ibooks are so much fun...

[J English Smith]

After years of wanting one to play with, finally the skies parted and I got a number of G3 and G4 ibooks the last few months. The Pismos were getting a little slow for web activity. So now have several 500s, 800s and two 1.33ghz G4 models. All are running well and I have a mix of old and new batteries. Really like using them as my carryaround notebooks now. I miss the Pismos larger screen and keyboard, but can now mix and match as I please. Another plus is being able to get new batteries for about $13, while the Pismo batteries have recently gone sky-high. Just wanted to share.

 

[EvilCapitalist]

I've got a bunch of iBooks myself.  I had picked up 7 G3s (it'll turn out to be 3 great ones and a bunch of spare parts if I ever get around to finishing rebuilding them) last year and already had a 1.33 G4.  For me it's a throwback to high school when I worked for my school district repairing them.  That purchase made National news, and then again when they were all surplused four years later.  I drove out there to grab one myself but got within half a mile of the racetrack and suddenly hit gridlock.  Figured it would be smarter to just turn around and go home...most of them ended up hitting eBay within a few days anyhow.

 

[SuperToaster]

iBooks are a lot of fun... my 1.42 GHz G4 works really well on the internet... Its my main portable...

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I only have my clamshell. It's cute.

If I could get a higher resolution screen in my 12" PowerBook G4, I'd love it more. Good form factor to carry, nice and compact. 1024x768 is too low for my writing needs though.

 

[Elfen]

iBooks are a lot of fun... my 1.42 GHz G4 works really well on the internet... Its my main portable...

I agree, same here with my iBook 1.1GHz and PowerBook 1.2GHz machines.

 

[butterburger]

If I could get a higher resolution screen in my 12" PowerBook G4, I'd love it more. Good form factor to carry, nice and compact. 1024x768 is too low for my writing needs though.

It has been done.

12.1-inch diagonal, SXGA+. First Toshiba used it in their tablets, later Fujitsu, Motion, Lenono. I read at least two reports over the years, of people customising their PowerBook G4 12-inch, installing this screen. Also ThinkPadders like such a screen, have put it in X31 and X60 (possibly also X40, I do not recall specifically).

A how-to guide is : PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 1-1.5 GHz LCD panel upgrade on iFixit

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G4+Aluminum+12-Inch+1-1.5+GHz+LCD+panel+upgrade/3117

 

[macclassic]

I recently bought a Firewire Clamshell ibook which will run Tiger and System 9.2.2 at the same time, so if I want I can have my Mac mini's HD and my SE/30's HD (via Shareway ip) both mounted on it's desktop.

A great bridge machine, and I'm still looking for an OS for it's third partition.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Clamshell will run Rhapsody 5.6.

 

[macclassic]

Mmm,thanks, I will look into that.

 

[zig553]

Typing this from an 12" Ibook G4 1.33 ghz with Leopard 10.5.8. Thing still runs like a dream.

 

[techknight]

ibooks are so much fun... Until....

the GPU goes <blows raspberry>

 

[J English Smith]

Well, yeah. That's why I have them in bulk. I'm not preparing to do surgery on these like the Pismos. When they blow, they go. So far only one 800mhz has lost its power board caps or something (machine won't stay on), but there are three 500s working, two 800s and three 1.33ghz ones. Long ago, I bought my son a used 1.33 and it did blow within three months or so, but I think he was using it a lot and continuously, so it never had a chance to cool down.

 

[haemogoblin]

I grabbed myself a G4 1.33ghz iBook a while back, i use it as my carry around laptop, lovely little machine. Just bought a 1gb ram chip to give me 1.5gb ram. Someone can correct me if i'm wrong on this, but before I committed to buying an iBook, i spent a week researching the models. I'd owned an 800mhz G3, which succumbed to GPU fail, so I was well aware of their faults.

Everything I'd read, indicates the 1.33ghz and 1.44ghz models are less likely to fall fowl of the GPU fault, because Apple changed how the motherboard was designed. They changed the video chip i think, but the lower models, like the 800mhz are prone to failing. I've had my IBook for 3 years now and not had a problem and i've used it for converting mpegs and all sorts. I have used the G4fan app to lower the temp at which the fans kick in.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Correct, the 1.33 and 1.42GHz Mid 2005 models are supposed to be much more reliable. The only issues they seem prone to are defective Reed switches which causes random shutdown issues. I just unplugged mine (was accessible through the RAM door under the keyboard) and haven't had a problem since.

 

[Bunsen]

Until.... the GPU goes <blows raspberry>

Where there's a will, there's a way:
    Repair your iBook's logic board with a candle

 

[mvallance]

I too adore my Graphite iBook G3 but do you know of a solution to access Internet via current Airport Base Station? 

The iBook's card only accesses WEP and I have set my Base Station to WPA for security (anyway it doesn't support WEP now as far a I know).

I have the original flying saucer Base Station. I tried to use that as a Bridge but no joy.

I see others have used a USB adapter (Trendnet TEW-424UB 802.11b/g wireless adapter).

Any other solutions iBook owners here have successfully used?

Thanks.

Michael

 

[Scott Baret]

Those flying saucer AirPorts may have cap problems. Mine doesn't work right anymore and it smelled like failed caps the last time I used it.

If you have an iBook G4 and it has the stock Toshiba 30GB hard drive, replace it immediately, if not sooner. I had one go on me during finals week during my third year of college. Thankfully, my old clamshell proved to be a more than capable fill-in.

 

[techknight]

Where there's a will, there's a way: 

theburningibook.jpg   Repair your iBook's logic board with a candle

Whoooo.... yeaaaa... I remember seeing this way back when. But, I think I will definitely pass!. This is almost as bad as the towel trick on the old xbox 360s. 

I used to have a machine to reflow BGAs, and remount them, etc... Infrared rework station. Problem was, I didnt realize they used Leaded solder on some of the earlier models, so when I ran the lead-free profile everything fell off the board before I even got to temperature. 

so that rules out lead-free being the cause of these failures. 

Whoops... 

 

[360alaska]

Back in the day when I saw this problem I was able to developed a metal shim to apply instead of trying to reflow this chip.

I too adore my Graphite iBook G3 but do you know of a solution to access Internet via current Airport Base Station? 

The iBook's card only accesses WEP and I have set my Base Station to WPA for security (anyway it doesn't support WEP now as far a I know).

I have the original flying saucer Base Station. I tried to use that as a Bridge but no joy.

I see others have used a USB adapter (Trendnet TEW-424UB 802.11b/g wireless adapter).

Any other solutions iBook owners here have successfully used?

Thanks.

Michael

As far as using the internet on these older laptops with original airport cards I have a Linksys router and I turned on guest mode which creates an open access point and I set a login password.