Mac powerbook g4 pros and cons ????

[AznKhmerBoi]

So im thinking of buying this off a friend for $200



- Mac Powerbook G4 1.67ghz, 1gb ram, 40gb Hard drive, 512mb ram, Running 10.5.8 Mac OS X

I did some research and all i know so far is that its cheap end apple, not as good as Macbook and that its discontinued.

Im getting this merely so can run photoshop and do some internet browsing.
So if you have any knowledge about this comp, could you let me know what to look out for in terms of problems and issues that often occurs with powerbook.

Thanks

[CRTGAMER]

A nice Retro Computer,
You can get a basic but faster new laptop PC for around 300 bucks. But not a iMac Laptop at that price, so maybe a good deal? The G4 is slow for newer games, but will be fine for go online. The battery may be almost worn out so take into account how much a replacement would cost.

[AznKhmerBoi]

do you know rougly the life span of these batteries? Because if its really quick im just gonna order a bunch of them lol. So i cchecked the prices for the batteries they are rougly 40-50 dollars.

Sorry for the noob questions lol
Also if the batteries die will it still turn on and work with just the powercable?

Do you think it can run those n64 high res games?

A nice Retro Computer,
The battery may be almost worn out so take into account how much a replacement would cost.

[isiolia]

You're stuck with the version of OS X that's on it. 10.6 dropped PPC support. 10.7 dropped PPC app support. So, basically, you likely won't see much in the way of new software that works on it. Mostly just updates I'd think.

I've also seen later models in that case (Macbook Pros) have problems with the LCD cutting off (both of my part time guys that have had one had the problem - one solved it by putting clips on the edge of the screen) and sometimes the keyboard/trackpad (the ribbon cable can make poor contact, sometimes a folded piece of paper under the battery to put more pressure on it fixes it).

If the battery dies, sure, you can just run it plugged in. Most laptop batteries will hold less of a charge over time - I've seen plenty that would run the machine for only about 15 minutes after a year (HP and Gateway mostly).

Not a terrible machine, but it's a dead end software-wise.

[CRTGAMER]

do you know rougly the life span of these batteries? Because if its really quick im just gonna order a bunch of them lol. So i cchecked the prices for the batteries they are rougly 40-50 dollars.

Sorry for the noob questions lol
Also if the batteries die will it still turn on and work with just the powercable?

Do you think it can run those n64 high res games?

I used to run an older N64 EMU on a 550mhz AT. Yes an AT. Ah the days of no silly soft power off switches. I forgot the name of the EMU but it was tailored to run with an older 3DFX card. But this is a Mac, I'm not sure of a N64 EMU for a G4 machine.

The laptop should still power on plugged in, even if the battery is worn out. Just buy one spare, batteries wear out though slower even when not used. Keep in mind you are approaching the price of a basic but faster new laptop PC.

[deathsled]

Do you think it can run those n64 high res games?

doubt it. you should probably look into what emulators are available for powerpc. i dont think there are any decent n64 ones.

[AznKhmerBoi]

thanks you guys for the help. I guess its pretty outdated laptop lol

[Lokkenjawnz]

Can you run N64 games on it? Absolutely, it should run fine. Can you do the hi-res texture packs? No, because there aren't any emulators that support it on PPC.

I had one of these laptops for 4 years, and it ran like a champ, though I did have to make a few repairs on it. The biggest issue with these laptops is that the power plug on the computer's end is terrible. I went through at like 5 power supplies, and two or three power boards. Other than that the computer is pretty solid, though I'd say 200 is a bit much for it, I've seen used Macbooks at a similar price. I'd say get him down to $100-$150 and it's a decent deal. The upside of it being PPC is that you can run OS 9 on it, which means vintage mac gaming goodness.

As far as photoshop, it'll run Photoshop CS decently, but that's the latest version that'll run well on it I believe, that's also a matter of how much RAM it has.

If you have any other questions ask away, I've had plenty of experience with this particular computer.

[goldenband]

Lokkenjawnz's post covers it pretty well. I still use a PowerBook G4/1.67GHz as my main computer, partly because of the support for Classic mode (though you'll have to install 10.4 if you want that). It can do everything quite well except for high-res HD, and streaming video via Flash; anything above 240p on Youtube starts to look jittery, and 480p and above is a slideshow.

Last time I checked N64 games will run, but some better than others -- Mario 64 seems fine, Shadowgate 64 is unplayably slow and choppy. All 8- and 16-bit games should run very well, though you'll have to use SNES9X instead of BSNES, and many of the best emulators have the frustrating Emulator Enhancer issues.

I paid a friend $200 for my 1.67GHz a year ago, which was actually a replacement for my 1.5GHz that went belly-up. However, mine came with 2GB RAM, so you should try to talk your friend down. Also the 40GB HD is smaller than stock, isn't it? Mine came with 120GB, and even my 1.5GHz had an 80GB. So that's another paddlin'.

$100 would be a very good deal, $125 reasonable, $150 pushing it, $200 too high between friends.

[Niode]

Yep, the PPC macintoshes are pretty redundant now. Unless there some obscure piece of software that never got an x86/x64 port, there isn't much reason to have one. I'd definitely go for a 2007 Macbook Pro if you are going to go for one. They should be nice and cheap, are completely compatible with Lion and will even run most Steam for Mac games (IE the ones with the geforce graphics chip).

Plus you can put Windows on it if you just want a very nice looking and very functional laptop without the greatness that is OS X. Once you get used to OS X you'll never look back. It is superior to Windows in every single way as far as productivity and usability goes. There's a reason why I do all my creative stuff on my MBP/Hackintosh rather than my more powerful gaming PC.