Is there anything I can do with this POS iBook?

[MotionMan]

My 79 year old uncle was given an iBook. I am not sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

The specs are:

OSX 10.4.11
500 MHz PPC G3
384 MB SDRAM
10~ GB HHD
CD-RW, DVD-ROM
No wireless

Dear G-d, is there ANYTHING that can be done to speed this thing up?

How much would it cost me to max out the RAM all the way to 500~ MB (Yes, the max is 500~ MB).

What do you think is the absolute best Mac I can get for about $200 on CL? (And how much can I reasonably expect to get for this POS to offset the cost of the "new" Mac?)

MotionMan

 

[wedi42]

1. add wifi
2. surf the interwebs
3 ...
4. get free ipods

 

[mmntech]

You could probably use it as a low power file server.

 

[umrigar]

it's low-end by today's standards. you could do basic email or word processing. web browsing will be painful. it's worth about $50, but people still try to get $200 or more. crazy, they're not collectable or anything.

IMHO, used iBooks are still overpriced. even used Powerbook G4s. people don't realize that they're not worth as much now that teh web uses so much Flash, which chokes PowerPC processors.

if you could find a G4 Powerbook over 1.25 GHz for $200, grab it. stay away from the Titanium Powerbook unless it's practically free (like $100).

your best hope is to find a well-used macbook for like $300-$400, since it has the dual-core intel processor & takes cheaper RAM & a SATA hard drive.

example: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/1510050246.html

 

[MotionMan]

it's low-end by today's standards. you could do basic email or word processing. web browsing will be painful. it's worth about $50, but people still try to get $200 or more. crazy, they're not collectable or anything.

IMHO, used iBooks are still overpriced. even used Powerbook G4s. people don't realize that they're not worth as much now that teh web uses so much Flash, which chokes PowerPC processors.

if you could find a G4 Powerbook over 1.25 GHz for $200, grab it. stay away from the Titanium Powerbook unless it's practically free (like $100).

your best hope is to find a well-used macbook for like $300-$400, since it has the dual-core intel processor & takes cheaper RAM & a SATA hard drive.

example: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/1510050246.html

It does not have to me a laptop, BTW. So, any other suggestions?

MotionMan

 

[TheStu]

For around $200 you might be able to score a Mini with almost reasonable specs. Anything past that would probably be a desk lamp iMac, or an old G4 PowerMac. Certainly nothing past that.

As for the G3 iBook... maybe use it as a portable DVD player, or a kitchen recipe/email machine?

 

[umrigar]

good luck finding an Intel Mini - even G4s sell for ~ $250 for some reason.

$200 isn't going to buy you an Intel Mac, I'm afraid; even a low-end hackintosh is more than that unless you already have most of the parts.

 

[Eug]

Sell the iBook and then buy the cheapest Intel Mac you can find... and it won't be $200.

 

[MotionMan]

Sell the iBook and then buy the cheapest Intel Mac you can find... and it won't be $200.

I recently picked up a 1.83 ghz Intel Mini for my kids for $285.

Maybe when the next generation of Macs come out in January, we will see the used prices drop a little more.

MotionMan