PC user to iBook question

[BoilerUP]

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.

Does anybody own a similar iBook, and if so, have any comments on its performance? I'm concerned about battery life, and compatibility of Office X with MS Office products (on my laptop). I guess I could always go OpenOffice if they don't. 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...

 

[wxman13]

There was a whole thread about the switch and compatibility and whatnot last summer I think. The short answer is, yes, for day-to-day stuff, the iBook will work just fine. Assuming you aren't burning a CD off the battery, you can expect about 3-3.5 hours off a single charge. All your office documents (word, excel, powerpoint) will transfer back and forth across platforms without any problems. You will probably have to keep the .doc/.xls/.ppt extensions, but other than that, no worries.

 

[njcapt]

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.

Does anybody own a similar iBook, and if so, have any comments on its performance? I'm concerned about battery life, and compatibility of Office X with MS Office products (on my laptop). I guess I could always go OpenOffice if they don't. 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...

I've got 900mHz G3 and 1.33mHz G4 iBooks in use right now. The 900 (this is the 14.1" screen version of your potential computer) can be a little poky compared to the latest models, but other than being limited to 640Megs of RAM it's a great computer. Office works perfectly on it (as perfect as Microsoft stuff can be), and the Airport card with OS X makes finding Wifi networks really easy.

Quoting Ferris Bueller, if you have the funds, I highly suggest looking for one of the first generation G4 models. The G4 processor is really fast, you can install a but-load of RAM, and they have bigger hard drives. Some of the G3 models had logic board issues. I believe this affected the 14.1" models exclusively, but I've had three G3 iBooks and replaced boards five times. None of these issues cropped up in the G4, and I've had no troubles with the first replacement board in the wife's 900mHz. I think they solved the problem in the replacement boards installed after late 2004.

 

[RockbrigadePC1]

iBooks rock...I get 6 hours of a battery out of mine.

 

[CA1900]

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.

 

[lear24]

I have a 14" 700mHz G3 iBook (bigger screen, model just prior to the one you're looking at) and it's been a champ. I was affected by the motherboard problem as mentioned before, Apple fixed it and had the computer back to me within 5 days of me shipping it to them for free. That is the only problem I have had in 3.5 years of owning it. OS X rocks, it has locked up totally and had to be rebooted about 3 times in 3.5 years. I'm running 10.3.9 now, and I don't think I've locked up since 10.3.1 or so. I get around 3.5 - 4 hours of battery still after all this time. I would consider $300 for the 12" version of this computer a pretty good deal. I run Office X, and it is fully compatable back and forth with windows, as well as OpenOffice, with just a few odd formatting hiccups (tabs will be misplaced sometimes, a one page doc becomes two pages by a line, etc) going back and forth. This computer has been very good to me.

 

[BoilerUP]

thanks for the info everyone!

 

[BoilerUP]

One more question...does an iBook require any kind of special RAM, or can you buy the stuff pretty easily?

 

[canyonblue737]

just a heads up... signs point to Apple releasing a new iBook, likely under the name "MacBook", based on the new intel chips around April 1st... the 30th anniversery of Apple Computer. I would wait a few weeks for the latest and greatest.

 

[CA1900]

I would wait a few weeks for the latest and greatest.

As I mentioned above, I would too, even if you're in the market for a used machine. Prices should drop significantly on the used machines when these new ones hit the stores.

One more question...does an iBook require any kind of special RAM, or can you buy the stuff pretty easily?

You can buy it pretty easily. I normally get my RAM from either Crucial or RamJet, depending on prices -- the quality and service from both companies has been excellent. The G3/800 iBooks take a 144-pin, PC133 SO-DIMM. At the moment Crucial and Ramjet sell a 512MB module for $110 and $119, respectively. The prices have crept up as newer memory has gotten more popular. For example, RAM for the newer iBook G4 models is a DDR SO-DIMM, which is only $69 for a 512MB module from Ramjet.

Installation on them all is very easy; simply pop a couple of tabs to lift the keyboard, and the RAM slot is under a screwed-on aluminum cover. Takes just a few minutes. Here's a PDF of the memory installation procedure.