Cheap iBook G3 or new G4


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I friend of mine is currently looking to get an iBook and was wondering if there is much of a difference between the 12" iBook G3 and G4 model, apart from the processor.

The G3 is second hand, with 800mhz, 30 Gig Hd, airport card and 640 meg, and $500 cheaper than buying a new G4.

Any thoughts?

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There isn't much of a difference between the 12" G3 and G4, both are at 800 MHz, so your friend will probably only notice a small, if any, difference between the two. Since the G3 comes with an AirPort card, I would get that, but if you order from Apple, you can customize your machine, and the first thing would be to add a larger HD, 30 GB is quite small.

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The 800mhz G4 is a lot faster of a processor than the 800mhz G3. It all comes down to what it's going to be used for. For any gaming at all, I would advise the G4.

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the new G4's have a slot loaded combo drive where the G3's have the cd tray that pops out. I have found the slot loaded drive nicer for the most part. Though the last G3 revision might have had slot loaded drives as well. I don't remember for sure. I had a G3 purchases Nov 2002 that was not slot loaded.

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Get the G3. If you want to run Pro line apps you'll need a G4 with AltiVec, which the iBook G4 doesn't have. So basically you are spending $500 for a slot loading drive and a very slightly faster CPU. The G4 isn't a true G4, in the iBook G4....

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Aldo that's just plain wrong. The processor in the iBook is the same Motorolla PPC 7457 used in the current 15" and 17" PowerBooks.

If you're saying it doesn't have the AltiVec vector unit that's also false, see this Motorolla product info page.

You can also read Apple's developer notes specifically this section where they are very clear about the capabilities of the new iBook G4.

A quick summary of new features:

- G4 processor in the new models up to 933 mhz

- - Superscallar execution

- - On die 256Kb of L2 cache (less than the G3)

- - 64kb L1 cache (twice as much as the G3)

- - 133mhz bus (twice as fast)

- - bus slewing

- Radeon 9200m graphics (up from the 7500 in the G3)

- Airport Extreme

- DDR Memory

- Bigger drives (optional anyway)

- Slot load drive

Worth $500? I think so. If you were comparing what you get today to what you got in the summer - the extra $99 (on the low-end model) gets you a lot of performance. The info about the processors just wasn't right.

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well i have the same problem. My Mother has an Ibook g3 (the old one 300 mhz ) :( and me father and i want to buy her the new one.

Now there is a considerable amount of difference between the 800 Mhz G3 and the G4.

We are actually considering 3 models.

the g3 , the g4 12 inches and the g4 14 inches.

my mother does use mostly Office Apps, mail and listen some music.

The thing is that she changes her Computer every 3 or 4 years so.

Do u think i have to go to the g4 so the Machine will last a litttle longer..or just keep the g3?

there is a lot of difference between panther and jaguar?

Thanks!!!!

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Panther is a lot different from Jaguar and there is no good reason to lock yourself out of Apple updates because of being on Jag. Go with the G4, aldo is wrong, the iBook G4 does have altivec. Let the G3 recede into processor heaven.

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Go with the G4, aldo is wrong, the iBook G4 does have altivec.

Yep, first sentence on the iBook G4 page:

The world?s best-loved consumer portable gets an impressive makeover with a superfast PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine, a new architecture, a slot-loading optical drive and enhanced wireless networking capabilities.
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