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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 28, 2012 1:51 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

True....I guess I could get a cooler mat with blue LEDs I may change the color of the aple logo on the back of the screen

Jun 1, 2012 7:01 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Ok sorry about bringing this thread back up. But I have a few more questions

Ok so first off I have a wireless LAN adapter that I've had for a while and I tested it out on my grandmas laptop (acre aspire one -windows 7 starter-) and it worked great the light lit up on the inside of the adapter and it showed networks...I connected it to my computer and no lights no nothing. What did I do wrong?

Also why is safari on this computer so small?

Jun 2, 2012 12:24 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

I take it that you have at least one of them up and running now? Which one, and with which version of the OS?

There are multiple reasons why a wireless adapter that works on a Windows computer doesn't work on an ancient iBook G3 (Dual USB).

It may need Mac drivers. (Best guess.) Go to the website for the WLAN adapter and see if Mac drivers are available which are compatible with a G3 processor and the version of the OS which is installed on the iBook(s).

Your grandmother's Windows 7 computer is a lot newer than the iBooks, so if the adapter is newer, too, it is likely not to have compatibility issues with a newer computer that will show up with an older computer (such as the iBook).

It may be a USB 2 adapter that is not backward-compatible with USB 1.1 (which is what the USB ports on the iBook are). (Most USB 2 adapters are backward-compatible, however.)

Also, keep in mind that an iBook G3 (Dual USB) cannot access a network which uses WPA2 encryption.

Jun 2, 2012 5:26 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

The LAN adaptercewith our blue ray player >.<. I have no clue what it's drivers are....I got the 800 working but it won't last long be aide I've had to shim up the graphic sard

Jun 5, 2012 1:10 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Ok update....I purchased a airport card the other day and it should be here tomorrow so I will have wireless

Also today I took apart the non working 600 and I think I have found the problem on the back side (closest to the screen) was a ton of white powder and corrosion so I think the board is toast but the disk drive and hard drive are clean

Time for questions: I have now a disk drive and a hdd is there a way or adapter so that I can see what's on the hdd or to use the disk drive as a external one? I also got tons of other prices that I'm probably going to sell thanks for your help

One more question are there any games for these? Like nanosaur? Also can I get photoshop on this?

Jun 5, 2012 11:59 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

A word of warning:

If it's a G3 800 MHz iBook, it takes the original AirPort Card (802.11b).

If it's a G4 800 MHz iBook, it takes an AirPort Extreme Card (802.11g). The AirPort Extreme Card will say "AirPort Extreme" on it.

I know you said they were both G3s, but I thought I would mention this, just in case. An AirPort Extreme Card will not work in an iBook G3, and if you try to put the wrong Card in the iBook, it can damage the logic board beyond repair.

Jun 6, 2012 6:27 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Thank you mrs Ronda but I had already known that....it's the g4 that people have to worry about. Some come with that one and some come with the extreme.....I got the regular one

On that note I took the logic board from the 600 that wasn't working to my tech teacher and he told me that a capacitor had leaked and it ruined some diods and something else....so now I have a board that I can't do anything with but take off peices

Jun 7, 2012 10:06 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Ok so I love the iBook.....but every time it goes to sleep it disconnects from the Internet and I have to go and reconnect Is that normal? It's getting kinda annoying

Jun 7, 2012 1:40 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

All iBook G4s use the AirPort Extreme Card.

You haven't told us which version of the OS it is running?

I can't remember which version of the OS started allowing you to place the AirPort status symbol in the Menu Bar. If System Preferences allows you to show the AirPort status symbol in the Menu Bar, then it's a simple matter to reconnect. Go to System Preferences > Networking and see if that option is available to you.

Jun 7, 2012 2:05 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

iBook g3

800mgz

128mb ram card

I'm thinking 60gb HDD

Airport card (original)

os x 10.3.9 (panther?)

Ok I got a HDD from another iBook and I want to use it to back up mine....also to pull songs off of it...how do I do that?

And I also would like to use the DVD SuperDrive would that require and special software?? I have a adapter so no worries there

Also my iBook hits around 50 deg. Celsius and the fan is never on can I control it??

Thank you for your help

Jun 7, 2012 2:13 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

What do you mean "I'm thinking 60gb HDD"?

Yes, Mac OS X 10.3.9 is Panther.

If you want to access a hard drive from another iBook and that other iBook doesn't work, then you need an external enclosure for the drive. (An SATA enclosure will not work — it has to be IDE/ATA or PATA.) I prefer a FireWire 400 enclosure because it's so much faster than USB (especially USB 1.1, which is what the iBook has). Then you would need a FireWire 400 cable to connect the external drive to the FireWire port of the iBook.

Jun 7, 2012 2:19 PM in response to Mac-aroni man1

I have used 26gb and it has like 24gb left so I was wrong it has a 50gb Fujitsu HDD

The adapter I have purchased (from ebay) is USB and they say it will connect any sata/IDE and any cd DVD combo drive to USB

Jun 8, 2012 10:52 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

Do you have a link to this adapter? Please post the link here.

I have not seen anything that works with both ATA and SATA. (That doesn't mean they don't exist; I just haven't seen one, and would like to see one.)

Jun 8, 2012 10:59 AM in response to Mac-aroni man1

I bought it off of eBay.....it isn't one wire it's like a kit. I cannot post a link because I am on my iPod but I can give pictures and screenshots

Sorry about that

http://db.tt/9LQkzqNd

http://db.tt/0YP0kJAx

Plz help me with your wisdom