12" iBook G4 vs 12" PowerBook G4

Hi,
My MacBook has been diagnosed with a logic board fault that is preventing it from charging and will cost a lot to get repaired. Unfortunately this has come at a time when I have no money to do anything about it and I need a laptop for uni work. My budget is about £150, tops. I have found two laptops that seem to be in very good condition within my budget, both are late 2005 models. Their specs are as follows:
iBook G4 12"
1.33GHz G4
768MB RAM memory
40GB Hard Disk capacity
SuperDrive CD/DVD read/write
Mac OS 10.4
(Also comes with all original documentation, long- and short- cord charger, system disks (Which presumably also include iLife?) and a wireless apple pro mouse. However, does not come in original box.)
PowerBook G4 12"
1.5GHz G4
1.25GB RAM memory
80GB Hard Disk capacity
SuperDrive CD/DVD read/write
Mac OS 10.5
(Comes in original box with long- and short- cord chargers, but the listing makes no mention of documentation or system disks. It does come with a copy of iLife '06 pre-loaded, although unsure of whether disks for this will be included.)
I'd basically just like some buying advice and to know as much relevant information about these two models as possible before I make a decision. It's unlikely I'll be coming into any more money any time soon and the laptop will have to last a few months to a year before I'll be able to afford to either get my MacBook repaired or buy a new one. Should I risk buying a laptop that doesn't have the system disks with it? Does either model have any reliability/durability issues to look out for? Which will offer better performance? (I know the PowerBook is more powerful but will it handle 10.5 as well as the iBook will handle 10.4?) Also, I have a personal preference for 10.4 over 10.5 - what is the state of 10.4 these days? I know that Adobe no longer produce flash for 10.4 and that you have to use TenFourFox as a browser....
Thanks in advance for any help or guidance, and sorry about the essay,
LSRW

If you have an older iBook G4 (2004?) those have 256MB RAM on-board (soldered)
and the upgrade path is to add any chip that is correct & supported up to 1024MB.
The last iBook G4 (mid-2005 series) has 512MB soldered on-board so if it has no
upgrade chip in the RAM slot under the keyboard, it would show 512MB installed.
With a total 768MB in the iBook G4 12" 1.33, that may imply a 256MB upgrade chip
in the slot under the keyboard and a 512MB soldered on the logic board. Or, it may
be that the logic board has 256MB and a 512MB upgrade chip was installed.
Also, the older iBook G4 12/14" has a PC2100 upgrade RAM chip instead of PC2700.
The older one that shipped with that spec for upgrade slot (and soldered-in RAM) can
use a PC2700 SO-DIMM but instead of being seen as that higher spec it would be at
the lower speed spec of PC2100.
So it is possible the upgrade chip is 256MB RAM. The System Profiler will show what
occupies the upgrade slot and also the spec of the on-board RAM. There are at least
two paths to open System Profiler (in Utilities folder) as one is via "About this Mac"
and another is from GO in Finder (choose Utilities folder) to look for System Profiler.
Other ways include using Find or Spotlight to search the hard drive boot partition.
By correctly identifying the PowerBook G4, you could hope to find the correct original
grey-label install restore DVD software kit; that should have a Hardware Test, a disc
with included Applications (such as iLife suite, AppleWorks, and so on) though the
iBook G4 (last model, mid-2005) original software kit has a fair selection included with
the Tiger 10.4 system.
With OS X 10.5.8 installed, you could use some later software; a few browser options
exist where the custom build only works in Leopard 10.5.x. There is a patch to help
the very obsolete Flash player plugin appear as a less obsolete 11.5. version; but it
still lags behind anything current. Web pages that support HTML5 can be seen in
TenFourFox, some YouTube content can be seen in version 24+ of that browser. By
default the plugin for Flash does not work. A few users here have suggested to go
and workaround that, to turn it on (old version -- whatever its compromised issues)
is possible. You can be careful what you choose to view or pages you visit, to some
extent, to avoid some kinds of problems. I use TenFourFox and SeaMonkey for PPC.
Older versions of FireFox can run in 10.4 & 10.5, but lack some fair upgrades.
I also have iCab, the last version supported by PPC hardware in either 10.4/10.5.
Anyway, thought I'd say Hi and hope things work out for you!

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Hello,
I just recently ran into a little cash, and I was going to buy either a PowerBook G4 or iBook G4 from eBay. I can afford either, and either way I would be forfeiting my pre-ordered copy of the Halo 4 Limited Edition...Which do you think would be worth it? Halo, the iBook, or the PowerBook?
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hi-
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thanks, Jordan

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I know it's hard once you got your mind on something. Being a technofreak as well I understand, I get a new phone every 4 months, have 3 computers in my house, and even 2 iPods for no good reason really. It is like crack, but the better crack is right around the corner my friend.

