iMac G3 Fruit Colors vs iBook G3 Fruit Colors

[MacFox]

Hello,

So back in the day I used to see ads for the fruit color iMac G3s and I always wanted one, but couldn't have one.  Fast forward to today and I have a small collection of old Macs.  I already have three G3 machines (Powerbook G3 Main Street, PDQ, and an Icebook), yet I still desire a fruit color iMac.  The reason is really just aesthetics and nostalgia.  I know the specs won't be any better than the other G3s I have (correct me if I'm wrong).  I mainly collect Mac laptops due to space concerns, though I could squeeze in another desktop/compact if I wanted to.  I like that the iBooks of the time came in fruit colors as well and I would be willing to compromise some of the nostalgia factor by getting the laptop version. 

What I'm asking is, is it better to get a fruit color iBook or a fruit color iMac?  Are there any problems particular to these models that I should be concerned about?

Thanks

 

[Daniël]

In my experience, the iBooks will likely be more reliable in the future than the iMacs will be. With all of my iMac G3s, I've had CRT/PSU related issues, and getting to the CRT and power supply board in them, especially with the earlier trayloading models, is a nightmare. While the iBook Clamshells are also rather difficult to disassemble, I haven't heard of much problems with them, other than maybe needing a new hard drive, and having dead batteries of course. The earlier "ice" iBook Clamshells do have a tendency to develop cracks in certain areas, like the little Apple logo under the display. The "ice" iBooks are the Blueberry, Tangerine and first gen Graphite. The second generation of iBooks consisted of Lime, Graphite, and Indigo, and instead of having an ice-like look to the plastic, they have white plastic, which fixed the cracking problem.

One downside of course, is that Apple seriously ramped down the color options on the Clamshells. I never understood why they didn't put out at least Strawberry, Grape, and Lime when they launched the Clamshell iBook. I mean, yeah, they eventually did make a Lime iBook, but it's a different color from the lush, dark green of the Lime iMacs, and was an Apple Online Store exclusive, which meant fewer were sold, making them rare nowadays. And the second generation Clamshells never got Sage, Ruby, Blue Dalmation or Flower Power either (Technically not Snow either, but white on white probably wouldn't have looked all that great, and the Snow iBook G3 that replaced the Clamshell makes it a moot point). It's just a pity, because I'd have loved to collect those colors of Clamshell!

Anyways, long story short: The Clamshells are definitely a reliable choice, and space-saving to boot. But if you want to collect more colors, the iMac G3 can't be beat.

 

[MacFox]

In my experience, the iBooks will likely be more reliable in the future than the iMacs will be. With all of my iMac G3s, I've had CRT/PSU related issues, and getting to the CRT and power supply board in them, especially with the earlier trayloading models, is a nightmare. While the iBook Clamshells are also rather difficult to disassemble, I haven't heard of much problems with them, other than maybe needing a new hard drive, and having dead batteries of course. The earlier "ice" iBook Clamshells do have a tendency to develop cracks in certain areas, like the little Apple logo under the display. The "ice" iBooks are the Blueberry, Tangerine and first gen Graphite. The second generation of iBooks consisted of Lime, Graphite, and Indigo, and instead of having an ice-like look to the plastic, they have white plastic, which fixed the cracking problem.

One downside of course, is that Apple seriously ramped down the color options on the Clamshells. I never understood why they didn't put out at least Strawberry, Grape, and Lime when they launched the Clamshell iBook. I mean, yeah, they eventually did make a Lime iBook, but it's a different color from the lush, dark green of the Lime iMacs, and was an Apple Online Store exclusive, which meant fewer were sold, making them rare nowadays. And the second generation Clamshells never got Sage, Ruby, Blue Dalmation or Flower Power either (Technically not Snow either, but white on white probably wouldn't have looked all that great, and the Snow iBook G3 that replaced the Clamshell makes it a moot point). It's just a pity, because I'd have loved to collect those colors of Clamshell!

Anyways, long story short: The Clamshells are definitely a reliable choice, and space-saving to boot. But if you want to collect more colors, the iMac G3 can't be beat.

I see.  I always get confused what is actually considered an "Icebook", so thanks for clearing that up.  I have an iBook G3 Dual USB from 2001 that I have seen people call an "Icebook".

 

[Juror22]

The dual USB iBook was the first 'icebook', those iBooks previous to it were all 'clamshell' models.

I have found the clamshell varieties to be pretty durable, with the exception of:

1) the power supplies (it always pays to have a voltmeter handy to check them periodically and replace when necessary)

2) tiny stress cracks around the hinges

3) the CFL backlights can dim from age and need to be replaced

4) keyboards, CD/DVD fascia become fragile over time, so be especially careful with those pieces

5) those crazy little apple logos (the leaf or the apple) come loose and fall off

My fav has always been the lime iBook, unfortunately, I did not get one before the prices went so high.  I did snag a couple of orange ones (my second favorite color) and one of them runs really well as a Linux computer, the other runs OS9.

 

[Scott Baret]

Add to the list of issues the yo-yo power adapter, which can short out.

 

[Innes]

I think an iMac is the nicer choice in all honesty but I do agree that,these will be more of a nuisance to look after going forward. Due to being rather large however, they dont often go for too much as not every potential seller can be bothered with shipping somthing like that.

I have an Graphite clamshell and dont actually view it as a particually good classic Mac, it looks pretty cool for sure but when I start using it, I do tend to think 'why did I pick this over the iMac/PowerBook'. Its little gripes mainly, the LCD isn't particually great, the mono speaker is awful, the USB port is quite recessed into the plastic so putting thumbdrives into it isn't possible (or at least the ones I have), and Graphite isn't really a colour

 

[EvilCapitalist]

Echoing Innes, the clamshell iBooks are better in pictures than they are in person.  I've definitely noticed that the case plastics tend to fade over time (they lose that colorful "pop") and for as large as the machines are (and they are noticeably larger than the iceBooks) the fact that Apple cheaped out and stayed with a mono speaker and an 800x600 screen is annoying.  Though the keyboard is similar looking to the dual USB iBooks/iceBooks it always felt more flimsy to me.  That's not say it's all bad though, I do like the hinge it has and the handle was useful.

On the iMac side of the equation things aren't much better.  I've also had some CRT/power issues with the iMacs I've owned, never mind that the internal frames holding everything together are nearly as brittle as Spindler plastic, and the speakers are all starting to disintegrate. 

Between the two though, I think I'd still go with the iMac.  You'd be hard pressed to not find a color you like in the range (personal favorites are the Flower Power, Ruby, Sage, and Lime slot load) and even the "harder to find" colors (Tangerine and Grape slot loaders, Flower Power, Blue Dalmatian) are easier to find reasonably priced than say a Lime 466MHz clamshell.