BoilerUP said:
I've been using PC-based desktops and laptops exclusively, but I've been looking for a small (12") light laptop to use on the road. I found a few 800 MHz iBooks on eBay for 300-500 bucks with AirPort, DVD/CDRW, Office X and OS 10.
For that price, that's probably a G3-processor version. Still a very capable machine, but won't be a speed demon. But it'd make a nice on-the-road machine, particularly with that combo drive that'll let you watch DVDs. The size is perfect for the road; it's very light and compact.
Does anybody own a similar iBook, and if so, have any comments on its performance?
You'll want at least version 10.3 of the operating system; older versions are much more sluggish. As you search the eBay listings, version 10.3 is nicknamed "Panther," and 10.4, the current version, is called "Tiger." Sometimes the listings will only have the name.
Also, you'll want at least 512MB of RAM, or performance will suffer as well (lots of swapping to the disk, which is slow). 384 is tolerable, but 512 or 640 would be a much better amount of RAM.
Finally, ensure that it already comes with the Airport card for that machine. The older 11Mbps card is no longer in manufacture, and is commanding over $100 on eBay. It's a custom internal slot in this case, so there aren't any aftermarket alternatives. The later G4 iBooks take the current 802.11g card, dubbed "Airport Extreme" -- this card will not fit the older G3 machines.
With enough RAM and a recent OS, it should be more than adequate as a road machine. But as the G3 processor is two generations old, more modern apps like the movie editing, video compression, etc., are going to be a stretch for it.
I'm concerned about battery life...
Battery life on the iBooks has always been excellent. A new-condition battery will give you nearly 5 hours of battery life. A used one depends entirely on how worn out it is, so that's hard to judge when buying used.
...and compatibility of Office X with MS Office products (on my laptop). I guess I could always go OpenOffice if they don't.
Yep. Office X wasn't too bad; Office 2004 is much better. But if you don't want to purchase either, OpenOffice should open your documents just fine. There's a recompiled OpenOffice called NeoOffice that you might want to check into if you go that route:
http://www.neooffice.org/
Basically I've had good luck with eBay laptops before (I know you can get burned) and am looking for a simple internet/light work laptop for the road. Thanks for the feedback...
There's always a risk buying
anything used, of course. If you can afford the price difference, you might also look at the 12" iBook G4, which is a dramatically faster machine. If you're not in any great hurry to buy, you might wait a month or two, as Apple should soon be releasing the next generation replacement of that machine. That tends to depress the used market, just as it did for the G3 model when the G4 came out.
Hope that helps.
