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SSharon · 04:10 PM

My ibook just passed 2 years of uptime.
Yea those updates are probably important, but I didn't intend for it to happen this way. I have always used my ibook normally and then just closed the lid until I needed it next. 2 years later and I am posting from it now.

What apple portables have you used with similar reliability?

Eug · Sep 27, 2008, 11:07 PM

1 PowerPC [email protected]

??? There is no such iBook.

SSharon · 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

??? There is no such iBook.

that explains why this is such a rock. the screenshot is from menu meters, but I assure you my ibook is real.

Eug · Sep 27, 2008, 11:52 PM

That explains it. The third party menu meters software you're running is not properly recognizing the CPU.

P.S. Perhaps you don't care, but you posted your serial number.

P.P.S. Leopard is a nice upgrade over Tiger IMO. However, even if you stick with Tiger, it pays to do the point updates.

Big Mac · Sep 28, 2008, 12:10 AM

I think I have never gotten over 30 days of up-time on my G5 before things start getting wonky (which is too bad to have to admit), but then again my G5 is used a lot by four accounts.

SSharon · Sep 28, 2008, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

That explains it. The third party menu meters software you're running is not properly recognizing the CPU.

P.S. Perhaps you don't care, but you posted your serial number.

P.P.S. Leopard is a nice upgrade over Tiger IMO. However, even if you stick with Tiger, it pays to do the point updates.

I did notice that the serial number is there but I don't mind posting it for this device.

I updated to panther and tiger the day they came out but leopard doesn't seem so special to me. I would love time machine but only if I can use an internal HD.

I can't do the point updates without restarting.

Big Mac: I use the laptop daily to record my classes and take notes and my wife uses it sometimes when I come home. It also travels with me, although not as much as it used to since getting the iPhone.

Eug · 01:14 AM

Originally Posted by SSharon

I can't do the point updates without restarting.

That was my point. Most of us will never achieve that sort of uptime, because most of us prefer having an up-to-date OS.

The ability to achieve extended uptimes is good, but uptime merely for the sake of uptime isn't something that most people are interested in.

As for reasons to upgrade to Leopard, the recent versions of Handbrake won't even run on Tiger. However, Handbrake is slow on the iBook G4 anyway, so the point is almost moot. (I use my Intel iMac for the vast majority of my Handbraking.) I do use Time Machine, but not on my laptops.

Another thing to consider is Safari. Safari 3 requires 10.4.11 or later.

smic · 01:35 AM

i have the same ibook and it honestly the most reliable computer i have ever had. the best part is that it was an applecare exchange for my worst computer ever the ibookG3 700mhz. (nice that i didnt have to by a mac for 6 years)

but now i passed it on to my gf and bought an macbook last spring, the only compliant about the ibook that i have is the ram limitation, maxed it out at 1.2 gigs, and i didnt get the bluetooth module built in.

i think that the last 2 models of ibooks were one of the most reliable and best built laptops from apple so far.

bearcatrp · Sep 28, 2008, 09:37 AM

I miss my 12 inch G4 1.33ghz powerbook. Ran flawlessly for 2 years. Had to sell it to get my 24 inch iMac. I wish apple would make another 12 inch or even a 10 inch macbook.

cmeisenzahl · Sep 28, 2008, 10:33 AM

Wow, very cool! I could NEVER get that with XP. I've gone as long as 5 days with that. ;-)

Atheist · Sep 28, 2008, 10:44 AM

If you do any type of video encoding or use Skype (with Bluetooth headset) on your Mac you will NEVER get more than a day or two of uptime. At least that's my experience on several different computers.

SSharon · Sep 28, 2008, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Atheist

If you do any type of video encoding or use Skype (with Bluetooth headset) on your Mac you will NEVER get more than a day or two of uptime. At least that's my experience on several different computers.

Even when my ibook was brand new it was slower than my desktop which was 2 years older than it so I never use it to encode video and only rarely to rip DVDs. I have used the ibook for audio/video chat since I have an external isight (I gave a quick video tour of my apartment and campus to my parents for example), but my MDD does much more webcam and skype work (full screen video chat with 2 people on 2 monitors is very awesome).

Eug: I don't use safari 3 because firefox is my primary browser (oh thank you adblock plus), but I do love handbrake. Upgrading for one app seems silly though.

tooki · Sep 28, 2008, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

That explains it. The third party menu meters software you're running is not properly recognizing the CPU.

MenuMeters is great, but it only gives a loose approximation of what CPU you're running. On my Mac Pro (early 08 model), it says I'm running "8 Intel 80486 @ 2.8GHz". Yyyyeah, 486...

imitchellg5 · Sep 28, 2008, 06:20 PM

I think it's time to upgrade to 10.4.11.

0157988944 · Sep 28, 2008, 11:12 PM

Why would you not upgrade just to have a high uptime? It means nothing...

