need 667 Ti book purchasing advice

yevgenyyevgeny
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I might buy a friend's powerbook G4 667MHz. About all I want to do with this machine is web browsing, word processing, store my music, watch some movies (mpeg anime, not DVD), store my music, sync an iPod. I want this machine for some very basic consumer stuff, nothing too complex. I could probably pick up this machine for $350.



Questions:

How well does this machine run OS 10.3 with 512 MB of RAM?

How is the battery life? How badly does battery performance degrade over time?

Do all of you think that this is a good machine? Why or why not?



Thanks a million. I'l love to ditch using my work Dell for home activities.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    More info:

    667 G4, 256 Ram, 30GB HD, OS 10.2, no airport. I would offer about $250 for this machine. Thoughts?
  • Reply 2 of 11
    borborygmiborborygmi Posts: 43member
    With that much RAM, it will run 10.3 just fine for basic use.



    The tricky thing is that there were two different model TiBook 667's.



    One was the old top of the line model with a VGA port and 1184x768 screen (or something like that), and the other was the next generation bottom of the line machine with DVI-ports and 1280x854 screen.



    I would definitely try to get the later model. It has a better screen, and the machine runs cooler (i.e. less fan noise than the older gen 667 machine)
  • Reply 3 of 11
    fred_ljfred_lj Posts: 607member
    Is it the DVI version or the iteration one before that? They made some significant improvements between those two lines (where the 667 was tops and then introduced the new 667 and 800). If it's a 667 with DVI (better graphics) then $250 may be kind of low...really quite too low. Eerily, I've seen Pismos go for more just recently. But if you can get it for that much, you'll enjoy the machine!



    If it (and your wallet) can take it, I'd put 1GB of memory in it, even if you're not going to be doing many intensive things on it. This can't be your first PowerBook, though, can it? If it is, you'll love the Ti!



    Edit: Whoa, same questions twice! Sorry, Yev!
  • Reply 4 of 11
    existenceexistence Posts: 991member
    Don't rip your friend off. Tell him/her to sell it on ebay and get ~$800 for it.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Existence

    Don't rip your friend off. Tell him/her to sell it on ebay and get ~$800 for it.



    I have no intention of ripping my friend off. I shoot at the range with this guy (note: don't rip off a guy who is more accurate with a pistol than you)



    I am chacking prices on eBay and will offer the same price as the going price on eBay. He is going to get an offer that is commensurate with fair market value.



    Of course, the machines on eBay are better configured- they have more RAM, Airport, and an up to date version of the OS. It is almost impossible to find an old airport card at the mail order places, and the RAM is actually not that cheap. The OS isn't that bad since I can get a student price.



    So where I offer a low price to my friend, it is important to say that i'd need to bring the machine up to eBay average specs and also that he wants to get rid of it to buy a new iMac which better suits his freelance job.



    I seem to recall that this is a DVI 667 Ti book (the 800 was a machine that he almost bought at the time). If that is the case, then yes, I would bump up my offer a bit, perhaps to start at $350.



    Believe me, I have no desire to rip off my friend, but it is always better to sell to someone you know than to someone over eBay who you don't know.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Thanks all for your replies and advice, i'm appreciative. It would be nice to have a different laptop for school and for digital lifestyle stuff (no games) so that I no longer have to use my work laptop for these things. I can't bring myself to buy an iPod because I would have to sync it with my Dell and that just seems wrong...
  • Reply 7 of 11
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    That's a great deal, and you have a great machine. Radeon graphics, Hi-res screen, great machine. 512MB ram is ample for what you want to do. Pick up another 256MB (about $45 from http://eshop.macsales.com ). If you can't find an old airport card, and orinoco gold or silver 802.11b PCMCIA card will work without special drivers, and some 802.11g cards will too.



    The orinoco cards can be picked up for $30.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R

    That's a great deal, and you have a great machine. Radeon graphics, Hi-res screen, great machine. 512MB ram is ample for what you want to do. Pick up another 256MB (about $45 from http://eshop.macsales.com ). If you can't find an old airport card, and orinoco gold or silver 802.11b PCMCIA card will work without special drivers, and some 802.11g cards will too.



    The orinoco cards can be picked up for $30.



    Sadly, finding an old Airport card is proving to be a bit of a hassle. They aren't made anymore.



    Thanks for the link. That's a nice store and I will have to remember that they sell 7200rpm PB drives for cheap!
  • Reply 9 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    So what I would be buying (if I purchased my friend's PB) is 256MB of RAM, and a new battery. He is running 10.2.6 and I would wait for 10.4 to be released before upgrading (why upgrade when you know that you will have to upgrade in a few months?).



    Ultimately, it might be nice to get an IBM 7200rpm PB drive. In my expereince, HD speed + RAM are the primary bottlenecks in a machine's perceived speed.



    Given the fact that my friend's PB has a smaller (30GB) HD, lacks RAM, lacks airport, has a battery that is mostly dead (< 1hr on a full charge), as well as the obligatory Ti paint chips, I would probably offer $400 for it. I'll have to purchase replacement/upgrade parts for this machine.



    As an aside, the battery issue is one that many people overlook when buying used from eBay. I'll want this for taking notes in class, which means that I need 3+ hrs of usable running time. Time for a newertech battery!



    New battery + more memory + faster HD means that this machine would do very well for my needs (which are rather basic).
  • Reply 10 of 11
    doeboydoeboy Posts: 9member
    I have one that I hardly use with an airport card if you have interest. it has 512 of ram (maybe 768) and panther. I will throw in my airport as well. the last time I played dvd's for my daughter on a flight the battery time was about 1 hour and ten minutes. verything works well.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by doeboy

    I have one that I hardly use with an airport card if you have interest. it has 512 of ram (maybe 768) and panther. I will throw in my airport as well. the last time I played dvd's for my daughter on a flight the battery time was about 1 hour and ten minutes. verything works well.



    Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm a bit hesitant to buy from someone who just posted his first post today Besides, despite the lack of options on my friend's machine, I do know precisely what I am getting and am able to try before I buy. If it doesn't work out, i'll think about what I want to do.
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