[yugyug]

hi, I've got an old tibook, 500mhz 500meg ram, had it for about 3 or 4 years. Going to Japan in a month and I was going to buy a new powerbook there, but no-one has much good to say about the new models and I think I've decided to spend the money on natto and para-para clubs ---

--- so now I want to give my old powerbook a makeoever..... a faster drive, yes? more ram? what about a super drive? any other ideas.... and can anyone recommend if I should get it done before I go, or in Japan?

[powerule]

How do you like your tiBook? I was going to get one then canged my mind. Now that the news one came out, I might get a tiBook if the prices go lower. Iam looking at a 800mhz maxed out to 2 gb ram and dvi.
How do you like yours??? What do you use your for?

question:

1 - what is natto
2 - what is para pra club?

thnx

[kmarketing]

Hi,

I got a nice titanium powerbook (in my sig) for a decent price of $425. I've had the aluminums and prefer the look of the titaniums over the aluminums. And I'm getting over 5.5 hours on my titanium battery. They are great machines. But I would advise you not to spend too much on them as they can get pricey and into the neighborhood of a new ibook or powerbook. For web browsing, music, photos, typing, and other basic things, the powerbook is great. Anything more intensive goes to my more powerful desktop.

As for memoy, the highest it can have is 1gb. But be careful as the chips can cost quite a bit. The hard drive is the best upgrade and should be done if you want to keep the machine, it will greatly improve the performance. And its an easy upgrade.

Good Luck!

[powerule]

For web browsing, music, photos, typing, and other basic things, the powerbook is great. Anything more intensive goes to my more powerful desktop.

I dont get comments like these....I have friends that say the same junk, only web browsing and office applications???? SO I GUESS BACK THEN NO ONE WAS USING PHOTOSHOP ON THESE???? Well i sure wont pay for a web browser.

I have friends that were absolutely happy with their fully loaded silver g4 desktop for music recording. then all of a sudden when the g5's came out, now all of a sudden what thay have isnt good enough even though they are doing the same exact thing using the same exact software ( DP4 & Peak )....

I really find it hard to believe that after the aluminums came out that now the TiBooks are just web browsers and something to write letters on....

Iam not asking i know better, I know that with this 800mhz one i was looking at i can do much more, Heck the one at work is a graphite g4 500mhz and people here edit raw files and do photowork on it as well as web designs.

[kmarketing]

Hi,

I think when it comes to powerbooks, a g4 is a g4, it's just that some are definitely faster than others. So while you may be able to use photoshop on even my powerbook, I just prefer to use my g5 since it is so much faster and efficient.

but I agree with you in terms of what an older powerbook can do. That's why I sold my aluminum powerbooks and left myself with this rev a one that I absolutely love since it is in such good condition.

[powerule]

425.00 You Selling It For?

[kmarketing]

hi,

the ti400 is what i got for $425. i sold my 17" 1.33 for $1600. I had a pismo 500 and after selling the memory and airport card separately, I got about $650 for it. Got the dual g5 in the sig for $900. So the 2 computers in my sig came out to $1325. I think that was the best way to spend my money - outstanding desktop power and a laptop that will do most of the tasks that I need done on the road or in different rooms.

Good Luck in finding your new machines!!

[yugyug]

kmarketing your laptop has the upgrades I'm looking into - twice the ram, bigger faster hardrive - does yours have a super drive? anyone know how they would go in a ti500?

i'm a graphic designer and occasional musician, I've never had a problem with my lappie not being ble to do what I want... sure its a bit slow on some things, tho....

1. Natto, a fermented bean food eaten in the morning. Its tastes like battery acid and looks like those slimy cocoons from Alien. Strangely enough, my gf is addicted to it.

2. Para-para, a kind of synchronized dancing, a bt like square dancing i think? except companies create and sell new routines all the time to match new techno style songs (they also produce and sell) and girls spend all their pocket money buy and practising them at home or in the para para video arcade before showing them off at the para para club.

[Westfoto]

Originally Posted by yugyug

hi, I've got an old tibook, 500mhz 500meg ram, had it for about 3 or 4 years. ...

If that is the speed then get a newer machine. It does not have to be brand new just newer. I have seen Tiger run that machine into the ground. A Powerbook that is in the 800 to 1Ghz range is worlds apart and amazingly faster too.

just my .02 worth though...

West

[yugyug]

yes, I also think thats true westfoto.....

Argh!! I'm normally a very decisive person (some say too decisive ) but with computers I 'um' and 'ah' incessantly and can never make up my mind until in a fit of panic I go out and buy whatever seems to be the best thing that particular hour that particular day and then I take it home and look and it with an unconfortabke mix of relief and disapointment, my eyes moving back and forth from my bank account statement to the box.

[Westfoto]

Originally Posted by yugyug

yes, I also think thats true westfoto.....

