Hi Wren For what it's worth, a 400 MHz Pismo was my main machine until about 2 years ago. It ran 10·4 OK, and Adobe CS (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) tolerably. (I think I once tried the demo of CS2 and found it to be intolerably slow.) Of course, those are my definitions of 'tolerable' and 'intolerable'. I think I jumped straight from 10·2 to 10·4.
A 500MHz would have been faster, and if you do get a Pismo you can maybe later upgrade it to a 900MHz G3 or a G4, if those remain available. I'm not convinced this would be cost-effective but it's something I considered when Pismo was my main machine. However, if you can boot into native OS9 on the Pismo and run, say, Photoshop V5 or V6, you'll find that it will scream along compared to Photoshop CS under OSX. So you could do your image-editing and more demanding stuff in OS9 and then reboot into OSX when needed. The long-dead original DVD drive has been replaced with a slot-loading DVD-RW. Not fast (only 2x) but it does the job. Pismos will also support Apple airport cards in a dedicated internal slot or other wireless cards in the PC-card slot. Pismo can support up to 1 GB of RAM and reasonably big IDE/ATA hard disks. All in all, fine and easily upgraded machines for as and when you have the cash and the need to eke them out. They're also quite rugged, while G4 laptops seem to be a bit vulnerable around the hinges. The only point of physical weakness I've noticed is that my Pismo's screen is a bit pink at startup these days. Oh, batteries - I bought a new Pismo battery for £60 from a Hong Kong ebay shop after finding that the original one lasted about 5 minutes. This replacement seems to have lasted well, I think. (My Pismo spends most of its time plugged into the mains now.) Hope this helps Bruce On 27 Oct 2009, at 03:40, wren wrote: > > Have read all I can on Low End Mac about WallStreet, Lombard and > Pismo. Then I read ebay's current and closed auctions. > > My head is spinning with info. I'd appreciate the perspective of those > of you who use these laptops. > > First. Why am I considering one - and what do I want it to do: > ----------------------------------------------- > I'm considering the G3 because I'm not certain that I can afford a G4 > Powerbook. I hope one of the G3's will let me at least scrape meeting > my needs. > > ---- > Need to run OS 10.3.9. (The software I own doesn't run higher than > this) > Need to connect to wireless internet services (provided by the > library) > ---- > Media needs: > First Choice: Would be nice if I could plug in my USB flash drive. > Second Choice: Ability to write cd or dvd. > Third choice: ability to plug in external cd or dvd writer. > ---- > Software: > While I don't need my full photoshop (CS I) installed on this laptop, > some smaller editing program would be necessary. Just for web sized > graphics (not high resolution photographs for print). I have the whole > Adobe Creative Suite CS I - but I am guessing running that is too much > to ask for the little G3's level 2 cache and RAM restrictions? (Or am > I wrong?) > > I will forgo the ability to open Illustrator, or use In Design on this > laptop. I can skip that if it is not feasible. > ---- > Amount of use: > This is intended to be a laptop I can use for up to 2 hours per day - > maybe 4 days a week. > > ---- > The contenders: > WALLSTREET: Although they have the lowest price tag of the bunch, I > think I've read that it could not come close to fulfilling what I > want. One problem I read about is a restriction on the harddrive - > 8gig max? Should I cross it off the list? > > That leaves Lombard and Pismo. It looks like both end up going for > $125 minimum for a working model. Although, it looks like they'd need > a new battery often at that price which adds another $100 to the > equation. Does that sound like the going rates to you, or have I > misread? > > Would Lombard and Pismo fulfill my basic requirements? Could they do > more - as in, handle a full install of photoshop? > > Would sincerely appreciate feedback from those who know more about the > G3 laptops. I don't want to waste my money only to find out it won't > work out. If it really won't work, I'll just have to wait to raise > more cash. > > Thank you. > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of G-Books, a group for those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 'Books). The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g-books Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
