PowerBook G4-can/should I use it for anything?

Should the PowerBook G4 have an up-side to possible chip RAM upgrade,

that could be done for a modest gain in performance; page-outs to HDD

are an issue due to the hard drive being used as Virtual Memory. Real RAM

is a bit faster. ~ IF the hard drive has sufficient free-space (unused capacity)

that gets used for temporary VM read-writes and relies on rotational rate of

spin. This can be resolved if one upgrades to an ATA/PATA SSD from Other

World Computing; they offer Legacy Mercury SSD for old model portables.

The other thing, is locate the retail full install OS X Leopard 10.5.x and don't

pay too much. ~ There also is an 'upgrade DVD' official disc that had been

included as promo by Apple with a new system back when 10.5 was Very new.

Those can be used as full installer DVD and will also boot the Mac from disc.

I have one of these; and two full retail DVDs for Leopard 10.5.x; and Tiger, too.

The browser... A good browser with some quirks can be had from TenFourFox.

It is up-to-date such as a patchwork quilt -- with mendings to fix weak spots.

See there are different versions of TenFourFox depending on PPC G3/G4/G5 CPU.

http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

My G4 Mac Mini (Late 2005 1.5GHz) and G4 iBook (Mid 2005) 1.33GHz 12-inch

both use TenFourFox browser. Mini runs 10.5.8 & iBook runs an original 10.4.11.

To find a source of reliable main battery may be an issue. Also some of the G4

PowerBook models use a clock battery; this is harder to locate, but essential.

My first edition MacBook1.1 (13-in 1.83GHz coreduo) runs Leopard 10.5.8 too;

and runs circles around the older PowerPC chipped G4; an early Intel-model

but the upgrade path stopped at Snow Leopard 10.6.8. I've no install DVD..

..Note there aren't any custom browsers for early Intel-based Macs..

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

I don't see why not, but of course web security is the issue, as well as compatibility with modern websites. I certainly wouldn't recommend using it for any website where you need to enter a password.

I've got older computers (an iBook G3, iBook G4, and a 2007 (Santa Rosa) MacBook. They're fine and still enjoy using all of them from time to time, but they have their limitations.

thewomandirector wrote:

Yes, I noticed it does load webpages, but some (like the NY Times) format very, very oddly!

You're not going to be able to find too many modern web browsers that will work. You're probably stuck on Leopard and the version of Safari that came with it. The latest version of iTunes probably won't support the latest iOS devices. Even for my 2007 MacBook there hasn't been a new version of FireFox, Chrome, or Opera that supports the latest security protocols in years. Your machine is useful to a point, but I there are going to be certain things that will simply require a newer computer.

You can use with the software that's on it. But be careful with web browsing because it does to have the security of more modern operating systems.