SSharon · Sep 29, 2008, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by adamfishercox

Why would you not upgrade just to have a high uptime? It means nothing...

as I said, there is nothing in the updates that I have really wanted or needed. I never intended for this to happen either. I just used the iBook and put it to sleep and only noticed the high uptime after many months. Once it hit a year I said hey why not see how much longer it can go.

It isn't like I am trying to see how far my camry will drive without changing the oil. This is a little to no risk experiment.

freudling · Sep 29, 2008, 02:47 AM

The iBook (White Dual USB "Ice" Books) are garbage. Way too slow, always were, and cheap feeling and looking. Even the fastest G4 iBook is too slow for any practical work in Tiger or Leopard. Spinning beachball of hell constantly.

SSharon · Sep 29, 2008, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by freudling

The iBook (White Dual USB "Ice" Books) are garbage. Way too slow, always were, and cheap feeling and looking. Even the fastest G4 iBook is too slow for any practical work in Tiger or Leopard. Spinning beachball of hell constantly.

I don't use it for video encoding, but it certainly does the job for what 90% of people need like word precessing and web browsing (assuming you have flash blocked). I also use it to watch DVDs, listen to itunes, and in the past I even used it for some light Illustrator work.
So what do you consider "practical" work? I had the extra 512mb chip in hand before I ever turned the ibook on by the way.

Kestral · Sep 29, 2008, 11:29 AM

This is a late generation iBook, after all the initial bugs have been worked out.

This is one of the reasons why I'm tempted, when the new MacBooks come out, if there's not anything super-compelling in terms of features, to just buy a refurb previous model (ie. the Black MacBook 2.4). It'll be a reliable workhorse.

ghostshadow · Sep 29, 2008, 12:16 PM

I did the same thing with my iBook G3. I had the best 800mhz model, no silver casing. The iBook was the most reliable computer I have ever owned. That thing was my buddy. I sold it last year and I have been regretting it ever since. I would leave it on and would never turn it off, the only time it was restarted was when mandatory updates were released.

freudling · Sep 29, 2008, 01:17 PM

We have a few top end 14" iBook G4s and they choke not only on larger tasks, but word processing. Pages, Word... all slugs on it. Web browsing can be frustrating too, since Safari crashes a lot. I have also owned an 800 MHz G3 iBook, and it was good with Panther, but after that, and after the "Web 2.0" boom, they are simply slugs.

Gavin · Oct 1, 2008, 05:15 PM

For a personal use computer that is astounding! Especially with a laptop - not even a battery glitch.

I had a linux server up for 1 year and nine months - almost cried when I had to restart it. ;-)

I remember when I had to restart my OS 9 machine twice a day!

Maflynn · Oct 1, 2008, 05:41 PM

I remember when I needed to restart my windows xp machine twice a day. TODAY!!! and seemingly everyday.

SSharon · Oct 2, 2008, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by Gavin

For a personal use computer that is astounding! Especially with a laptop - not even a battery glitch.

Well the history of the ibook is that I restarted it probably 10 times in the first month I had it for updates and because it was so new to me. After that it ran a year before I installed Tiger on it and then it ran for another year before the battery died on me in class (when it said 45% remaining). Since then is the current uptime of over 2 years now.

In its life it has spent less than 1 week totally off.

My MDD is a whole different story. In college (I bought the machine in August 2002 when I was a freshman) it would routinely go about 70 days between restarts, but has almost always had sleeping problems so it is noisy and gets shut off for the night every 2 weeks or so now.

amazing · Oct 2, 2008, 11:41 AM

Just out of curiosity, how many GB of page-outs are you showing in Activity Monitor? I'm thinking that might account for some of the sluggishness.

SSharon · Oct 2, 2008, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by amazing

Just out of curiosity, how many GB of page-outs are you showing in Activity Monitor? I'm thinking that might account for some of the sluggishness.

Does this answer your question?

I try to keep 10% of all my hard drives free for breathing room, but it is starting to get tight.

Eug · Oct 4, 2008, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by freudling

We have a few top end 14" iBook G4s and they choke not only on larger tasks, but word processing. Pages, Word... all slugs on it. Web browsing can be frustrating too, since Safari crashes a lot. I have also owned an 800 MHz G3 iBook, and it was good with Panther, but after that, and after the "Web 2.0" boom, they are simply slugs.

Word is just slow. It's even slow on my iMac Core 2 Duo. It's slower on the iBooks of course though.

If your Safari is crashing a lot, then there's something wrong. Do you have enough memory? These days I suggest 1 GB minimum for Tiger although you can get by with 768 MB, esp. if you reset Safari from time to time to reduce its memory usage. I'm currently at 343 MB real memory with Safari on my iMac. As far as I'm concerned, Safari uses way too much memory. There should be some way to reduce Safari's memory usage, but I can't find one, except resetting it periodically (which is necessary on any machine that's less than 1 GB).

nickw311 · Oct 7, 2008, 07:28 PM

Impressive, I went about 60 odd days a year ago and was pretty proud - I don't think I could ever get up to 2 years.

