Discussion in 'PowerPC Macs' started by onebloodonelife, Jan 24, 2008.
So, my question is: What kind of specs should I be looking for to run Word processing well? (MHz and RAM especially, HD space doesn't matter so much and neither does Airport card).
You can do everything you're looking for with a G3 iBook. I used an 800mhz G3 12" as my *sole* computer for a few weeks in college before I got my Macbook, and it was great. Took it to class every day. 5 hour battery life. Portable, zippy, great for Word, surfing, etc. You can find them for under $300 online. Even now, with my Macbook, I think of it fondly. It was a great "take anywhere, do anything"-computer. Mine was maxed out with 640mb of ram and Tiger, but if you don't mind running Panther, you can get by with less.
Umm...if you go G3 make sure it has atleast 900MHz for the iBook and full RAM which I think is 1GB.
I would aim for a nice PowerBook G4. Great machines and about the same price as a G4 iBook.
My 500MHz iBook G3 runs Pages and Word just fine in Tiger. And I got it on ebay for 150 bucks, which is always nice.
I just bought an old 12" Powerbook off of EBay for similar reasons. I wanted something I could safely travel with (think airport security ) that would also be fast enough to do some basic web design on the fly. I LOVE my MBP but I do worry about something happening to it.
The 12" Powerbooks and iBooks are wonderfully portable without costing an arm and a leg. Some of the older models are also pretty cheap. My PB is an 867mhz G4 with 1GB of RAM and cost me $400. Similar iBooks go for cheaper than that. If you just want it for word processing then I wouldn't worry overly much about speed.