Argh!! I'm normally a very decisive person (some say too decisive ) but with computers I 'um' and 'ah' incessantly and can never make up my mind until in a fit of panic I go out and buy whatever seems to be the best thing that particular hour that particular day and then I take it home and look and it with an unconfortabke mix of relief and disapointment, my eyes moving back and forth from my bank account statement to the box.

That is the Real Big Reason that I have not gone and got a new G5 yet. As you can see from my sig I am using an old G4. I am dying to get a new maching and now that Apple just updated the PowerMac line I may be doing that. I too don't want to look at the bank account after the purchase of a new machine. I am sure getting sick of seeing that rainbow though . . .

I do use a TiBook that is a 1Ghz machine and yes it can be slow but it is still doing fairly well. A new portable would be nice but ... The G5 will be first.

Till then ... I do know how hard it can be to make the choice to get a new computer ...

West

[kmarketing]

Hi,

My suggestion for a superdrive would be an external one. It would be so much faster and cheaper, and you will be able to use it for other machines.

I put a combo drive in there, which doesn't cost much, the drive itself that is. Just make sure that it will have the proper fitting bracket and the correct connector cable. If you had an original dvd drive, then a combo drive won't work without the combo.

The memory chips could cost a bit, so just be careful. The hard drive is a good investment in my opinion simply because you can use it in the future as an external drive, etc.

I think the question you may want to ask, is what is the equation that will work out best for you. If your machine is in good condition, like mine is, then doing the upgrades are not that bad. But you may be able to sell your machine as-is which will help contribute to a newer machine.

Good Luck!

[phobos]

Here's the deal

I've been using a powerbook 667 DVI as my main machine for the past 3-4 years. I've been

doing loads of heavy work with it. Work that you shouldn't be doing with this kind of system.

3d work, huge billboards, video work with loads of layers etc. And all this when a few years ago

OSX was slooooow and 5400rpm drives were ridiculously pricey. It was frustrating at

times but still got the job done. Nowdays with OSX Tiger and 5400rpm hard disk I can safely

say that my powerbook feels like a new machine. Seriously. 2 years ago the bootime of OSX was

1:30 minute. Now believe it or not it's 45 seconds.



That means that if you have the patience to work with a slow machine you can still do stuff. But

why should you? If you have the money go and buy a new machine. Just because people are

dissapointed by the new specs doesn't mean that the new system won't suit your needs. The

new machines are at least twice as fast compared to your machine. They can handle all the

latest GPU trick that OSX has to offer that your machine can't with its lame 16MB radeon card

that even then wasn't as powerful as others. This will make things even slower on your already

slow system. You have to invest more money on your 5 year old system (DVDR, hard drive,

bluetooth) just to make it feel up to date. For things that are already there in the new machines.

And even then you will be stuck with a 1152x768 display (compared to 1440x990) with no USB

2, dvi, airport extreme and digital audio. I left out firewire 2 and the backlit keyboard because

some don't even care about those.


In my opinion I think that you should invest on a new machine. But the final decision is yours.

Hope I helped

[phobos]

double post

[guillame]

I think it's worth upgrading older TiBooks if you don't need the speed of a new one. I recently had my 500mhz repaired for a broken hinge, but while it was at the repair place I had them add some additional ram (making it 768 instead of 256), and install a bigger hard drive (60gb instead of 20gb). It was worth it, and it runs fine for what I need it for, which is mostly web browsing, and some light audio work. The guys at powerbookrepairshop.com did all of this for a little more than $300, which is pretty damn good. It would have been around $500 or more for similar service at some other places I checked out, and that would have been too much - but they were pretty fair. So I think if you look around, you can find some cheaper options for upgrading. After all, $300 is alot less than $2000!

[amazing]

Ah! The eternal dilemma of having a taste for champagne on a coca-cola budget! Which is otherwise known as being a discerning buyer.

I sold my Ti-400 and shortly afterwords ran across a great deal on new 12" 1.33 GHz PBs. What I learned was that you should add up the cost of all your hotly desired Titanium upgrades. Then you should take the sales price you might expect for a Titanium, add the two figures together, and see what you can buy in either the refurb market (be sure it has Applecare) or a close-out sale on a previous generation new laptop. Chances are you're going to be pretty close to getting something much faster and newer!

Seriously, sticking money in an old laptop that has no Applecare is a dicey bet, except for upgrading the HD (since you can take that back out again, to put in something newer or into a firewire case.)

The only thing I miss on my Ti-400 is the great LCD--compared to the 12" PB LCD, it's heaven, even with the 3 year-old dimming.

I just configured a 14" 1.33 GHz iBook for a friend, refurbed from the Apple Store for $900. Much as I heartily dislike the 14" LCD, I'd recommend that over an old Titanium. You can always hook up an external monitor, you can even install the dual-monitor hack.

[crouchingtiger]

I just sold my Powerbook Titanium 800 to upgrade to a 1.5 GHz 15" AlBook. Total cost of upgrade = $300. Granted, the AlBook has a small dent, but it's the best upgrade I've EVER done!

Gotta love craigslist...