Thinking about buying a used Powerbook

My sister has decided to sell her 12" powerbook G4, and she gave me first dibs on snagging it from her. I had been considering getting a 12" iBook as sort of a "tide-over" until roughly next summer (When the Intel Powerbooks will most likely be released), but this seems like a pretty good alternative. But I wanted to get some opinions from some Apple useres around here and see what they think.

Here's some of the info she sent me on it:

CPU- G4 1.33
RAM- 768 MB PC2700 DDR (upgradeable to 1.25 GB)
GPU- NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 64MB
60 GB Hard Drive
Combo Drive
2 USB 2.0 ports
1 Friewire port
Modem
Ethernet
Airport Extreme
Internal Bluetooth

All original packaging, disks, and extras. Case in perfect condition except for a small "dimple" that supposedly is barely noticeable.

She's asking $800.00 for it.

Is this a good buy? Better than a new iBook 12" that I could get for about 2 0r 3 hundred more (after adding upgrades)?

Thanks

 

Seems pretty decent if it is in good shape. You could probably get a decent Windows notebook for the same price..

 

Yeah I could get another Windows machine, but my wife really wants an Apple (and truthfully, so do I heheh).

 

If you were just planning on getting the base ibook (with no upgrades), then thats a good deal. They would have the same processor, but the pb has 20gigs more hd space with is essential. Plus the graphics card has 32 mb more dedicated memory then the ibook. Although, supposedly the ibooks gpu is faster (or so i've heard). Plus the pb is made with aluminum, so it would be stronger then the ibook. Other than that, the rest is the exact same between the two (although, the ibook can have 1.5Gb of Ram).

 

Powerbook is a better notebook than the ibook.

 

a fair price with good machine.

i'd recommend you choose powerbook rather than ibook, since powerbooks's lcd is far more superior to ibooks'. also the housing is better and seems more professional.

 

im selling my 12" G4 PB which is 1Ghz, 40GB HD, 512MB ram and airport extreme wireless card. I want to buy a 15 or 17" G4 PB so if anyones interested, let me know.

 

Thanks for the help. I decided to go ahead and take her up on the offer. We'll find out soon how much this lifetime PC user likes Apple.

 

Chances are you'll like it.

I'd love to get a PB, but due to its price its out of my reach. However, since i been on PC's since '91 my PCs all run like they are brand new.

Good luck with that!

 

Well, I got my powerbook 2 days ago, and have had no regrets in giving the Dell to the wife . I like it so much, I changed my avatar!.

It's an amazing little machine, and does everything I need a notebook to do, and does it quickly, simply, and well. My desktop will probably always remain a Windows computer, both for taking care of my gaming fix, and to run those programs which I need Windows for and don't run well under Virtual PC, but besides that, I think I'm an OS X convert.

 

Welcome! Enjoy!

susan

 

I have that exact machine, and love it dearly. I paid roughly $800. for a display model that had been sitting out for 3 months or so at a Circuit City or Good Guys (forget which). I've had it about 10 months. It does all I need from a laptop. I switched from a DELL with a 15" screen and 8 lb.

 

Just a quick update. I am now a confirmed Apple user, at least as far as Notebooks go. This little 12" is fantastic. It does absolutely everything I want and does it superbly. I rip movies, watch DVDs, play World of Warcraft, easily surf the web with a bluetooth connection to my Treo 650 or an Airport connection to a WiFi hotspot (including my home network), do Microsoft Office tasks, edit photos, copy home movies to DVD, make music with Garage Band, chat with family, keep up with my finances, etc etc etc and on and on, and often I do many of those things at the same time. I keep discovering new uses all the time.

Thanks all for your help and advice. Can't wait for the new powerbooks to arrive, so I can convince my wife how badly she needs this one, so I can get another.

 

there are going to be intel powerbooks?? so...my interpretation is that intel CPUs will be in the Apple powerbooks?????????????????????????????????????? if so, I am going to buy one as soon as they come out!!!

 

Yes, macs are soon going to have intel cpus.

 

If iBooks and PowerBooks can run Windows and Vista (which I hope they can since they'll have Intel CPUs), they'll sell like hot cakes. Period.

 

i am very much hoping that they will indeed run windows, that will be a dream come true. amd how do you know they will sell like hotcakes? (i know they will, just want to see why you think so too) i think its because of the styling, and how well those notebooks are made, along with the capability of running windows. anyone have any idea as to when these will be available? maybe summer?

 

Steve Jobs keynote is tomorrow morning, watch it and you will learn a lot about upcomming apple products.

 

Well just think about it - Apple notebooks will then be the only notebooks on the entire market that can run OS X alongside Windows (legally). I sure that would appeal to a wide range of people, especially those who work with both Windows and Mac.