need ibook pros for ans to some questions!

Careful, if you replace too much stuff, you'll end up with a pc.

Look in the buy/sell section of this forum and see if anyone is selling their crapper or used apple ibook. Also see if you can buy a used or reconditioned G4 ibook. Since you can't upgrade Apple computers, most of them tend to get rid of their entire systems when it comes time to replace the entire thing.

Places to look:
This forum, eBay, Apple (should have a reconditioned section I think)

You should be able to add memory, but check the warrenty program. Apple was notorious for voiding the warrenties for even thinking about opening up their machines. Also, check out what kind of memory is used (pc2100 i think in sodimm modules).

You can't make the value video card better than it is unless it is shared memory, then you can increase the shared size.

You can change out the superdrive at anytime. It should be hotswappable, but I don't know about the current ones.

The hard drive can be removed as long as the user has access to it without removing the case. If the access point is not user accessable, then tough luck. Also remember that you have to use a notebook hard drive not a desktop hard drive (notebook hard drives are much much smaller).

Finally, good luck and remember that it's not about what you get out of a mac, it's the experiences you have while trying to do so that matter.

apparently you have absolutely NO idea what the hell you are talking about and are clearly ignorant and biased. righttttttttt....

Most people that own NOTEBOOKS get rid of them when they are obsolete.. apples typical replacement times are MUCH longer than their pc counterparts.


[quote=SEMC]You should be able to add memory, but check the warrenty program. Apple was notorious for voiding the warrenties for even thinking about opening up their machines. Also, check out what kind of memory is used (pc2100 i think in sodimm modules).

The type of memory is right, and placing it is SIMPLE.. it most certainly doesn't break the warrenty(SIC). They doin't void any faster than any other company. However to add some KNOWLEDGE, iirc the 256 meg is soldered on the mainboard, so you have ONE slot available.

but shared memory video cards are worse anyway than the separated solution apple provides.. way to make a positivve sound like a negative.

It's not hot swappable and has not been in any of the g4 line. The IBOOK has never had a hot swappable drive period.

As with MOST notebooks, yes just like my brand spanking new Sony, you would have to disassemble to swap a hard drive.. but so what, you do on the majority of laptops.. not just apples.

To other questions addressed.

Networking via firewire is nto supported out of the box, not sure of a 3rd party solution, but you can use some mac drive programs on teh pc, and just boot the laptop to target disk mode, then plug it in to the pc.. it will show like a big hard drive.

To correct on the video question.. aperture size does not increase the value of ram on the video card, and no it's not settable on the mac anyway.. but.. if you re trying to game, why are you getting a mac? with enough ram the video card is not going to even come into the equation on a mac.

the hard drive question was answered. there are guides on doing it.. i even popped a 7200 drive in my 12" powerbook.. fwiw. It's not HARD , just time consuming, and could potentially void your warranty. You may want to check on what they would charge you at the apple store to do that swap for you, then it would be covered.

it sounds like you are more of a candidate for a 12" powerbook.. try getting a refurbed or disconted rev c - the last gen with 1.33 processor. IIRC the superdrive version is not that much more than a new ibook and you may just want to save up a bit more money.

Firewire networking is supported in Panther but it's not a default. Open the network preferences then "show" the "network port configurations" then click new and add "built-in firewire".


Also, iBooks have 256 megs soldered onto the mobo...you can only add up to a gig.

While it's possible to disable the swap in OS X, the swap is integral to the way the system works—a hold over from it's unix origins—and disabling it can ruin your install of the system.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....0.6.7.1.0.1.1

You might want to check that out. As of today, nothing great, but Apple updates their deals VERY often. You can usually get a refurb, like-new Apple for a few hundred less than a new one, still under warranty. And the DEALS tab sometimes has some great stuff.

my bad on the firewire, just never used it, always just did target mode..

the ram i knew was right but didn't want to come off like a smartass to the other smart ass.

h00ligan...I never knew about it until I did a google search. I don't know why it's not in the default list.

And if you don't think there are good games for the Mac, pr50, you're an idiot. They may take longer to get to the Mac, but they're the same games that were on the PC, and generally only the good ones are the ones that get ported over.

Doom 3 isn't out of date and it's going to be released for Mac this month supposedly. Amazon lists the 13th, actually.

And as far as integrated video goes...do you realise how little processing power is required to throw 2D images onto a monitor? 2D optimisation reached it's peak years ago. If you're having problems on image heavy websites it's not the video card.

32 megs of vid ram is MORE than enough for what you need... as stated a couplet imes, ist's something else causing the problem.. dunno what

what the heck r those smileys animated with anyway? is it flash? if so, yes, they'll kill your browser. i have camino set up to have them shut down. u see them but they're not hopping around like crazy. the next revision of flash is supposed to remedy this issue.

