I know you have an opinion...notebook purchase

[jjenisis]

Ok so I am considering other options other than the sacred mac. mostly due to I dont want to pay more than 650 or so and have been shopping refurbs as well as used. To get the minimum of 256mb, a cd-rw/dvd, wireless card, and at least 1 gig I have had little luck staying within my budgeted amount. (Though I have found a few with less than 256 that could be upgraded as well as the cdrw) how hard is it to upgrade the hardware. I am not a novice but am also not very educated in that kind of stuff. Is is worth it to upgrade or will I be spending more money and frustration than just changing gears and going with a pc.

The alternative I have been looking at is the Toshiba Satelite. They all come with internal wireless, and most have the cd-rw

Any big scary stories about ToshibaS..

Im not sure if the fact that a mac is the official machine is a good thing or bad ....eeeek

[Nephilim]

It's not hard to upgrade the ram in most laptops, you just have to know how to get to it. For the most part, all this requires is removing a door or in the iBook's case, the keyboard to get to it (don't worry that's much easier than it sounds).

Upgrading the cd-rom drive, well that all depends. It can be a pain in the ass, or it can be as easy as removing the old one and sliding a new one in it's place (like a nintendo cartridge). I'll tell you right now that upgrading the cdrom in an iBook is flat-out hard. I've done it, and in my opinion it's far more worth the extra expense of getting an iBook with the cdrom you want already in it. As for other manufacturers, it depends on the model you get. If you are getting one of those uber-thin laptops it's more likely that upgrading the cdrom is going to be a serious, warranty-voiding pain in the ass. If it's an older model or one that isn't supposed to be uber-thin then chances are upgrading the cdrom drive will be more along the lines of sliding the old one out and sliding the new one in.

If price is becoming an issue here, why not wait a little longer, save up a little more money, and get what you want instead of compromising now?

[jjenisis]

yeah the price is only like 200 or so above what Im wanting to spend. I could have that in a week or two....but tell that to an inpulsive shopper heee....... Im begining to think Nephilim is die hard true blue Applehearted

Thanks though I have learned more in your responces than I have with the research part...sometimes the internet just is too much info and its a pain to weed out all the extra stuff to get to the good parts

Thank you.

[Bone]

on earlier note of Apple replacing my old iBook... Got the new one in this last Tues.....
As much ass as I thought my G3 kicked.... The G4 would eat it for breakfast with a side helping of DELL.

I doubt I could be happier... until they get the G5 laptops out anyway.

[Nephilim]

yeah the price is only like 200 or so above what Im wanting to spend. I could have that in a week or two....but tell that to an inpulsive shopper heee....... Im begining to think Nephilim is die hard true blue Applehearted

Thanks though I have learned more in your responces than I have with the research part...sometimes the internet just is too much info and its a pain to weed out all the extra stuff to get to the good parts

Thank you.

Heh, well I love Apples a whole lot, but I love all things 'tech'. I know how you feel though, I am an impulsive shopper and I'm now torturing myself trying to save up to upgrade our computers (Greyeye's and mine). As soon as my tax return comes in I'm getting our video cards and the rest soon after that (motherboards, processors, ram). Not to mention that I *might* be picking up a slightly used Mac G4 Cube from work for next to nothing.

I'm glad I can help you out. If you have any questions or anything certainly feel free to ask me anytime. I'm always up for talking shop.

[Nephilim]

on earlier note of Apple replacing my old iBook... Got the new one in this last Tues.....
As much ass as I thought my G3 kicked.... The G4 would eat it for breakfast with a side helping of DELL.

I doubt I could be happier... until they get the G5 laptops out anyway.

Awesome!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I *might* be getting a slightly used G4 Cube from work. They upgraded the lone Mac in the office to a G5 and I'm hoping that I'll be able to snag the cube. Here's to hoping *fingers crossed*

[jjenisis]

OK heres what its come to.

Option A:
Apple G4 Titanium 400Mhz 256MB/10GB/DVD/15.2"/AC/Battery/OS X (used)
no airport card

Option B:
a used Apple iBook with a G3 800 MHZ processor and CD-ROM drive. The laptop is in perfect working condition and has absolutely no problems. I have upgraded the memory to 384 MB of Apple RAM. An Apple Airport Card is included and installed. The operating system has been upgraded to the new Panther OS X.

iBook G3 Operating System: Mac OS X
Processor Speed: 800 MHz Screen Size: 12 inches
Hard Drive Capacity: 30 GB Memory (RAM): 384 MB

the biggest obvious diff is the 12inch vs 15 inch screen other than that Im not sure.

Can B play Dvds? I think even though it has the smaller screen it has more memory and stuff right??

[Nephilim]

Take a look at this one.

ebay auction number 5163031434

[DarkVader]

OK heres what its come to.

Option A:
Apple G4 Titanium 400Mhz 256MB/10GB/DVD/15.2"/AC/Battery/OS X (used)
no airport card

Option B:
a used Apple iBook with a G3 800 MHZ processor and CD-ROM drive. The laptop is in perfect working condition and has absolutely no problems. I have upgraded the memory to 384 MB of Apple RAM. An Apple Airport Card is included and installed. The operating system has been upgraded to the new Panther OS X.

iBook G3 Operating System: Mac OS X
Processor Speed: 800 MHz Screen Size: 12 inches
Hard Drive Capacity: 30 GB Memory (RAM): 384 MB

the biggest obvious diff is the 12inch vs 15 inch screen other than that Im not sure.

Can B play Dvds? I think even though it has the smaller screen it has more memory and stuff right??

Option A probably can't burn CDs.

Option B will be a bit faster, even though it's just a G3. It can't burn anything, or play DVDs, assuming the specs are correct.

The drives can be changed in both of them - for a price - but neither are up to the specs you want without some upgrades. The PowerBook can have a SuperDrive installed - that would be about $300 for the part. It would need a bigger hard drive (10GB is not much these days, 60GB runs at least $130.) the iBook will only take a combo drive (no DVD burning) and that HAS to be an Apple part (ask me if you end up with the machine, it's easier to match the drive once I have a serial number) but it's probably going to be in the $300 range. You could probably live with a 30GB drive for a while.

A G4/400 is pretty slow these days, I'm not sure you really want that one. I'd say that machine would be worth $300-$400. I wouldn't pay more than $250 for it myself.

The auction Nephilim posted looks like it would be a much better machine...

[jjenisis]

Well for better or worse I won the auction. It is here. I am now one of the Mac generation. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5748415805 now to figure out how to use it.....

Thank you to all that helped with the decision. Esp you Neph. Perhaps someday I will see you out and be able to buy you a drink or two.

Thank you to all the viewers who voted for me...you really love me you really do!

I have a linksys wireless router and should be on my way soon... who knew christmas comes in Febuary!

Now all I think I need/want is the cd-rw/dvd and I should be a happy girl for a while....

[DarkVader]

Good price. Are you in Knoxville or Nashville?

[jjenisis]

Good price. Are you in Knoxville or Nashville?

Im in Knoxville.