> I've been following this thread as I contemplate the next used > PowerBook to buy. I currently have a PB3400 so I would like > to get up into the G3 realm next. I see some really good deals > on used iBooks but
Okay... FWIW, I should probably go into more detail about my decision stream. I was initially looking for the bare minimum that would run OSX. I was testing it out on an unused Power Mac G3 server at work (333MHz G3, 384Mb RAM), and that was plenty fast enough for me, so I was looking at maybe a clamshell iBook. I have an iPod, so I really wanted FireWire, but I was OK with using a Cardbus Firewire card. What I didn't realize was that the iBooks were almost entirely non-expandable (apart from HDD and RAM). So that means I needed to "bid myself up" to the last model of clamshell iBook (SE with FireWire). Looking at the prices on those iBooks, darned if I was going to pay that much for a tear-inducingly ugly machine with a tiny LCD in a huge bezel and no expansion. (I hate translucent plastics in general, but at least the newer iBooks are sensibly styled. The clamshells would look gaudy and out of place even in a chorus line of deformed drag queens on meth). For around the same price as a Firewire iBook, I could get a Lombard. I mulled over this a while, but then I realized that for just a few dollars more I could get a Pismo with a much friskier architecture, NICE BIG SCREEN (compared to iBook), more expandability, and integral Firewire ports. The end price point was $749 + $30 shipping - more than I initially wanted to spend (I was hoping to spend ~$500), but I feel that the extra expense was justified even if only for the larger screen. (Also, this machine's fulltime job will be working on a book which is contractually guaranteed to earn me at least $2,000 - so it's already paid for). My Pismo - which should be arriving this afternoon, God and UPS willing - is 192/6Gb/DVD/Zip, and since I have plenty of RAM and HDDs lying around, I can make it either 384/20Gb or maybe 512/20Gb for nothing. If I was paying for those upgrades, I'd expect to pay less than $240 total. Well, that's how I bid myself up across 'Book families and up several models :) Maybe my rantings will help crystallize your decision. -- Lewin A.R.W. Edwards Available for ARM, 8051, x86, Linux, technical writing/proofreading and other contract projects. http://www.zws.com/ Buy my book! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750676094/zws-20 -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