Hi pr5owner,

why do you 'need' to learn osx? If you dont want to buy an ibook immediately then there are a several books you can find about the osx OS. So even if you dont buy the actual pc you can just read an illustrated book. they seem to be prettythorough from what i remember when i looked at them in my book store ( i never purchased one btw). so you an get a good feel for how to use it without having the pc. Having said that... if you do buy the laptop you probably wont need to buy any of the books as osx is very intuitive... it may be a little unfamiliar as far as how things are organized from winxp but you will pick it up very fast as it is very similar and it has inbuilt help for stuff you want specifics on. The only book i personally would consider buying for the osx is how to use more of the advanced commands of unix. But that is if you are a programmer (like me).

you mentioned wanting more power in your ibook... why not consider the 12" powerbook as hooligan mentioned before. that pretty much will cover anything you may need as far as processing power is concerned... more expensive but you will pay not too much less than you would for upgrading an ibook etc... Also... if you 'need' osx you will be keeping your powerbook/ibook for a while to come so viewing it as temporary/disposable could be doing yourself a disservice (better to buy a better spec machine than upgrade later on... cheaper). If you cant afford the pb then get a 'book' on osx and save for the pb.

You wont regret this option as the build quality of the powerbook range is alot better than the ibook range. powerbook is made for professionals and the ibook is mainly for students doing the bare basic/ very low end kind of work like web and word without regard for being 'nice' or 'perfect'. It is barely 'within spec' IMHO lol. just yesterday i went to my local applestore and saw the ibook lol... rubbish lcd quality and the trackpad gets very dirty! you can tell so much because the thing is white lol.. any spec of dirt shows.

seriously DONT do any of your own upgrades LOL. i have read many discussion topics in apple's own web forums and anyone who tampers with the machine gets warranty voided!!! also if something goes wrong with your machine and ya send it in... if you put a non-aple item inside the tech will take it out, put it in an anti-static bag and return it to you saying that that item caused the fault in your machine and they may charge you for any repairs done. DONT even open it !!! there is a 'seal' that is 'cracked' by the tech whenever they need to open it. if you crack the seal they wil know lol. it is a bitch trying to open a powerbook ( i tried lol). dont do it man!

well thats my 2 cents worth... hope it gave ya something to consider

cheers,
rob

when i said before: "DONT even open it !!! there is a 'seal' that is 'cracked' by the tech whenever they need to open it. if you crack the seal they wil know lol. it is a bitch trying to open a powerbook ( i tried lol). dont do it man! " i didnt mean there was a 'seal' from sea world which was given 'crack' by the tech who makes it then difficult to open the casing ! LOL. so dont worry about that ... ( lame attempt at humor).


you can put more ram though... there is a 'user accessible' bit for adding to the second ram slot... but it is the primary one that you need to open up the casing for... so you ceratinly can put more in later down the road.

oh!! and another thing... applecare for powerbooks is 'expensive' ughhhh. but worth it apparently. the apple sales person told me that generally nothing happens within the first 12 months.. but around 15 months... something goes... commonly the hard drive ( what they said)... also i know my friends ibook screen died at just before 2 years of owning it.

its a financial nightmare lol. apple is generally more expensive than anyone else. I for one am currently thinking about whether it is worth getting the powerbook again.

cheers,
rob

opening a powerbook is not hard, it's time consuming and intricatre, but not hard.

there is no magic "seal" they can use to see if you have opened it.

the ibook problem you are referring to was an rma'd issue that was remedied with or ewithout applecare due to a manufacturing flaw (which all vendors go thru)

i'd still ge tthe applecare though for the extended warrAnty.

The video card doesn't handle the display like that. It's the CPU that handles most of the processing and just sends what to display to the video card... When you scroll a page in your web browser your CPU usage is going to go up, something that wouldn't happen if it was all loaded into the video card from the start.

when core image comes out in tiger the GUP will is helping out the CUP on certain video and image related tasks.

read more about it here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/coreimage.html

rob,
seeing as how u struggled w/ cracking th PB i suggest u give the "poor build quality" of the iBook a go. having paid $899 for my iBook i'll say that this poorly built machine feels more solid than almost every PC laptop, notable more expensive, i've worked with. it just feels solid. the color and materials r simply a question of preference. saying something is cheap simply bc u wanted a black keyboard or what not is simply lame imo.

pr50wner,
www.lacomputercompany.com has the cheapest applecare i've found available. for iBooks it's $169 and for PBs its $239. (rob, do some research on coverage plans. it's not uncommon for many of the big names to charge $200-250 for 3yrs on even their low end notebooks, and have u talk w/ someone in asia when u actually use it. i've had more than a few friends return their PC, simply bc the very act of interpretation was such a hassle when trying to get tech support)

bob while it is tru that some current gpu's will not be able to support EVERY feature.. that does not by any stretch mean that the book will be obsolete.. most of it is super pretty stuff - not functional.

h00ligan it would mean that video playback would use hardly any CPU power so multi taking while doing media stuff would be even better.