Regarding the iBook: A Mac running OS X with only 256 MB of RAM is essentially nonfunctional; You MUST max out the RAM. As for the iBook's battery, is someone forcing you to use this as a portable? It will run just fine with its current battery, if you leave it plugged in all the time.
Children online? I would recommend Leopard in spite of any performance hit. He will want the most up-to-date capabilities from both a security and an applications standpoint if they are going to be using it for serious schoolwork. I am saying this as someone who has helped develop educational software. Regarding the iMac: These were very well-regard machines in their day, but do not seem to age well. Repairs can be prohibitive. I would examine any discarded G5 iMac with great skepticism before investing any money in it. If it has no problems, it is definitely the better computer of the two. Finally, ANY intel Mac, even the oldest and cheapest, will run rings around these, and the prices of the earliest models are falling fast. Consider alternatives. On May 11, 8:07 pm, Marty Levine <[email protected]> wrote: > The first machine is an iMac. I am guessing from his description it is > either an early G5 or 2nd gen G5 iMac but I have not seen the machine > yet. He will be bringing it in soon > > The 2nd machine is a iBook G4 933mhz, 256 mb RAM, 40 GB hard drive, > airport extreme, CD-RW/DVD-ROM (combo drive I guess), battery life of > maybe 5 mintues - effectively dead. > > He plans to use these for general purpose machines for the family > which includes HS and middle school children. > > > Until I found the "dead battery" I was going to recommend a 1gb > upgrade for the laptop but given the cost of a new battery I am not > sure it is worth the investment. Maybe he would be better off selling > the iBook, upgrade the iMac and have a better experience with his > "new" Mac? > > Thanks for your recommendations - Marty --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
