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Plz help me with your wisdom

Ok so a few days ago I bought two untested iBooks labeled as g4's but ended up being g3's some questions

1 how hard are they to kill. (do you think they are DOA??)

2 how long do the hard drives last and do you think I will have to replace them soon

3 only one of the computers has ram (not really a question but [ if I do upgrade what ram card should I get])

4 both computers do NOT have airport cards can I get wireless another way?

5 both of them look kinda different. One has a clear shell around the screen and the other is solid white and the keyboard look different. One is clear white and the other is almost a solid white does that mean anything?

6 one of them the disk drive door (the thing that pops open) dosent stay closed why?

7 what programs can I run on these?

8 if I get a external hard drive....what size and kind do I get?

9 if they have a operating system what is the best to update too?

10 both battery's are dead...(power wise--I am still waiting for a charger to come in). Will the iBook g4 battery fit because I have heard good things about it compared to the g3 battery

11 can I connect my iPod touch 4g to it?

12 if I need a new keyboard will a g4 keyboard work?

13 for the Bluetooth to work do I need a airport card?

14 is the computer going to be slow?

15 I payed around $31 for both did I get ripped off?

I am sorry about the long post

If you need pictures plz tell me

iBook, Two g3's.

Posted on May 26, 2012 2:20 PM

Best reply

Knucklesmac

Level 4

2,240 points

Posted on May 26, 2012 3:56 PM

Hello

A lot of good questions here, I'll do my best to answer some of these and maybe others will help enlighten us further.

1. Don't understand what's meant by that, the life expectancy of an iBook depends on it's treatment.

2. Hard drives can last up to 8 year with continued daily use, but depends on the usage and treatment. If it's working fine, then why replace? Unless you require lager capacity.

3. Fitting RAM depends on the maximum the unit will take. If it's a G3 then 512 I believe is the max you can add.

4. Yes you can use a USB wireless dongle on both units, but make sure it's compatible with your version of Mac OS X installed on your iBook

5. Yes, one is a later model than the other. The whiter is a later 800mhz or 900mhz unit around 2002-2003. While the more milky clear iBook is 2001.(500 Mhz to 800Mhz)

6.Could be a number of reasons, more than likely it's due to the metal plating above the drive door that has come away and blocking the door from closing. These are easily broken when the unit is taken apart.

7. Programs depend on the version of Mac OS X, if it's the maximum version it will handle which is 10.4.11 then it's dependant on the application, but mostly office, web, graphics based applications. You can download some apps from oldapps.com from web browsers to unility software.

8. You can use any external drive I believe (Don't think the OS restricts the size in any way)

9. Best would be tiger 10.4.11 and the most a G3 iBook would handle.

10.Yes I believe they are the same wattage and will fit the G3's. The only difference is the feet color (brown being G3 and gray being G4)

11. You wont be able to sync an iPod touch with 10.4 version of iTunes, but it will charge it and may allow you to download any pictures.(If it see it as a digital camera)

12. I don't think the G4 connectors fit on a G3 iBook keyboard (I may be wrong here)

13. Don't think a G3 iBook comes with Bluetooth??? A Bluetooth dongle via USB would work fine if compatable drivers for Mac.

14. Depends on what's installed and how much memory it has. Most case I've never found a problem with my G3 iBook running 10.4.11. (Tiger)

15. No, not if they are both working units and in ok condition, That sounds like a deal. Seen them go for more than that on eBay.

I hope this help.

If you need further details let me know.

Good Luck with your iBook's

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59 replies

May 27, 2012 7:59 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Yeah I mean I've got two.....one has to work

May 27, 2012 12:29 PM in response to Knucklesmac

The 800 MHz won't have DVD capability (unless the optical drive has been changed).

There were two different versions of the 600 MHz iBook. One will read DVDs; the other is CD-ROM only (only reads CDs).

These are the standard specs, but they could have been special ordered with an upgrade to the optical drive.

The 600 MHz model came with either a 15 GB or 20 GB hard drive (depending on the model), while the 800 MHz came with a 30 GB hard drive. That is a significant difference between the two if neither has had the hard drive upgraded.

May 27, 2012 12:31 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Yeah I mean I've got two.....one has to work

Not necessarily. There are a lot of them out there that don't work.

Good luck, though.

May 27, 2012 12:41 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Confidence percent 0%

Was--79%

May 27, 2012 12:50 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

I thought that the M8861LL/A 800Mhz was a combo drive and M8747LL/A 800 MHz comes with the optional combo drive (DVD/RW). While the M8600LL/A 600 MHz was CD- Only? I maybe wrong here.

I know that my M8747LL/A has a combo drive fitted from new.

May 27, 2012 3:01 PM in response to Knucklesmac

The tipoff is the color on the 800 MHz. There were two different models. The absolute white one ("opaque") is the newer one (M8758LL/A, released in April, 2003), which came with 24X CD-ROM drive as standard.

The M8861LL/A (November, 2002) was still the "translucent" model, and came with the Combo drive standard. A Combo drive is not "DVD-RW," but CD-RW and DVD (read only). It takes a SuperDrive to be able to write to DVD.

No iBook G3 came equipped with a SuperDrive (any G3 processor is just too slow). Although there is at least one company I know of which retrofits a slot-loading SuperDrive into an iBook G3, I certainly would not recommend it.

I've never heard or read of an M8747LL/A.

May 27, 2012 3:00 PM in response to Knucklesmac

In regards to the 600 MHz model, you are correct that the newer (May, 2002) M8600LL/A is CD-ROM only.

The earlier (October, 2001) M8598LL/A came with either a DVD drive (reads both CDs and DVDs) or a Combo drive model was an option (M8599LL/A).

May 27, 2012 3:22 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Thanks for clarifying this 🙂

I'm more than aware that the super drives were not fitted to the G3 and was on option in most cases on the G4's

I'd have repaired many in my time spent at Apple, which reminds me of the time I came across someone that had fitted a slot loading super drive, to a G3 14" iBook. Which didn't partially look very good nor did it perform that well.

May 28, 2012 12:22 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

The only thing that matters is the outcome, and it doesn't hurt (much) to try.

If you can't get either of them to work, you can learn something about them by (carefully) disassembling them and selling the parts on eBay. You're more likely to make money on them that way than by selling them whole.

May 28, 2012 9:59 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Yeah it's not like a payed a ton for them! Is there a way to get a fan. With blue LEDs in it?

May 28, 2012 11:14 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Well, yes. But not for the iBook. The iBook's fan is internal, so I'm not sure why you would want LEDs in it.

May 28, 2012 12:45 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

I want a blue glow!!!!! I just want it..but it's not worth it

May 28, 2012 1:21 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Maybe you should try to find one of these:

We bought one of these for our son's college dorm room. You can run any of the three fans separately, as well. We found it at Walmart, but it was a few years ago. Still, if it's color you want in a fan, this certainly does the trick.

May 28, 2012 1:39 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

I was thinking more of a blue glow out from the vents

May 28, 2012 1:50 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

You can get that blue glow with an external hard drive, but iBooks don't have any wasted space inside the case. No fan with LEDs would fit.

Besides, you're not going to be looking at the back of it while you're using it.

Plz help me with your wisdom