Classic Macs in the Intel Age

Graphite Clamshell iMac Still a Real Eye Catcher and Useful Tool

- 2008.04.15 - Tip Jar

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

The Graphite 466 MHz iBook - a real eye-catcher

When we bought some used Clamshell iBooks for refurbishing about a month ago, one of these $50 beauties caught my eye.

iBook Special Edition It was a Graphite iBook. The other ones were Indigo, and one even had an AirPort card and 320 MB of RAM. Still, it was love at first sight with the Graphite.

As I powered up the iBooks, it seemed the Indigo ones were 366 MHz, and all except the one with AirPort had the stock 64 MB of RAM.

When I powered up the somewhat oddball Graphite, it booted into Mac OS 8.6. Apple System Profiler showed a 466 MHz processor and an unidentified optical drive. I put in the iBook OS 9 restore disk and rebooted.

When Mac OS 9 was finally installed, it got a memory error upon startup. It seemed an extra 64 MB stick was the problem. Without the faulty stick, the 'Book booted flawlessly into Mac OS 9.0.4.

And I love it. What Mac OS 8.6 had identified as unknown was a DVD drive, and this little 'Book is great for watching movies.

This iBook is completely stock at present, meaning no AirPort, 64 MB of RAM, and 10 GB of hard drive space. Still, I love it.

Some of my friends think I must be crazy to use Mac OS 9 on an OS X-compatible machine. I disagree. For Mac OS X, I have my PowerBook G4 (Titanium, DVI) and my Dual 533 Digital Audio.

This iBook is awesome! Why?

First, the speedy 466 MHz G3 boots Mac OS 9 very quickly. Second, it has a DVD drive. And it came with all the manuals, CDs, and even the AppleCare stuff for $50! A bargain, eh?

Cheetah installed fine on the iBook, but I'd rather use Mac OS 9, which I am very familiar with, than an operating system that won't play DVDs. I might get 512 MB of RAM and put the Tiger in there, but that is in a very, very distant future. : )

I can't find anything that I don't like about this Mac. Even the built-in speaker is good. So is the very sharp 12" display. And it's quiet - the other iBooks have noisy hard drives, but this one is completely silent. I brought it to school, and everybody was in awe of this 8-year-old machine. Even my friend, who has a brand new 15" MacBook Pro (which is probably the best laptop ever), said it was cool.

Like many Macs, it's hard to imagine how old they really are. My TiBook looks a lot like the PC notebooks of 2006, and my Power Mac G4 could easily be mistaken for a 2005 computer. The Clamshells look very modern! Most 1999 PC laptops are either black or beige - and are heavier than a regular Power Mac desktop.

When my teacher saw me working on the iBook, she was amazed at how simple it was for me to work and how speedy the machine was. Not to mention the looks of it! I told her it was made in 2000, and she wouldn't believe me. She skipped the new $4,000 Dell she wanted to buy and went for a new MacBook instead.

Another thing about these iBooks is how easy it must be to get started for people who have never used a computer before, like seniors and small children. The manuals are very clear, and it comes with everything you need, even a modem cable! And upon first boot, the user is greeted with a friendly Getting Started wizard.

Finally, the keyboard rocks. Only my PowerBook G4 has a better keyboard - no, in fact, this is better than the PowerBook! Oh, and it looks great by my Digital Audio (which is also graphite. If you have a DA, Yikes or Sawtooth, buy a Graphite iBook!). If you happen to own a Graphite iMac G3 USB mouse, it looks beautiful by the DA, the iBook, and all the other Apple stuff.

Conclusion: Buy one! They are pretty cheap, and they are a great value for the money. Every time I see my iBook, I don't for one billionth of a second regret that I bought it.

What's next? Getting my Classic II up on Ethernet and connecting it to my iBook and my other Macs.

Discuss Carl Nygren's articles on Info-Mac.

Go to the index of articles by Carl Nygren.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Join us on Facebook!, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

Recent My Turn articles

Back to Mac OS 9 Because It's All I Need, 2011.01.26. Sebastian Patting sold his Intel Macs and went back to PowerPC Macs and Mac OS 9. Here's why.
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 2008.08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 2008.07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Macintosh 512K 'Fat Mac', introduced 1984.09.10. The first Mac with enough memory for serious work.
May 22 in LEM history: 73: Ethernet conceived - 98: Is Apple really back? - 00: Cheap Power Macs - 01: Copyright or copy wrong? - 02: OS X is growing the Mac user base - 03: DVD screen shots in OS X - 06: Best OS for older Macs - 07: CRTs and shock danger - Ihnatko on Macs - CPU upgrades for MDD Power Macs - 08: Mac 512K and Word changed my life
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Macsales.com SuperSpeed SSDs from $58. Transform your Mac with an SSD Solution of up to 960GB! You won't believe it's the same machine! Once you experience an OWC SSD, no going back! - Macsales.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Macpokeronline.com will show you how to download and play Poker on a Mac natively on your Mac in just minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay