Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The Mac Webb

Return to Pismo

- 2002.09.03

A funny thing happened over the last few months. Some of you may have read my column highlighting the sale of my Titanium PowerBook and a return to using an iBook as my main machine.

Something unexpected happened in the intervening weeks, and I realized that I would have to split time on the iBook with my wife. After years of working to get her comfortable with computers, the iBook and OS X have finally turned her to computer use. About the third time we fought over the machine, I decided that I needed to make other arrangements.

I was looking into a second iBook when I found a great deal on - a PowerBook G3 (Pismo) 500. Two years ago, this was the first Mac portable that I had ever purchased. I sold the machine about a year ago and regretted it every day after. As much as I loved my Titanium machine and my iBook, the Pismo remained my favorite machine. The combination of performance, expandability, and durability remains unsurpassed in laptop computing.

While perusing eBay, I found a wonderful deal on a Pismo. For US$950, I received a machine with 576 MB of RAM, PowerBook G3 a 10 GB hard drive, two batteries, an expansion bay hard drive (very cool), and a Zip drive. To seal the deal, the machine is still under AppleCare for another 6 months.

The transaction was completed, and I eagerly ripped open the box much like a kid on Christmas. The machine was in great shape, and I pretend that the machine I sold a year and a half ago returned to my door.

I quickly added a wireless card and swapped the internal hard drive for a 20 GB drive I had in excess inventory. I loaded OS X 10.1.5 and was very happy with the performance.

Note: as of this weekend, I have been happily running OS X 10.2, and I feel it is the OS Apple should have released last year. All speed issues are solved and I defy someone to tell me the OS is slow!

One piece of the rig that I had never used before was the expansion bay hard drive. I set up an emergency partition on both the expansion drive and the internal drive, leaving about 37 GB of space to use. This coupled with a 40 GB FireWire drive made certain I did not miss the beige servers I packed up and sold.

In my previous article on the reasons I moved away from my PowerBook G4, I mentioned durability, expandability, heat, and wireless range as my main reasons for the move. I really have little use for a G4 chip and find a G3 suits my purposes. My PowerBook must allow me to read, write, listen to music, surf, and communicate.

The only really intensive thing I do is computer gaming. The only PC in the house handles my gaming, as I still like having one around to keep my tinkering and problem solving skills up to date.

The good news is that I do not have to upgrade my Macs ever year as I do with a gaming PC.

For those of you needing a good solid PowerBook, I heartily recommend the PowerBook G3 (Pismo). The machine is a rugged performer with all of the bells and whistles of its heir. A nice Pismo package can be had for between $750 and $1,200 depending on processor and accessories. For those requiring a G4, Other World Computing sells a Newer Technologies upgrade G4/500 for $299. I was looking into this upgrade but have shelved the plans after the OS X 10.2 performance increase.

One caveat: I have heard of some Pismo screens giving way with age and fading to pink. Try to find one still under AppleCare.

Kevin Webb spent the last seven years selling technology consulting services. Of that time, at least two years have been devoted to trying to convince the world that the Macintosh is the pinnacle of the computing experience. He is the proud owner of eight Macs, ranging from a new iBook to a Classic. You can read about his newest computer in Kevin Webb's PowerBook G4.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac mini Core Solo, Feb. 2006 - The only Mac to use a Core Solo CPU, this model ran at 1.5 GHz, has integrated graphics, and includes a Combo drive
Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
November 24 in LEM history: 98: Microsoft's heavy hand - 00: Looking at the iMac - 04: The best Mac for the holidays - Picking the right replacement for a dead mouse - Better battery for 15" AlBook

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice 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.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." 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.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, 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.