15" aluminum powerbook G4

I have been shopping around for a laptop and i don't want to get the latest, most expensive. My needs are pretty simple, just want to make and maintain my own website, be able to move photos and short videos, email...browse the internet. That is pretty much it. For all my needs it seems like the powerbook G4 is not a whole lot different than the Macbook pro and would do the job, but I am no expert. Has anyone had any experience with these? Got any advise or warnings?

What would be the best way to get one? I am kinda scared to get one from these places that have 90 day warranties. Should I be? Is there a way to get ones that were not used?

 

The PowerBook G4's are very different from the MacBook's, considering a hardware or an architecture point of view. Anything that is G3, G4, or G5 is the previous generation of Mac/Apple computers architecture called a PowerPC. PowerPC's are really great for anything graphical, and especially good for media and Internet use.

MacBooks are compatible PC architectures with specialized hardware inside them. The current MacBook contains an Intel Core2Duo processor. Likewise, many other computer manurfacturers sell laptops with IntelCore2Duo processors. You might wonder what the difference is, but it is complicated to explain.

You may not notice a difference between the PowerBook and MacBook except the version of OSX that would be on it. The PowerBook would likely have OSX 10.3 (Panther) or OSX 10.4 (Tiger), while the MacBook bought from Apple will always have the newest OSX 10.5 (Leopard). Buying a new MacBook is better because you can get the newest version of OSX for free.

Here is a link to a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. And there is the MacBook Air.

If you look at the Apple links and hit Select, at the bottom of the next page you will see something called Apple Care Protection Plan. If anything breaks, Apple will cover repairs and shipping for three years with no hassles. You can toss your Mac off a building and give the parts to Apple and they will fix it.

Anyway. Mac is a great choice. I would recomend a new Mac, but the old ones work fine. Actually, I have an iBook G4 myself.

 

I was hoping you would reply.

Don't worry about too much detail...it would be lost on me. I'd start to glaze over and it'd all sound like *blahblahblah*

I spent so much time on those links though.Thanks! If I had all kinds of money I would invest in a macbook pro, but for now i would be happy with just something older, that worked and allowed me to access the internet in hotels. I will be doing alot of photo editing and posting to my (future)web site, and I'd like to be able to view youtube and the like with out it stuttering....I'll get a new one if I have to but there are other things I'd like to do with my dough if possible, you know?

Do you know if .Mac works on a newer model powerbook or is that just for the macbooks?

I wish they made the macbook in something other than white or black. It's affordable, but so *blegh*

 

.Mac should work on any Mac that is using OSX. A PowerBook will be plenty enough for photo editing and web development/design. It will have no problem playing anything flash related.

I would recommend a PowerBook G4 that is at least 1Ghz with 512Mb RAM. A 1.25Ghz G4 with 1Gb RAM would be ideal, unless you can get a better one.

 

I'll take that list up to the reconditioned store we have in town and see what they can procure. Thanks for a starting point!