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.
Hands On: iBook vs. Upgraded WallStreet
Rob Art Morgan - 2001.08.02
Two weeks ago, my wife purchased an iBook 2001 to replace her
WallStreet. Even
though I had pumped up her 
WallStreet with a
G4/466 MHz CPU, 20 GB hard drive, and 192 MB of RAM, she was frustrated
with the hassles associated with using FireWire and USB devices via
CardBus.
For starters, CardBus FireWire doesn't support bus powered FireWire devices. That means you have to carry around an AC adapter for every FireWire device used on the WallStreet. Some FireWire devices (like a FlashCard reader) don't have an AC adapter, much less a hole to plug one in. That meant carrying around a FireWire hub to supply the power (although that turned out to be a powerful solution since the Belkin hub supports up to six bus powered FireWire devices).
USB was another story. If we put the WallStreet to sleep with the USB CardBus card plugged in, it wouldn't wake up. No amount of trouble shooting would fix this. This meant ejecting the USB card every time you went to sleep.
Replacing the WallStreet with the smaller, lighter iBook 2001 with its built-in FireWire and USB was a solution too tempting to pass up. We chose the cheapest iBook at $1,295. (The dealer threw in a three-year extended warranty including screen replacement, since the unit was a "return.") We added the new 512 MB upgrade from TransIntl.com, which at $289 is a fraction of the cost of the same upgrade elsewhere. That's a bargain when you consider that Apple charges $200 for the 128 MB upgrade at their online store!
We debated about getting the model with the either the CD-RW or DVD/CD-RW Combodrive but decided against it because we wouldn't sit and watch DVD movies on a 12" screen, and we could back up the drive and burn CDs using her G4/500 Desktop (with the iBook in FireWire Target Mode) when she's back at home base.
The day after purchasing the iBook, she went on a two week photo shoot in California. She couldn't be happier. I did send her off with one of my spare 20 GB external 2.5" FireWire drives, recommending she back up all her uploaded/edited photos on it as a precaution. I installed a backup System Folder on the external drive as well, just in case she needed to boot from it. By the way, the external FireWire drive runs circles around the internal 10 GB. When you boot from it, the iBook starts up much faster. (I'll be reporting on this later on Bare Feats.)
Looking back, I'm having second thoughts about not getting at least the CD-RW drive version. She could have been burning CDs as a backup measure without having another piece of hardware to carry around. I told her we could return the unit and upgrade, but she doesn't want to. She's very happy with her purchase and loves having the small external bus-powered FireWire drive as backup/extra storage. In other words, she's not giving the loaner back. Besides, for the $249 the "911" 2.5" FireWire drive costs at TransIntl.com, she gets a total of 30 GB of storage compared to the $200 Apple charges for 20 GB internal drive upgrade on their online store.
The keyboard took some getting used to. It doesn't have the great feel of the WallStreet keyboard, but it's okay. What the screen lacks in size, it makes up for in brightness. And if they made it any bigger, the size of the iBook would have to be increased. And the G3/500 CPU is not quite as fast as the G3/466 MHz WallStreet with its 1 MB L2 cache, but she doesn't have a stopwatch like me and can't feel the difference.
Although I've got the WallStreet up for sale now, I wouldn't shed a tear if it didn't sell. I like the old rugged beast with its "hide the scratches" dark finish, versatile hot swap bays, and easily upgradeable CPU. In fact, maybe it will take so long to sell, I'll have time to test a G4 upgrade from PowerLogix or Sonnet or whomever.
Rob Art Morgan lives in Hawaii and is the publisher of Bare Feats, one of our favorite Mac benchmark sites.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
- Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 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', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
- Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
- My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
- More in the My Turn index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Pismo WiFi Networking Issue Finally Solved?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.24. It turns out the problems wasn't the Pismo, the Buffalo WiFi card, or Mac OS X 10.4. It was the Wireless G router - Linksys to the rescue!
- Mini VGA to S-video Adapter a No Go for eMacs, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 11.24. You might think that Apple's Mini VGA S-video adapter is a cheap way to connect your eMac or G4 iMac to your TV. You would be wrong.
- Google Calendar with iPhone or iTouch Is Great for Scheduling, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.24. Web-based Google Calendar allows access and updates from any computing platform, including Mac, Windows, Linux, and iPhone OS.
- Why Spaces is My Favorite Leopard (and Snow Leopard) Feature, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.23. Spaces, a feature introduced with OS X 10.5, is like having several monitors on your Mac without the cost and space of using multiple displays.
- i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
- Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
- NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.25. Refurb 8 GB 4G nano, $99; new, $126; refurb 16 GB, $129; new, $150; new 5G/8 GB, $134.60; 16 GB, $161.12. Shipping included.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 11.25. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $449; 1.67 GHz hi-res, $600.
- 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.
- More deals in our archive.