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Hello
Just thought i would share my tests. Using logic express, the aim is to open as much Guitar Amp (the express one, not the pro one) and not getting the "Core Audio overload" message.
I tried on my girlfriend's ibook, on my current powerbook, an iMac at apple expo and a G5 i owned before selling it for a powerbook.
12" iBook 1.33ghz bus 133mhz 512mb ram = 13 guitar amps
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PowerMac G5 2 X 2 ghz bus (?) 2.5 gb ram = 48 guitar amps
it gives you a rough idea of the performance to expect. don't know about the new G5 though.
bontempi

Hi!
Interesting test results.
At least it shows how incompetitive the PowerBooks are.
(Even the new ones that came today)
Your test pb even has three times more memory than the iBook.
The difference between the iMac and the PM is also interesting.
I never thought a dual machine would be twice as fast as a single cpu.
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Now, you may say to yourself...sure, if you pay $200, you can get a Powerbook with a faster processor and whatnot, but $200.00 is relative to the person purchasing the product. I decided that $200-300 was a little too steep for me, considering I was also planning to purchase a case for my computer and Microsoft Office also, but for others, again, $200 may be really not that much, considering the improved performance in the Powerbook.
So if I were either one of you, I would reassess your needs out of a laptop. I mean, I chose the iBook, but honestly, either way you go, you will be purchasing a Mac, and that is a start to a larger light at the end of the tunnel.
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Do you guys sell ibooks and powerbooks

i just need to know

Neither iBook G4, nor iBook G3 nor any Powerbook will run Mac OS X 10.6 or later, or sync with iOS 6 or later.
Your signature says you have iOS 6, and that may be of interest to you. If you need a Mac that can sync with your iOS device, then you need a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Macs in general will not run any Mac operating system older than shipped with them. http://www.powermax.com/ is another place for used or refurbished Macs. Note any Mac with 10.6.8 or earlier should come prebundled with its own original installer discs to be able to install the operating system over again.
October 23 (Late), 2012 iMacs, EMC#2496 iMacs, October 24 (Late), 2011 MacBook Pros, July 20 (Mid), 2011 MacBook Airs and Mac Minis, June 11 (Mid), 2012 Mac Pros, and later Macs all were prebundled with internet install operating systems only. Previous Macs had prebundled discs you can purchase from AppleCare.
This is just a user to user forum.

Help ibook to powerbook

hi-
i want to connect my ibook g4 to my powerbook g3 (lombard, mac os 9.1, 320 MB, 6 BG) via ethernet cord. i want to get some files off of my powerbook. is there any way i can do that? also, i want to put mac os 10.4 on my powerbook, i have the cds but my powerbook doesn't have a dvd drive, just a cd-rom. what otherway can i put tiger on my powerbook? can i do it by the ethernet cord? please go through this step by step, and i'll try not to get lost
thanks, Jordan

You actually can transfer file using ethernet and a regular cable (no loopback), if you setup private IP address for each machine (say, 192.168.10.1 for Box A and 192.168.10.2 for Box B)
I use it all of the time to move files between machines when I don't have a LAN around
I use SSH, I'm not sure about that Lombard, but SSH (client & server) it is standard on any recern Os X release, get a client for the Lombard, and setup on the Sharing option of the System Preferences, choose 'Services' and enable 'Remote Login'.
There are graphical clients, but I'm not sure if there is one available for the Lombard.
Fugu - A Mac OS X SFTP, SCP and SSH Frontend
PB 15" w/o Sudden Motion Detector(!!) Mac OS X (10.4.3) Also a (Logic Board) dead 12" dual USB @700 MHz 20 GB HDD

Quality difference display iBook vs Powerbook

I'm considering buying either an iBook 14" or a Powerbook 15". I like the Powerbook very much, but it's a bit too expensive for what you get. I like the iBook as well, but the display seems inferior to me. Am I correct that the 14" iBooks display is much less brighter and crisper than the display of the 15" Powerbook 15?
Martijn

You are correct, the quality of the Powerbook 15" screen is superior to the iBook. Also the 14" ibook has a resolution of 1024x768, while the current 15" Powerbook is 1440x960. You may also like the widescreen ratio better.
Having said all that carefully read these forums about the alternating line issue on the current hi-res 15" Powerbook, go look at one and make sure it won't bother you. If it does you may want to look at the previous generation 15" which has a lower resolution, but still superior display to the iBook (some may even argue superior to current generation 15").
Good luck deciding!

IBook HDD on Powerbook?

Will a iBook 13" HDD fit in a Powerbook G4 12"?
My girlfriends Powerbook crashed, and her iBook's powersupply broke. So I was thinkin about switching HDD's, but will a iBook HDD fit in a Powerbook?

In view of the fact that a new power adapter for the iBook wouldn't cost much and the Powerbook's hard drive may still be OK, it seems premature to think of incapacitating the iBook to get the Powerbook running again.
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