Topic: Opinions on a Used Ibook

[RRobar]

Ok looking around on ebay there seems to be quite a few 500 mHz G3 (and 600mHz)I books around for about $500 or so. If I can sniper bid one I think I'll grab one. The one I'm watching right now is iBook 500 MHz G3 128MB RAM WIRELESS!!
This Apple ibook is:
G3 500MHz Processor
128 MB SDRAM upgradable to 640MB
256K level 2 cache
24 X CD ROM
10GB Ultra ATA hard disk drive
12.1-inch (diagonal) TFT active-matrix XGA color display with 8MB of SDRAM video memory
Gently used and in perfect working condition
Normal use with some very minor exterior scratches on Durable exterior plastic
Screen bright and perfect!

The only major thing I'm weary of is the 10GB drive. How hard is it to replace with a larger one? There are others out there, this auction ends in 2 days, no reserve. If I can get it cheap enough I will. I should be able to find a OSX disc somewhere .

Any opinions or things to be on the look out for? I'm hoping to et one cheap enough so I can still afford a valance to power it for taping.

[John Kelly]

The hard drives in the iBook are *very* hard to replace.  You have to take the entire thing apart, and there are a TON of tiny screws and you have to keep track of where all of them go...

Are you going to use this for just recording?  If not I'd say look for at least a 700, but if you're only going to tape with it the 500 will be fine...

[nic]

check for dead pixels and scratches on the LCD!

[MattD]

Also, isn't the iBook a little limited in battery life without an external battery? This is especially the case if you're getting a used one.

-Matt

[John Kelly]

Nah, the iBook gets a damn good battery life, 4+ hours with the screen off.  Used battery may affect this, though...

Check the refurbs that apple is selling, good deals there.

[MattD]

Ahh ... the only one I looked at must have been too used, as I decided on the Pismo and its dual-battery capacity. Never drained it completely - longest I've ever gone with it on in a recording situation is about 6 hours and it looked to be able to go at least 3 more.

-Matt

[RRobar]

My main use would be recording and while it may be a while I'd plan on getting a valance to power it in the field. I'd probably load my Adobe products just because I like to do some graphic work while on the road.But nothing more.  There is a bunch on ebay there are 700 & 800 mHz there as well but they seems to be a bit more money that I can justify. If work kicks in for it I'll get a PowerBook but I'm not sure how they will go for that. I have a better chance of getting a G5 desktop than a 17 inch powerbook (either way a sweet deal). I'm mostly looking at options for recording. Like I said a ton of them on ebay I'm watching 3 that are way under $300 One is a 800 mhz. But all have a few days left and we all know it's about sniper bidding on ebay.

[zhianosatch]

$300, whew, sniper city on the way

[RRobar]

Yeah I'll grab one if I can get it cheap enough. I'd love a much more pwerful mac but I can't justify the costs. Again,unless work kicks in them I'm going for the gusto. Under $400 is where I am looking. A long shot maybe.

[RRobar]

Ok, I've laid the ground work for work to hook me up with a Mac. Now I really would love to pull a powerbook. But The price is a bit much to swallow. So I think I've decided to go woth a refurb 900mhz iBook. Under $1300 from the mac store. I've not set on the  G4 Powerbooks as I know the g5's will beout next year and I can approach that later on. I want a nice litte mac to record with and do graphic design work. Which is why I am going with the 14inch not the 12. I'll probably run an external monitor.

IS there any special consideration in recording with a mac? Forgive the newbie style questions. Just I have not done anything more than run graphics programs on the macs so far. I guess my questions are:
What software are you guys running?
What power source are you running (what are my options beyond the internal batteries? I know about the n-charge)?
I can always move it to the PC for tracking if need be. But what are you guys using to track and make sure about sector boundries issues?

Thanks for the help

[John Kelly]

Warning:  DON'T GO WITH THE 14"

Unless you have bad vision, there's no reason to go with the 14 over the 12.  It has the same resolution, so you aren't actually getting any extra screen real estate.  Everything will just look bigger.  

My advice is to head to a CompUSA/Apple Store or whatever and check them out first hand to make sure the 14" is the one you want.  You may change your mind once you see them in person.

As for the taping questions, I use Spark XL 2.8 to record and track, but it's a two track only program.  I also have Digital Performer 4, which is a multitrack program, but it's a little too advanced for me (I'm still learning it).  And then shntool converts to shn/flac and fixes sector boundaries.

Power?  Only options are the internals (which will last at *least* 3 hours, maybe 4+) or something like the NCharge.