Why do ibook g3's still sell for over $350?

M

mac mini n00b

Registered
I swear I still these being sold on ebay for over $350. Most arent over 500mhz. Some go over $500 yet the mini mac is much more powerful. Sure I know its a laptop, but its old, as in 1998-2000 old. :rolleyes:
 
Macs keep their value a lot longer than comparable Windows machines.

My machine was purchased in 1999, and still sells for around $200 - $300 (more with all the add-ons).
 
Actually they used the G3 in the iBooks until late 2003 (G4 models were introduced Oct 23, 2003). I have the 14" version of the last model to use the G3 processor and it's more than capable for most tasks. One of it's advantages is it's low battery usage. The G4 draws more power than the G3 did, which is the reason the G4 iBooks saw an increase in battery capability on their G4 release (which just helped...didn't make them equal). The 14" G3 models shipped with 55W/Hr batteries, the 14" G4 shipped with 61W/Hr batteries. 12" models shared a similar difference.

I'll be keeping it and buying a 71W/Hr battery from MacSales/OWC here in the near future. Right now I'm still seeing 4 to 5 hours of light usage on a battery that's only 66% of it's original capacity when fully charged. Probably have to do that soon, since last week it said it was 72% of original capacity. (Guess when they go, they really decide to go and do so quickly.)

The other thing to remember is that the G4 doesn't "blow" the G3 out of the water by a huge margin unless it's doing something that's alti-vec optimized. So that 1250MHz Mini isn't necessarily that much more powerful at all times than my 900MHz iBook. The higher clock speed Mini has an advantage not matter what, yes...but not as much as you'd expect on certain common tasks for which it's just marginally quicker.
 
Or more simply put: Because they're good. You can give all those white iBook G3s up to 640 MB of RAM, put Tiger on as well as iLife and iWork, and you have a very capable, good, although basic, computer system to go. And yes: The battery lasts.

If you're looking into buying one (doesn't seem so from your post, though), I'd grab any 12" 800 or 900 MHz G3. They have the graphics power for Quartz Extreme and combo drives, which makes them really great little companions.
 
At work, I have an iMac G3 running at 600 MHz that I use from time to time for network tasks. All it needed was bump up to 256 MB or RAM and it was surprisingly usable with Jaguar (10.2.8). I may go ahead and upgrade it to Panther just to see what the speed improvements might be. This says a lot about a computer with specifications that in the PC world would have already been considered obsolete.
 
I have an iBook G3-500 which is now over 5 years old, has a slightly dicky optical drive and a dead battery. I still wouldn't let it go for any less than $500, simply because thats what it would cost me to find another computer that would be as useful or effective. Its clear that Macs definitely hold their value a LOT longer than PCs.
 
Now here you just have a paradoxon. If you'd _start_ to sell your iBook(s) for less than 350 USD, you'd also _find_ iBooks for less than 350, symphonix. ;)
 
:p Maybe I should just buy mine then?

A good reason why they sell so well is that even a G3-350 will run Mac OS 10.4, iTunes sharing, streaming to Airtunes, web & email, DVD playback, dashboard, emulators and low-end games, or as a quiet and unobtrusive web or file server for small loads. They can be dropped into the garage or rec-room or a corner of the kitchen and deliver all the information and multimedia you can get on a modern Mac.

They are quite simply too useful to get rid of, and thus the price stays high.
 
the mod factor comes into mind, for me
the shells are clear plastic, painted white from the inside
let them soak in rubbing alcohol for a bit
scrub away, and BAM!
you have a crystal clear ibook
 
See i was looking them up too. I want to get the new iMAC mini or the iBOOK, and im new to MAC, Just got my first iPOD yesterday, Still learning the basics on how mac OS runs. Im aware the MHZ MYTH doesnt apply. Cause i was wondering why apples are lower speeds then PC's, From what ive read is cause Apples are wayy better, better processors and better Graphics as well as reliablilty and capibility.... Should i start with an older iBOOK Clam Shell or get a new one. I also play some games like Warcraft , Doom, Etc....Doom is the most powerful game that needs the most to play it. Just lookin for some more input!! Might go for the iMAC g5 all in one machine, 17'' model

-J
 
maz94protege said:
See i was looking them up too. I want to get the new iMAC mini or the iBOOK, and im new to MAC, Just got my first iPOD yesterday, Still learning the basics on how mac OS runs. Im aware the MHZ MYTH doesnt apply. Cause i was wondering why apples are lower speeds then PC's, From what ive read is cause Apples are wayy better, better processors and better Graphics as well as reliablilty and capibility.... Should i start with an older iBOOK Clam Shell or get a new one. I also play some games like Warcraft , Doom, Etc....Doom is the most powerful game that needs the most to play it. Just lookin for some more input!! Might go for the iMAC g5 all in one machine, 17'' model

-J
Click to expand...

I would recommend something that would be able to run Mac OS X Tiger efficiently and decently. Any Power Mac G4 system would be worthy of Tiger...just make sure you have a good video card that supports Quartz Extreme and enough RAM...512 MB is a good start.

