[barbarian]

We just got a new ibook g4 for work and I've been comparing it to an old ibook. Both are 800mhz, both have 30 gig drives, both have 640megs of ram.

1. New ibook g4 does not boot OS 9

2. new ibook g4 comes with panther installed. I've been told panther is required.

3. while frame rates and computation is a bit faster on the g4, the stock hard drive is much slower than on the old g3 ibook. The net result is that booting, launching apps, and anything disk intensive is significantly slower.

4. the plastic on the new ibook makes it feel like more of an appliance. I prefer the metallic look of the old ibook.

5. ibook G4

ATA-3 Bus:

MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123:

Manufacturer: MATSHITA
Model: MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123
Revision: CA0T
Serial Number:
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal

TOSHIBA MK3021GAS:

Capacity: 27.94 GB
Model: TOSHIBA MK3021GAS
Revision: GA125B
Serial Number: 93AG4642T
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
OS9 Drivers: No

6: old ibook:

IBM-IC25N030ATCS04-0:

Capacity: 27.94 GB
Model: IBM-IC25N030ATCS04-0
Revision: CA3AA71A
Serial Number: CSH307D3LU13JB
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
OS9 Drivers: Yes


Manufacturer: SONY
Model: SONY CD-RW CRX820E
Revision: 1.3a
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal


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In general we like the new ibook, but the slow HD does not make it feel like an upgrade. The long app launching time negates any of the panther speed gains. Unless you are worried about fast cd burning or are doing something altivec intensive, the old ibooks should be great deals while they are still around. Also the old ibooks boot OS 9 which we still find useful.

[iguana9999]

HUH why does the iBook G4 have an ATA-3 bus versus the ATA-4 bus on my "old" iBook G3 800???

BTW any comment on heat etc versus the G3?

[barbarian]

heat seems to be slightly better. The old ibook gets so hot enough to make my hands sweat which is uncomfortable in long sessions. new G4 ibook is warm, but not hot enough to radiate heat the way the other one does.

[barbarian]

one more thing... the fan in the ibook g4 seems to come on much more frequently than the old ibook. happily the fan shuts off very quickly.

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did some timing tests... the old ibook starts up a good 10-15 seconds faster than the new one.

apps starts are also significantly faster on the old machine.

Start iphoto - ibook - 2 bounces 8 seconds
Start iphoto -ibook G4 - 6 bounces 19 seconds

start ical - ibook - 2 bounces 4 seconds
start ical - ibook G4 - 7 bounces 14 seconds

[Superchicken]

How does this compare to an iBook 900?

[barbarian]

no real noticable difference from the ibook 800g4 to an ibook 900 g3, I believe the 900 has the same faster drive that the 800 g3 had, so for many things it might actually run a bit faster

[MartiNZ]

About the fan coming on - I don't know about the new G4 iBooks, but today running Panther on my 800MHz G3 Combo the fan has been on louder and for longer than I've ever had it before! And the machine doesn't feel in any way hot.

So maybe this is a Panther thing rather than a G3 vs. G4? I'll be keeping an eye / ear on it.