First I'd like to appologize to everyone for this long post. I just
happen to have alot of experience with this model of computer.
What a coincidense...my girlfriend uses a 3400c. Hers is the 200mhz
model and has 144 megz RAM.
I think it's a great machine essentially. Hers is running OS 9.1 and
works great. You can run either Appleworks or Microsoft Office.
Appleworks is easier in every way and a far better program but if you're
going cross platform I'd go with Microsoft Office. If you have enough
hard drive space I'd get both. As for internet applications , I hate to
say it but Internet Explorer is definitely the fastest browser that can
handle the java crap that they throw at you on the internet these days.
If you're just goig to sites that you know won't surprize you with some
stupid animated cursur you can use either Opera or iCab. I like to use
iCab but I go to ebay alot and the java scripts mess with iCab in a big
way. MP3 software runs great you can download a shareware copy of Mac
Amp. It's like $25 to register it and a decent MP3 player. There are
also shareware softwares for converting your CD music files to MP3 or
from MP3 to AAIF. My girlfriend works in Photoshop 6 and it runs fine
there are probably better versions available now but Photoshop is not a
cheap program to come by legally. Norton Utilities or Tech Tool Pro are
good things to have for any computer. There are just some things that
they can do that Disc First Aid can't do. However I'd keep Disc First
Aid around too because if your computer crashes it's gonna look for Disc
First Aid when you restart.
I would max out the RAM if it's not maxed already. If you have dial
up internet service the internal modem works fine. The speed difference
between the internal 33.6 modem and a 56k pc card is hard to notice and
any time you can keep a pc slot open it's a good thing. Why is it a good
thing...? Because you can add USB slots via pc cards or pc card hard
discs or any number of other peripherals If I remember correctly there
is only one Printer/Modem port on the back so you may want to use that
for a printer or an Apple Talk connection. I think there are splitter
devises for serial ports though if you really want to use an external
modem or if your model didn't come with the Modem/Ethernet port. In
which case I would see if I could find one on ebay if only for the
ethernet port. You will probably come across several reasons to have an
ethernet port , high speed internet access for one , being able to
connect to almost any network system just by pluging in for another. The
infrared port works well when transfering files to other computers
equiped with infrared...but infrared networking just never got off the
ground enough to keep it around and most newer machines won't have
infrared equiped. The trackpad has "tap" capabilities which comes in
handy if your clicker breaks (and it may) but it's a little sensitive
for my taste I find myself dragging things by mistake and opening
programs when I only wanted to reset the memory settings. So I'd turn
the tappy touch pad thingy off and only use it in an emergency. The
display is nice and large but the silly speakers behind it make kinda
klunky. The hinges used in these are the same as the 5300 series hinges
and just can't handle the extra weight of those stupid speakers so they
tend to work their way apart. When this happens the disply housing
becomes super loose and can even get so bad that the springs don't
support the display at all. If you have a torx wrench you can fix them
fairly easily though because they just need to be tapped back together.
Now why do I hate the speakers so...? They don't sound good enough to
make them worth it all. Because of all these 4 speakers the size of the
laptop is substatially larger and the weight more too. It's a good
concept but badly played out. If you 3400c comes with the factory hard
drive you should upgrade it. 2 gigs or less is just not enough these
days. You can even put your old hard drive in an external case and carry
it with you for backing up files or even your system. We have used my
girlfriends computer with an external disc burner and it works great.
The sleep swapable drives are good. You can even get a zip disc module
and hard drive modules. These things swap in seconds so you can access
different types of media quickly.
All in all it's a great affordable PPC computer that can still
perform well in a G3 world...(rapidly changing to a G4 world)
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