I'm going to wade into this discussion and take the Devil's Advocate
position. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do own Apple stock, and
generally prefer Mac OS X over all other operating systems. That being
said:
==================================
$235 A43 APPLE iBOOK G4 A1055 1.33GHz 512MB 60GB DVD WiFi
------------------------------
$125 A172 APPLE iBOOK G4 A1055 1.33GHz 512MB 60GB DVD WiFi
------------------------------
The G4 iBook was a very nice machine, and these two examples will allow
you
to run Leopard, the last PowerPC version of the Mac OS. If you are going
to
buy one of these machines just to learn the OS, then one of these would be
my recommendation.
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$150 A26 APPLE iBook A1005 G3 700MHz 256MB 20GB CD LAPTOP
MAC OS 10.4 TIGER iLIFE AIRPORT CARD INSTALLED
------------------------------
$175 A139 APPLE iBOOK G3 A1007 900MHz 256MB 40GB DVD WiFi
------------------------------
$100 A65 APPLE iBook A1005 G3 700MHz 256MB 20GB CD LAPTOP
MAC OS 10.4 TIGER iLIFE AIRPORT CARD INSTALLED
------------------------------
$100 A34 APPLE iBOOK 600MHz 640MB 40GB DVD CD-RW WiFi M6497
30 DAY DOA WARRANTY - MAC OS 10.4 TIGER iLIFE INSTALLED
------------------------------
Do not, under any circumstances, buy a G3 anything.
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$100 (DESKTOP) SM1 APPLE QUICKSILVER POWER MAC G4 800MHZ 768MB CD-RW
------------------------------
This machine will not officially run Leopard. You will have to learn how
to
force Leopard onto this system, and as such may become frustrated.
With that being said, personally, I wouldn't offer any of these machines
to
a first time Apple buyer for several reasons without knowing specifically
what you want to use a Mac to do. So I will make some assumptions and
attempt to talk you forward based on that.
First, the PowerPC (PPC) architecture is well and truly dead. Snow
Leopard,
Mac OS X 10.6, is Intel only and has absolutely no PPC code left in the
system. Most games already are using a series of code that allows Windows
games to be quickly ported to the *Intel* version of the Mac OS by using
some of the WINE code to compile into the code to make the Windows API
specific parts of the game think they are running on a Windows machine.
This
means that there is already software that simply will not run on any
version
of the PPC Mac OS, and that will only get worse as new software is written
specifically for Snow Leopard.
Second, out of all of the choices offered above the best ones are the G4
iBooks. These iBooks were introduced in 2004, and as such are already 5
years old technologically. The video processing (which is important for
the
video you mention) is only 32 MB in an ATI 9200 Radeon chip on the high
end.
Can you perform video functions with this chipset? Yes. Will it be fluid?
Depends on what you are watching. YouTube regular video? Probably ok.
YouTube HD video? Really pushing it. Hulu, CBS, ABC, etc? Depends on bit
rate and resolution. Basically, bandwidth is important to get the data to
you, however, it's still up to the video processor to decode and display
that information.
Third, while I am confident you will love the Mac OS if given an open and
honest chance. There is always that learning curve for new ideology.
Meaning, if you have Windows so ingrained that you just can't get your
mind
to wrap around how the Mac OS does things, you'll always feel like it's
mocking you. Making you angry. With a PPC Mac, you are stuck with the Mac
OS, or PPC Linux/BSD. Reference the First point and you increase the
probability that this machine will sit unused.
Fourth, while $235 will not buy you even a Core Solo (Intel) Mac Mini,
when
you can find them $399 will. In fact Power Max (
http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/c-u66060) has one in stock right now.
1.5
Ghz Core Solo, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive and 64 MB Video RAM with the
Intel GMA950 integrated graphics system. Also not a powerhouse video card,
but better at video decoding than the ATI. $599 will get you a Core Duo
iMac
with integrated 17" LCD monitor. $595 will also get you a 1st Generation
Core Duo MacBook as well, if a laptop is truly important to you.
What does your $164 (for the Core Solo Mini) in difference get you? Peace
of
Mind Insurance. The Intel Macs can run Windows. In fact several PC
magazines
say the best Windows PC to buy is a Mac. So if the Third point comes to
pass
that you just have to have Windows, you can remove the Mac OS and install
Windows and chalk it up as a bad exercise. It also buys you the chance to
use Snow Leopard (though in the case of the Core Solo, not at full
strength.
Snow really loves multiple core/multiple processors) which will be out in
Sept, and will keep your Mac current for the next generation, thereby also
allowing you to have less worry about what software will not work for you.
I want you to use a Mac, I think you'd enjoy it, but that is my opinion
and
you might hate it. However I also want you to have the best chance at
enjoying your experience. Again, in my opinion, none of your neighbors
Macs
fit the bill. Let him sell them to Mac geeks like myself, that are willing
to put up with the PPC quirks and already have knowledge of how to work
around them and follow the maxim "You get what you pay for" and take some
time to add a little bit more scratch to your budget and get a Mac you can
use for the next few years.
