[Bryanmc]

I've only ever owned iBooks, so I don't know what to look for or ask about.

I see some people talking about different revisions of the 867 but I don't see what's the difference from revision to revision.

Here are the specs:

867 G4
640 MB
60 GB drive
Airport extreme card
bluetooth
Applecare until October

So what do I need to look for and what's a good price to pay?

Thanks!

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Bryanmc

I've only ever owned iBooks, so I don't know what to look for or ask about.

I see some people talking about different revisions of the 867 but I don't see what's the difference from revision to revision.

Here are the specs:

867 G4
640 MB
60 GB drive
Airport extreme card
bluetooth
Applecare until October

So what do I need to look for and what's a good price to pay?

Thanks!

Are you talking about a 12" or a 15"? The 12" was aluminium; the 15" was titanium, so quite a difference.

[Bryanmc]

Sorry, it's the 12".

[Dr.Michael]

This machine is the revision A of the 12 inch powerbook. It had some design flaws like overheating, excessive fan operation and case warping (as a result of overheating).

The later models (1GHz, 1.33, 1.5) got still reports on case warping (which can be easily fixed) but heat and fan noise are better. If you buy the 867 make sure its cheap.

I owned a 1Ghz model (the rev b) and all I can say is that this machine was gorgeous. I just wanted a larger screen thats why I sold it. Connecting an external screen to the 12 inch powerbook leads to nonstop fan noise because the gpu gets hot.

If you don't mind to work without external screen, the ibook is a good replacement for the 12 inch powerbook. It is cheaper, has a longer battery life, I never heard an ibook user complaining about fan noise and you get faster machines for the same price like the powerbook. I always thought the 12 inch powerbook is only for people who don't care about spending a few hundreds more. The iBooks have a better price/value relation.

[SirCastor]

Everymac suggests $850-$950

Check the battery, that's been my biggest thing. I get about %80 of the original life. So watching movies on battery power is mostly out of the question, and the warning doesn't come. it just jumps into sleep. Kind of obnoxious.

Beyond that, it looks like it's a pretty good setup. I'm on 256MB, so things aren't always as quick as they could be. I've thought about putting more cash into it, but I've settled on saving for a 2nd MacBook Pro(even though I don't like the name). My Powerbook is about 30 months old.

[Gee4orce]

I'm typing this on a 12" 867MHz - I have no problems with 'case warping' or overheating, or excessive fan noise. I have no idea what evidence there is to say that the 12"er is plagued with those problems.

All I can say is that make sure you max out the RAM - and from that spec it looks as if it has been. It makes a HUGE difference to have 640Mb, and these days that doesn't cost much to achieve.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce

I'm typing this on a 12" 867MHz - I have no problems with 'case warping' or overheating, or excessive fan noise. I have no idea what evidence there is to say that the 12"er is plagued with those problems.

All I can say is that make sure you max out the RAM - and from that spec it looks as if it has been. It makes a HUGE difference to have 640Mb, and these days that doesn't cost much to achieve.

I followed the discussion here after the 867 came out and decided to wait for the rev b because the things I mentioned in my post were reported very frequently. Case warping was a very long lasting discussion for the 12 inch powerbooks (my rev b had this too). So were frequently running fans and heat.

My guess would be that the case warping and the heat were unrelated because the rev b also showed case problems but heat was ok.

[Bryanmc]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

What would 'case warping' look like? I've seen the unit and it looks pretty good, outside of a few scratches on the top.

[Bryanmc]

Oh yeah, I've already got a 1.2 GHz iBook. This unit would be something for an employee to have to do small web updates and such without having to come into the office.

So it doesn't have to be an amazing machine, I just don't want it to be obsolete.

[WOPR]

Originally Posted by Bryanmc

I've only ever owned iBooks, so I don't know what to look for or ask about.

I see some people talking about different revisions of the 867 but I don't see what's the difference from revision to revision.

Here are the specs:

867 G4
640 MB
60 GB drive
Airport extreme card
bluetooth
Applecare until October

So what do I need to look for and what's a good price to pay?

Thanks!

Exactly the model I had until it died after only 2 years. The screen is very dim too. For the record, the RAM soldered on my logic board died and would have cost a fortune to put right. I broke it up and ebayed it instead.

[Seb G]

Originally Posted by Bryanmc

Thanks for the feedback guys.

What would 'case warping' look like? I've seen the unit and it looks pretty good, outside of a few scratches on the top.

If you place it on a flat surface and you press down one corner, another corner lifts off. Bit like a wobbling table.

[brother337]

I'll put in another for the excessive heat. My buddie's had his 867Mhz 12" for years now, and it's still running, and he's happy with it, but I've never had a laptop toast my legs as much as his did, and that was during normal use.

Anything that hit the processor hard (in his case, video editing) required a cooling pad with fans on it (forgot which brand he got.)

[Kenstee]

Yes, that baby is a hotplate. I had one. It is most profound when..
- Plugged in
- Running an processor intensive app or multi-tasking
- Driving an external monitor

That said, it was still pretty nasty just doing simple things on battery.

Just make sure you test drive it first and really stress it to see if its too much heat for you.

[tomasboudr]

still using mine to this day! it rocks, bought it right when they came out and the only thing that sucks at this point is the battery life, but its been nearly 3 yrs so that is to be expected. Its a solid machine, and the case warping is really a non issue as you can just bend it back easily by flexxing it slightly with your hands. It was a very good rev A machine.

def get the 640mb of ram at least. the extr aram helps make up for the slight defincency in processor emmph.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by SirCastor

Everymac suggests $850-$950

Seriously? I'd get a 12" iBook instead then for $999, complete with full-year warranty (and the option to get another 2 years), 1.33 GHz G4, and Core Image GPU. It also comes with 512 MB built-in, and is cheaply and easily upgradable to 1 GB (and not so cheaply up to 1.5 GB).

iBook 1.33GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache @1.33GHz
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
12.1-inch TFT Display
1024x768 resolution
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550
32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor
$999.00
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping

+$50 for factory installed 768 MB RAM.
+$100 for factory installed 1 GB RAM.