Recycled Computing

Using New Tech with Old Tech

- 2009.02.05

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It is nice to have a wealthy relative - especially when they think that your sons need computers.

What to buy? I knew I would have to get them Macs, since I am more familiar with both Mac hardware and software. But which laptop should I buy? The guys are not quite power users; they would be using the computers to do schoolwork, browse the Internet, watch DVDs, and sync their iPods.

After much consideration, I decided not to buy the base level Unibody MacBook and purchase the "old" white MacBook. One of the big issues (for me, that is) is the lack of Firewire on the new Unibody MacBook. Call me crazy, call me an old time curmudgeon, but I have Firewire accessories, and I am loath to say goodbye to Target Disc Mode.

I also thought that the older MacBooks were a more proven technology and perhaps, cheaper.

So I visited the refurbished section of the Mac Store and discovered that I could purchase two MacBooks (2.1 GHz processors, 2 GB of RAM, and a 120 GB hard drive) and I could replace my daughter's G4 iBook with a white MacBook with a 2.4 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive.

My daughter needed a new computer since (a) the G4 has a narrow strip of dead pixels on the screen, (b) its hard drive is not very big and, most importantly, (c) it has no built in video camera so she can video chat with her bff. That's very Important to a freshman in college.

Naturally, I thought that it would be a snap to connect her old G4 to the new Intel Macbook via Firewire and migrate all her settings, preferences, and files to her new laptop. So much for the plans of mice and men. Try as I might, the Intel Macbook could not pick up the G4 iBook's drive. Next I tried making the connection using my Wifi network. Still no luck. Fortunately, I happened to have a pocket hard drive with a USB connector. I cloned the G4's drive to this portable drive, and then I was able to migrate my daughter's files to the new MacBook.

I don't know why the new laptop couldn't find the old laptop's drive, but when I wiped the G4's drive and installed Leopard, I was able to migrate my faithful Pismo's files to the G4 as a part of the Leopard installation via Firewire. Easy-peasy.

So far I switch back and forth from the Pismo to the G4 iBook and haven't really noticed any big differences between Tiger (installed on the Pismo) and Leopard (installed on the G4). Leopard does support MobileMe, so the files on it and my iPod touch are always synched. I have yet to figure out how Spaces works, but in its defense, I have only played with it for 15 minutes. I need to try out Time Machine, but in order to do that properly I should move my 160 GB (with only 128 usable) hard drive out of my Pismo and swap it with the 60 GB one in the G4. No problem removing the Pismo's drive, but that G4 iBook looks pretty daunting. You're talking 14 steps and maybe 30-40 screws. But since I once removed the hard drive from a tangerine clamshell, I suppose I can do it.

Last but not least, with the Remote program on my iPod touch, I am able to remotely control iTunes on my old sage G3 iMac. The G3 has found a retirement home as a host to my 9 GB (and growing) music library on my network.

I have the same library on my Pismo, the G4 iBook, my iPod touch, and the G3 iMac. Keeping them all synchronized could be an issue. I am trying out an application right now and will let you know how it works out.

It's still real neat to be able to use my new tech (iPod touch) with a 9-year-old iMac. Coolness.

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Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Mountain Lion Obsoletes the MacBook I Just Bought, 2012.02.24. John Hatchett just got his first Intel Mac, a preowned MacBook, in December, and now it looks like it won't be able to run OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
Improving Tablets: Why Not a Slider Keyboard?, 2012.02.20. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the iPad and other tablets is lack of a buil-in physical keyboard. Many phones have slider keyboards....
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More in the Recycled Computing index.

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Mac of the Day: PowerBook 500 Series, introduced 1994.05.16. 'Blackbird' includes a 25 to 33 MHz 68040 along with smart batteries and grayscale or color displays.
May 16 in LEM history: 98: iMac reconsidered - 01: The exclusivist Mac - Cubed - Troubleshooting - 02: SE/30 catharsis - Microsoft free - 03: SCSI and OS X on a beige G3 - 05: Failures: Apple III and Lisa - Bigger, faster, more - 06: MacBook - PowerBook 3400 still useful - 07: 3 GB in a MacBook - 08: Mac Pro beats HP and Dell - Limited USB power in Santa Rosa Macs
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