Thoughts on a used iBook

[JavaBrewer]

I know nothing about Mac.

I'm shopping for a laptop for my MIL. Cost HAS to be no more than $800 and anything over that I'm paying myself (we're all on the hook for $200). So shopping at Costco all they have are Vista boxes and I'm worried I'm getting into lots of potential problems. I don't have time to order an XP Dell/IBM so here I am considering a used Mac.

What are your thoughts on this G4? How old is this system and are the specs good enough for a grandma to browse the internet, load her digital pics, read & write email? How do these things hold up both software and hardware? I'm gonna be the go-to-person for everything... Finally, can I get this thing covered by Apple for repairs or is it too old.

Thanks,

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If you don't want it, maybe I'll get it.

[gassy]

Seems like a good deal to me, but I'm a Mac dude.

[nostatic]

The price is too high. I just sold a 15" G4 Powerbook (not iBook) for $700. It had a faster processor, more ram, and a bigger hard drive.

An iBook like that should be closer to $4-500 imho.

[kstar]

You should be able to get a ~1 year old MacBook for that price (new ones are about $1000); might even find one with a year left on the AppleCare warranty.

Search eBay for MacBook and you will find some with live AppleCare.

Good luck!

Best,

Kurt

Here's a good example, sold for just over $800 with AppleCare into 2009 (item # 300190515323):
http://cgi.ebay.com/Macbook-1-83-Ghz-1GB-Ram-60GB-HD-AppleCare-Warranty_W0QQitemZ300190515323QQihZ020QQcategoryZ1 40064QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[KFC911]

I think you were on the other thread where I mentioned the refurb T42 (with XP) (from ibm.com) for around $600 to your door. I don't recall how long it took...just a few days. Not an option?

[stomachmonkey]

MIL's age? Eyesight, good, average, poor? Dexterity? Any arthritis?

I will recommend a Mac 99% of the time especially for the older crowd.

However that is a smaller profile box. Smaller screen, smaller keyboard and I find the elders don't take well to trackpads.

Does it have to be a laptop?

http://shrevesystems.com/ have on the lower left of the page an Intel chipped Mini at $350.

Then go and order a 22 in flat panel from newegg, tiger. You can get Envision or Niko's (same OEM) for ~$250. You are at $600, plenty of budget left for peripherals like printer and BlueTooth keyboard etc....

[stomachmonkey]

Also check http://www.usedmac.com

[JavaBrewer]

KC911 - I somehow missed that suggestion. I'm looking into it but my deadline is Sunday night...

Laptop is required. Two reasons - 1) She has a tiny desk in the living room of her tiny apartment thus she does not want a PC/Monitor sitting there 24/7 and 2) If she has a problem she can bring it to my house vs. me driving there.

I'm not wild about getting a Mac, cause I have zero time on one, and she wouldn't know the difference anyway. I just know I want to avoid Vista until it matures or gets replaced.

Ok so the iBook I linked is too expensive - dude hasn't returned my query anyway. I'll keep looking around. Thanks for the tips thus far.

[BrokeMyCar]

For reference, I still use by G3 iBook (500MHz) from 2001 to feed music/pictures to the TV. It's not snappy, but it's enough to handle a small photo album. Make sure what you get has a clean screen, so grandma doesn't feel "cruddy" when using it to look at pictures. Good call aiming for a 14".

I agree with other folks that it's a little overpriced (by about ~$100) but if time is an issue I don't think this is a horrible deal, and the guy may be negotiable. The specs are good enough.

Babak

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

KC911 - I somehow missed that suggestion. I'm looking into it but my deadline is Sunday night...

Laptop is required. Two reasons - 1) She has a tiny desk in the living room of her tiny apartment thus she does not want a PC/Monitor sitting there 24/7 and 2) If she has a problem she can bring it to my house vs. me driving there.

I'm not wild about getting a Mac, cause I have zero time on one, and she wouldn't know the difference anyway. I just know I want to avoid Vista until it matures or gets replaced.

Ok so the iBook I linked is too expensive - dude hasn't returned my query anyway. I'll keep looking around. Thanks for the tips thus far.

You can get a brand new laptop for $600 that will fit her needs just about anywhere. Just check your weekend circular, BestBuy, Target, Frys all have them every weekend.

You'll get a larger screen than the iBook.

It'll be warranted.

Your primary task will be to protect it. Viruses and spyware will be her biggest issues.

Take the time to set the box up properly, create a specific user account, lock the admin account, get a good automated backup routine in place, get a good commercial security suite that does it's thing with minimal user input. Pay for a one on one training session for MIL from GeekSquad or Geeks on Wheels. Your local HS should have a continuing education course for senior computer training, try a senior center or local library as well.

Do those things and your need to provide support will decrease dramatically.

Having said that I'd still recommend the Mac.

PC's can be made as secure as a Mac but it takes some work on the end users part. Macs are locked down by default and are ready out of the box. Also any Apple store will provide one on one training for new users free of charge.

Good luck.

[gr8fl4porsche]

What's wrong with Vista? - majority of the problems people are complaining about are very minor and easily worked thru. Lots of overreacting. Same comments were made about XP when it was released.

If she is used to windows, then the mac would be more of a learning curve than Vista.
Macs have problems as well. Go into any Apple store and watch how many people come in with their computers for service. Don't believe everything you read. I am not knocking Mac, I will own one eventually.

I have recently started playing with Linux - talk about a learning curve. You have the learn a different language just to follow someones instructions on how to install a simple piece of software.

If she just wants to get on the internet, she doesn't need much. A $100 notebook on Craigslist will suit her fine. I have a 13 yr old Toshiba notebook that still works fine for surfing. Its worth about $5.

[JavaBrewer]

Update - I started second guessing myself on a used machine (no warranty = all issues are my problem) so I walked into Best Buy to see what they had and walked out 20 minutes later with a Sony VAIO T2310 , wireless mouse, sales tax, for a grand total $636.00. That beats the online (now sold out) price by $150.

I fired it up on the kitchen counter, setup my wireless network, and started installing latest updates from MS and Sony. 30 minutes later I rebooted, configured the wireless mouse, and deleted all the trial software. I installed AVG and OpenOffice, and ran the disk defrag, then created a limited user account for the MIL.

So far it runs really well, the screen is beautiful and bright. I'll upgrade to 2 GB of RAM sometime this month. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Vista does not ruin the party but given she won't be installing any software w/o my knowledge I hope the system gives her a couple years of happy computing.

[pmajka]

Not to bash the Old G4, but how much longer will Apple support the G4 with their Os????