously not the intel version)
SuperDrive,
1GB ram,
80GB HD

thanks very much for this invaluable advice guys.

Probably about $400 to $450.

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by businezguy

Probably about $400 to $450.

on ebay, or refurbished, it would probably cost a bit more. You could consider buying the 1.42 with superdrive and upgrading the RAM yourself. Those took DDR, and replacing the RAM is not hard at all. You just need a putty knife to pop the case off. Used DDR, even in that size shouldn't cost you a whole lot. DDR is falling in price, as it makes way for DDR2.

[ApeInTheShell]

The iBook was bundled with iMovie because it could handle the application. Remember, this was back when Mac OS 9 was alive and kicking and it was meant to be a simple solution for movie editing. Now iMovie requires a higher processor and more RAM because it is HUNGRY! heh

[profetes]

For final cut and photoshop you need a LOT of RAM because they are very RAM hungry apps. With only a mere 384 MBytes your ibook would fall at its heels.

[lilford]

Yes, I would reccomend upgrading the RAM to the maximum capacity that you can. If you are only going to be doing basic stuff, like Safari, word, email, AIM, a little bit of itunes and iphoto and maybe even a litle movie editing, then 384 MBytes would be suitable for your needs. If you are planning on using any of the Pro applications like what ibookowner1213 said, then yes you are really going to want to upgrade the RAM.

[rockritic]

Originally Posted by latinfunboy

thanks for your advice- one thing im puzzled with- why would apple supply in their operating system a program like imovie if the hardware (in this case the above mentioned ibook for example) could not cope with it? does this seem strange to anyone?

Save yourself the hassle of reading other people's opinions, and go straight to the horse's mouth. If you surf on over to Adobe's website, you will be able to read the system requirements for any of their products, including Photoshop.


Done and done.

[lilford]

Yup, Quick and painless.