SSharon · Oct 7, 2008, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by nickw311

Impressive, I went about 60 odd days a year ago and was pretty proud - I don't think I could ever get up to 2 years.

thanks. is your law school as full of macs as mine is?

b1NARY73 · Oct 8, 2008, 12:10 AM

Congrats on the iBooks Long life. My son is still using my old iBook G4 867, runs like a champ, he is five and thinks he is pretty cool to boot.

driven · Oct 10, 2008, 12:22 AM

Impressive. I have a brand new Vista machine here (Dell Latitude E6400) that I have to reboot several times per day because it freezes.

Your experience makes me really miss my stolen MBP.

Altair · Oct 10, 2008, 02:54 AM

My 12" powerbook was rock solid. I only rebooted for updates. Sadly my Macbook Pro is highly unstable and crashes every couple of weeks. The mouse and keyboard will just stop responding and I'm forced to reboot.

darcybaston · Oct 11, 2008, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

On my Mac Pro (early 08 model), it says I'm running "8 Intel 80486 @ 2.8GHz".

I'm guessing you've got a DX.

molala · Oct 12, 2008, 07:32 AM

I'm using a 12" 1.33GHz PBG4 that I had since Feb 2005. Thinking of upgrading once the new MBs are updated next week, but this thread is making me reconsider.

My current uptime is 26 days. I had to do a zero level format of the HD last month, it was getting noisy (in a scary way) and some applications were hanging, but the reformat solved the problem.

Jasoco · Oct 12, 2008, 03:54 PM

I don't really get the point of uptimes. I reboot and shutdown my computer all the time. It takes like a minute to boot back up. In fact, I'm shutting it down right now.

mahoney2 · Oct 12, 2008, 05:36 PM

I bought my iBook in 2004 after my 15" TiBook had too many Captain and Cokes one night. Apparently one was it's limit. I bought the iBook 1.2ghz for $899 with my Edu discount. Now nearly 4 years later, its one of the best Macs I had. I did unfortunately have a bad motherboard, which Apple replaced for free out of warranty and just upgraded the 30gb HD to 160gb for $60. Sadly, this iBook is probably going to be left behind by me on Tuesday, but my parents are getting it. Their iMac SE 600mhz is a tad sluggish these days. I spent $899, $60 on a HD and $50 on RAM to bring it to 1.25gb. Spent a total of $1009 on this thing which is its TCO which we hear so much about.

This is probably my 10th or 11th Mac and probably the best. The other competitors would be my SE/30, which was still in use in my Mother's classroom as a word processor as of 2 years ago, or my PowerMac 8600 which was just a tank. I'm hoping the new MacBook does half as well as this iBook has. It's been through more drops than I'd care to admit and has typically been not treated as well as it should. The thing is a tank. Not surprisingly this is one of the last iBooks shipped so it went through 3-4 years of revisions before it got here.

SSharon · Oct 12, 2008, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jasoco

I don't really get the point of uptimes. I reboot and shutdown my computer all the time. It takes like a minute to boot back up. In fact, I'm shutting it down right now.

It's not that the goal is to have a high uptime per se, but think about it this way. How would you describe a really reliable car to someone? Wouldn't you say it went 175,000 miles before it died?
To me it is the same unscientific, yet useful, measure of an item's reliability. I don't drive around in circles aimlessly in my camry just to add miles and I don't (well, didn't for a long time) purposely avoid reboots just to have a high uptime. It just happened that way.

SSharon · Dec 10, 2008, 12:13 AM

I hate to bring back an old thread but my ibook died today after 800 days of loyal uptime.

It didn't really die, but it shut down for no reason while it was in my bag at school today. I have a feeling the battery became loose for a second because it was still fully charged 8 hours later when I got home and noticed it was off. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. and now for the hundreds of mb of updates to install!

driven · Dec 10, 2008, 12:58 AM

Our iBook's battery no longer takes a charge. We have to leave it plugged in all the time. Not sure it's worth the cost of a new battery to keep it up.

Anyone else have this issue?

Gavin · Dec 10, 2008, 11:12 AM

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. ;-0

At least you can see what you've been missing with all those fancy updates.

@driven: Batteries are good for about 3 years then they start dying. My iBook battery died like yours after about 5 years - simply would not charge after a few months of going downhill. If you replace it soon you'll get more of your monies worth out of it - with respect to the remaining life of the computer.

dosequis09 · Dec 27, 2008, 09:13 PM

congrats on the success I wish mine would have made it that long

driven · Dec 27, 2008, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by Gavin

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. ;-0

At least you can see what you've been missing with all those fancy updates.

@driven: Batteries are good for about 3 years then they start dying. My iBook battery died like yours after about 5 years - simply would not charge after a few months of going downhill. If you replace it soon you'll get more of your monies worth out of it - with respect to the remaining life of the computer.

Thanks for the advice.

I'll probably order one. (I've been on the fence with just getting the family an iMac ... but .. watching money in this economy.)

Are you on Twitter? (Saw the @ nomenclature)