[Thade]

Hi all. I got the bug to own an iBook so I started hunting around & bought this G3 800:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I made an offer of 400.00 and won/got stuck with it. I don't have any serious need for a notebook so I'll probably just use it to surf around the house or the office. I have an airport card so I'm set there. The condition of the battery is unknown til I get it but if a source for a nice battery can be recommended, please do. No doubt I will need more ram. The max is 640. The big question is should I max the ram? Of course the answer is always YES but the difference in price between a 512 and a 256 dimm is huge for PC100. Will I be OK with 384MB? Did I get a decent deal? Any other advice would be appreciated.

[chefpastry]

I think you got a very decent deal. I use an iBook G3 900MHz around the house (bed, couch, etc)all the time for general internet stuff and it's great.

In regards to RAM, I've found that with OS X, get the most that you can. I currently have only Safari and KDX client open with a few GUI enhancing apps and my current memory usage is at 433MB. Go for the 512MB stick of RAM. Try looking to see if PC133 prices are lower, most PC133s are backwards compatible with PC100.

Enjoy your new book!

[wataru]

Uh, if you "bought" it for $400.00, how come the auction doesn't end for 3 days and the price is above $450 now? Smells like pretty clever spam to me.

[tr]

wataru, the auction is a "buy it now" with a submit best offer option. and the seller obviously has more than one available. and if you checked the purchase history, someone did just buy one yesterday. and if you check all of Thade's posts on this forum, you'll see that if Thade really wanted to sell stuff, he/she would use the marketplace, which he/she has done in the past. does this prove that this post isn't 'clever spam', as you say? no, but give the person a break...Thade's just asking a question, not forcing you to buy a G3 iBook.

-------------

congrats on your purchase! i recently "inherited" my sister's old iBook G3 700, even though i have a PM G4. i thought having two computers would be rather redundant, but i've found it's great to just bring the iBook with me on the couch while i watch tv and do some surfing, IM, etc.

when you get the iBook, you should download coconut battery:
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
it'll tell you the capacity of your battery, and the number of load cycles, so you can see if you'l need a new battery or not.

and yes, i'd try to max the RAM. get a 512mb dimm, it's worth it.

tr

[Thade]

Originally Posted by wataru

Uh, if you "bought" it for $400.00, how come the auction doesn't end for 3 days and the price is above $450 now? Smells like pretty clever spam to me.

Dear Genius,

There were 4 units available, now there are 3. In your "investigation" you might have overlooked the link for "puchases"

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=5850682418

You may have also overlooked the option for best offer. I offered 400.00, it was accepted. I'll take it your skepticism suggests I got a good deal?

sheesh

edit: thanks for the backup tr. You worded it much more tactfully than I did. Sorry for being harsh True I am a mac lover, not a smammer. I hang out here & other mac/pc enthusiast sites. I am a "he" (my ebay name is my wife's account). That's my whole story

[Thade]

I still wonder if this iBook is going to leave me wanting more power. While my G4 DP 450 512MB RAM is not my every day machine, I am quite satisfied with the performance. I wonder if the G3 800 is at all similar in "feel" ??

[tr]

Originally Posted by Thade

I still wonder if this iBook is going to leave me wanting more power. While my G4 DP 450 512MB RAM is not my every day machine, I am quite satisfied with the performance. I wonder if the G3 800 is at all similar in "feel" ??

the PM i have is a G4 single 450Mhz with 1.5GB of RAM. comparing it to the G3 700 iBook, they both feel about equal. i use photoshop and illustrator on both machines, and i find that in some cases, the G4 does some things a bit faster. but just some things. overall, they are about the same. i have found that in web surfing, sites with flash seem to work better on the iBook than on my G4. a lot of times on my G4, any site with flash usually pegs my processor at 100%.

and no problem with the backup. it just kinda ticks me off when people are so quick to judge, especially on forums like this where people ask for help. sure, there are some bad seeds out there, but that's no reason to assume that someone is one before looking at all the facts.

tr