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Proudest Monkey · Jul 26, 2002, 01:44 PM

where are the best places to buy a used / refurbished powerbook g4? i'm looking at smalldog.com and came across this

<a href="http://www.smalldog.com/product/40655" target="_blank">PB G4 / 667</a>

the only disadvantage would be its memory slots are full, but not a serious disadvantage.

can anyone suggest another dealer to look at?

(i haven't looked at many, but i don't really have time to go through all the online stores)

thanks

dialo · Jul 26, 2002, 02:02 PM

get that ti500. It's a much better deal. You will get just about equal performance overall (667 will be slightly snappier w/ consumer apps while the 500 will be much faster @ pro media apps) and the only thing you will be lacking is a little VRAM. If you are not doing 3D work, you will be fine w/ the ti500.

[ 07-26-2002, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: dialo ]

euphras · Jul 26, 2002, 02:47 PM

Try to get an refurbished Ti directly at the Apple online store. They sell these ones every wednesday.

Pat

dialo · Jul 26, 2002, 05:12 PM

as long as it is factory refurb than you should get it at small dog if you can. It will be exactly the same, except probably a little cheaped @ smalldog and they allow you to return for any reason within 30 days. Can't beat that...

Don't buy "used" if possible...

BrunoBruin · Jul 27, 2002, 09:18 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> (667 will be slightly snappier w/ consumer apps while the 500 will be much faster @ pro media apps)<hr /></blockquote>Huh? How will the 500 be faster at anything? Also remember that the 500s had a 100MHz bus while the 667s had 133.

If you can spend the extra $200, Smalldog has the current-generation 667s (refurbished) for $2,299. The new models run much cooler and quieter, have the combo drive (the older model at Smalldog is DVD only) and have better displays. You'd also have an open RAM slot and the GPU will fully support Quartz Extreme. IMHO, that's a better deal than $2,099 for the old 667, even with an AirPort card.

dialo · Jul 31, 2002, 05:43 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by BrunoBruin:
[QB]Huh? How will the 500 be faster at anything? Also remember that the 500s had a 100MHz bus while the 667s had 133.

QB]<hr /></blockquote>It's really old news that the ti500 performs much, much better at audio and video than the older ti667. It is well documented many places, for example <a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/PowerBookG4_fall2001/powerbook_g4_667_quake3.html#logic" target="_blank">xlr8yourmac</a>. I've done the test myself and had similar results.

And if there is still any doubt, check the scripts in the releases of FCP3 before they removed them in 3.2 or so. It clearly shows that the ti500 gets many more realtime effects than the old ti667, going so far as to create unique handicapped classes for the ti667.

I see no reason to get a old ti667 in any scenario. If you really need a graphics card, get a refurb ti667 dvi.

mrfett · Aug 1, 2002, 03:00 AM

i love smalldog. imo they're the best place to buy macs. you can also try:
<a href="http://www.powermax.com/" target="_blank">http://www.powermax.com/</a>

all the authorized apple dealers sell refurbs. small dog ones are great and i think you can still get applecare for them. i agree that a refurb 667 dvi is better than a 667 gigabit ethernet. i had the latter and it was ass slow.

i'd stay away from ebay for these because of the fact that they're so delicate (and hence could be pretty banged-up). i sold mine on ebay, but was willing to do escrow. if you can find a well-ranked seller who will do escrow, and has pictures of it and will answer questions like "how many dead pixels, how many scratches, where are the scratches?" i think you should consider it. just don't go for anything that sounds too good to be true. it's possible to get a better deal on ebay than a refurb, and you could still get applecare if it's less than a year old.

[ 08-01-2002, 03:01 AM: Message edited by: mrfett ]

Infinite Loop · Aug 1, 2002, 04:35 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />It's really old news that the ti500 performs much, much better at audio and video than the older ti667. It is well documented many places, for example xlr8yourmac. I've done the test myself and had similar results.

And if there is still any doubt, check the scripts in the releases of FCP3 before they removed them in 3.2 or so. It clearly shows that the ti500 gets many more realtime effects than the old ti667, going so far as to create unique handicapped classes for the ti667.

I see no reason to get a old ti667 in any scenario. If you really need a graphics card, get a refurb ti667 dvi. <hr /></blockquote>There's no way Ti500 outperform Ti667 (Onyx). You may confuse with Ti550. There was a thread about Ti500 outperform Ti550 but 667 have 133 bus. Just one test couldn't say it all.

Go and buy 667, forget 500.

bluebean · Aug 1, 2002, 07:09 AM

I'll put in a hoot for <a href="http://www.powermax.com" target="_blank">http://www.powermax.com</a> too. I've done several trade ups with them and their trade program works just like they advertise. Because they're in Oregon, the no sales-tax is nice too.

satyagrahanism · Aug 9, 2002, 01:03 AM

e b a y !

proux · Aug 11, 2002, 10:46 AM

eBay! Just use good sense and buy from people that have a lot of positive feedback.