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Bought an Apple IBook Powerbook off of eBay; here are the specs:

800 MHz
256 MB RAM
30 GB HD

Software includes clean OS installation: Mac OS 10.3 Panther; I purchased Apple's version of MS Office today too; still a few days from getting in the machine (it was shipped to us today).

So ... we bought the thing because so many people who own these things swear by 'em, and we could afford it. Figured to get an inexpensive, used one off the web, vice getting a new one; we want to figure out how the thing ticks and what's supposed to make it so great. I know Windows, but know nothing of Mac, Apple, whatever OS. Have messed with SuSE Linux before, and the GUI on the Apples we saw at a store today remind me of that. What would you Apple/Mac users out there recommend for us so far as online guides (did a google search, but found mostly crap)?

Get more RAM ASAP or you will be in a world of pain.

phongn wrote:Get more RAM ASAP or you will be in a world of pain.

I'm guessing we have to purchase Apple-specific RAM for the machine. What would you recommend?

G3 800mhz iBook RAM from Crucial
G4 800mhz iBook RAM from Crucial

You don't specify which you iBook you just bought, so I provided links to both.

Thanks for the links.

Online games for Mac? Not only do you want MAC GAMES, and games that run on a WEAK LAPTOP, but MAC ONLINE GAMES for a WEAK LAPTOP?

Hey if you find any let me know. I just use my laptop for 'laptop things', not gaming, so I've never even looked. Shame on me!

Before you buy the RAM:

jegs2 wrote:Bought an Apple IBook Powerbook off of eBay; here are the specs:

Wait what? Did you buy an iBook, or a PowerBook?

And no, it's not Mac-specific RAM, but you have to get the right type of ram for the system. Dealram.com or crucial.com are usually the best places to shop.

If it's an iBook, is that an 800 MHz G3, or G4? If it's a G4 the system has a Radeon 9200...can't remember what the G3 had.

If it's a PowerBook it should have a Geforce Go5200 I think (my mother's 1 GHz 12" PowerBook had that). Or a Geforce 4. Think it's a 5200.

Stark wrote:Online games for Mac? Not only do you want MAC GAMES, and games that run on a WEAK LAPTOP, but MAC ONLINE GAMES for a WEAK LAPTOP?

Hey if you find any let me know. I just use my laptop for 'laptop things', not gaming, so I've never even looked. Shame on me!

Online Guides, not games.

ZOMG, sorry.

Didn't your box come with the documentation? iBooks come with a brief overview of OSX and the OS is pretty intuitive.

Info on the computer:

Product Family: iBook
Hard Drive Capacity: 30 GB
Processor Type: PowerPC G3
Operating System: Mac OS 10.3, Panther
Processor Speed: 800 MHz
Screen Size: 12 inches
Memory (RAM): 256 MB

Later, listed in red (some of it obviously repetative):

Features:
- Built in 12.1" monitor
- 800 MHz CPU Speed
- Firewire port!
- 256 megs of ram!
- 30 gig hard drive
- CD
- Battery and AC adapter
- Dual USB
- Clean OS install.
- White color
- 56K modem

Hey, I used to have that exact model. Running Jaguar back in the day. It ran Jedi Knight 2 on low settings...I beat the game on a road trip through Europe sitting in the back of a car playing with the touchpad on that computer


Hope this helps:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner's_Guide
In all honesty I just started using the Mac more and more and learned on my own.

Anyway; that model uses 144-pin SODIMM PC133 SDRAM. Crucial will give you 256 MB for $47 or 512 MB for $98.

Dealram goes even cheaper, though it seperates ones that have been guaranteed to work with Macs and ones that haven't (but almost always work anyway, why wouldn't they? I always buy those ones because I'm a cheapskate).

http://dealnews.com/memory/prices/syste ... 512MB.html

$86 for the "512MB PC100 SO DIMM FOR APPLE IBOOK G3 *100% SPEC CERTIFIED*"...
or
$76 for the "512 meg PC133 144-pin laptop memory. Majors brands. 100% Compatible with PC and Apple.".

Take the cheaper one.

Or go with Newegg ($78 ), as they're very reliable.


Anyway, for the amount of RAM you need; you need 512 MB. You can get more, and that's fine, but you should *never* have less than 512 MB. So add a 256 MB stick for $30, or get a 512 MB stick for $80, either way.

Oh, you might want to check if the iBook has a 256 MB stick, or two 128 MB sticks, because if it has two 128 MB sticks you'll have to remove one to add in a second stick, in that case take the 512.

I'm currently playing a mmorg called Travian. It runs on both mac and pc... dunno about linux.

You have what's known as the icebook or dual usb iBook. www.apple-history.com has lots of info on it.

There is one glaring issue with the ice book, some times the video goes black and both the built in and the external won't display anyting. Once this happens the book is pretty much toast as the logic board needs to be reflowed to be fixed (which is a temp fix at best).

As for a user's guide, pick up the Dummies Guide to OSX, I know it's not online but it's the best out there.

If you have any Blizzard products, Blizzard ALWAYS puts the Mac and Windows binaries on the same disk. WoW probably won't run (that model has a Radeon 7500) but Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft disks should all work.

Apple has an online resource for "switchers".

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

As others have said, max out the ram; the more ram you have, the smoother OS X will run.