Oh, and so that you know, "Mac" is short for Macintosh. It's not an acronym, so you don't have to type it in all caps like MAC or IBOOK or IPOD. Lots of people new to the Macintosh do that, I guess it's because they're so used to seeing "IBM" and "PC" since those are acronyms. Just something to note. :D
 
not really.... :p

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 68040 or PowerPC, 16 Megabyte RAM, System 7.0, 8-bit 640*400 display. Runs really fine on 040.

CD-ROM: Not necessary. The game was initially distributed on floppies, as it comes from really old times. Fully HD-installable.

SCREEN: 640*400 fixed. Brightness adjustment allowed.

SLEEP: Compatible, but not recommended - the system and the game can behave odd after a wake up.

KEYBOARD/TRACKPAD: Keyboard+mouse or customizable keyboard.
 
nixgeek - thanks for the info. yea i know mac is short for macintosh. can you give me some more info on this Quartz Extreme card. does the ibook with the 12'' 1.33ghz have that technology in it? or the mini mac? Might just decide for the new imac g4 with the 17'' screen.
i never settle for anything less then 512meg ram, even when i build my pc's i do standard 1gig. But im still lookin for reliability and a better computer overall. After researching still...i find that Apple is the best there is.


Does anyone have a link to the "Megahertz myth" from the G processors to the pc based ones?

Thanks for the info too guys

:p
 
Lt Major Burns said:
not really.... :p

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 68040 or PowerPC, 16 Megabyte RAM, System 7.0, 8-bit 640*400 display. Runs really fine on 040.

CD-ROM: Not necessary. The game was initially distributed on floppies, as it comes from really old times. Fully HD-installable.

SCREEN: 640*400 fixed. Brightness adjustment allowed.

SLEEP: Compatible, but not recommended - the system and the game can behave odd after a wake up.

KEYBOARD/TRACKPAD: Keyboard+mouse or customizable keyboard.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming that he probably forgot to add the "3" after the "DOOM". ::ha::
 
MHZ myth sort of explained, i think. someone will no doubt correct me :p

Around the time of the 1ghz pentium, a 500mhz G4 was able to beat it. 2 500mhz g4's working together in a dual machine worked twice as fast as 1 1ghz pentium. but that was a few years back now.

the Mhz myth is still apparent, but the G5's aren't turning out to be the amazing pentium killer the G4 was in it's time. however, we turn to AMD for proof that the Mhz Myth still exists. their pentium thrashers often run at half the clock speed of their intel rivals, but beat them quite handsomly. AMD often hides this by calling their processors things like Athlon 3400 or something, when actually it';s running around 2ghz.
 
Lt Major Burns said:
MHZ myth sort of explained, i think. someone will no doubt correct me :p

Around the time of the 1ghz pentium, a 500mhz G4 was able to beat it. 2 500mhz g4's working together in a dual machine worked twice as fast as 1 1ghz pentium. but that was a few years back now.

the Mhz myth is still apparent, but the G5's aren't turning out to be the amazing pentium killer the G4 was in it's time. however, we turn to AMD for proof that the Mhz Myth still exists. their pentium thrashers often run at half the clock speed of their intel rivals, but beat them quite handsomly. AMD often hides this by calling their processors things like Athlon 3400 or something, when actually it';s running around 2ghz.
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's AMD's performance rating when compared to a Pentium 4. In other words, it's supposed to perform as well as a Pentium 4 running at 3.4 GHz. AMD used performance ratings before, but the current rating set is more up to par than the previous one was. I remember having an AMD 5x86 PR133 which only performed as well as a 75 MHz Pentium. When AMD announced that it would be using PR ratings again on its Athlon XP and later chips, people were afraid of history repeating itself. Thankfully, this wasn't the case and now you actually see the matched performance.

This is also the reason why Intel decided to use the numbers it uses now (ex: Pentium M 755). This was to make it difficult for the consumer to tie AMD's performace rating to an Intel CPU. Not that this much to deter consumption of AMD chips over Intel's. :D
 
it's simple, macs are fast, their stable, and hell they always look good :").. thats why i love macs, they will always be great computers. a ibook-500 is just as fast as any 500 doller pc, easy :p

-MacX
 
There is one factor that no one has mentioned yet. There are a lot of "die hards" who want the capability to boot into OS9. The G3 iBooks have that capability. So if one has a legacy app that doesn't run well in classic, then the G3 iBook would be the one to have.

The same thing may happen when the "Macintels" are released. Someone may have an older app which either hasn't been ported to the Intel chip, or the upgrade would be expensive. So those G4s and G5s may retain their value for a long time.
 
M_a_c_X said:
it's simple, macs are fast, their stable, and hell they always look good :").. thats why i love macs, they will always be great computers. a ibook-500 is just as fast as any 500 doller pc, easy :p

-MacX
Click to expand...

That has got to be the silliest thing I have read. I could build a 500 dollar PC that would beat the pants off of that iBook and would probably be faster than most of Apple's current consumer level computers.

I like Macs, but some of us still have to come to grips with reality. Even my 700 dollar PC makes a good match for my G5 in a few things
 
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