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Just picked up the 1GHz iBook G4. I'm enjoying alternate OSes on it like OpenBSD (pictured), MorphOS, and Linux. I'm also really surprised how much one can still do with OS X Tiger.
 

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My daughter needed black paper for an art project tonight. In digging around to see if I had any, I ran across some old 'stock photos' I took in 2002. In the job I had at the time we did not have stock art, so my idea was to take pics and then scan the pics in.

So…my keyboard and G4 workstation for the Arizona Capitol Times as of July 15, 2002. Probably scan these in later, but for now…

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EDIT: I do not recall the specs, but yes, that is OS9, there is a ZIP drive attached to the G4 (we used a lot of ZIP disks) and prominently displayed there is the shortcuts for QuarkXPress 4.

Oh yeah, I still have that coffee warmer (and probably the cup too). ;)
 
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My Mac collection . I have a MDD DP1Ghz, a quad G5, a MacPro 2009 flash with 2010 firmware, 2 MacBook Pro 2011 (one with bad gpu so bypassing to intel gpu) and another with a bad smc chip (not sure how to fix it). A MacBookPro Retina 2013 and finally a PowerBook DLSD :) love the PPC community !
 

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I don't think Apple ever made a Mac more beautiful than the ALbook series. The 15/17 still look more modern than the current ones, by my book :D.

BTW, if I wanted to enjoy some nostalgia like Dark Forces, Escape Velocity, and Marathon, does anyone suppose it's worth getting an iBook G3 to boot into OS9? The 2003 is the last one capable of this, AFIK, and I feel like running OSX w/ classic just won't quite be the same.
 
BTW, if I wanted to enjoy some nostalgia like Dark Forces, Escape Velocity, and Marathon, does anyone suppose it's worth getting an iBook G3 to boot into OS9? The 2003 is the last one capable of this, AFIK, and I feel like running OSX w/ classic just won't quite be the same.
I'd go with a TiBook. The DVIs are particularly fast and they boot OS9 natively.
 
There are others, but I believe they don't work quite as well.
Iirc the original 17" PB runs 9.2.2 pretty nicely.

BTW, if I wanted to enjoy some nostalgia like Dark Forces, Escape Velocity, and Marathon, does anyone suppose it's worth getting an iBook G3 to boot into OS9? The 2003 is the last one capable of this, AFIK, and I feel like running OSX w/ classic just won't quite be the same.
I wouldn't bother with an iBook G3. Slow and unreliable (600 MHz and up: GPU failures). Get something with a G4 that can run 9.2.2 natively, either officially or unofficially. The Mac mini is an excellent choice. (And you can hook up a CRT for the ultimate retro gaming experience.)
 
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Or the original 17" PB with an unofficial OS9. Faster than any Tibook and much better build quality.
I had no idea you could boot OS9 unofficially on the G4 'books. Is it possible to get OS9 onto a 12" powerbook G4, by chance? Thank you!
 
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Thanks. Sorry for the continued questions, but is there a particular reason an iBook g3 (2002/2003) would not be a good classic OS9 gaming machine? TiBooks seem to be in the 250-400 USD range.
Because the G4s, particularly the late model TiBooks are the pinnacle of OS9 capable hardware. While a G3 is capable, it doesn't have AltiVec and it's not as powerful.

That said, no one is forcing you to a G4. Get what you can afford. An iBook G4 is also a good option, just keep in mind that Apple intentionally crippled some features so that people wouldn't buy iBooks instead of the more expensive PowerBooks.
 
My recently acquired G5 Quad setup:

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The 20" Cinema is nice but I'm finding it a bit cramped, so I've got a 23" on the way. Also got some era appropriate Bose speakers. I found a decent deal on a used wireless keyboard and Magic mouse combo so I picked that up as well. Liked the keyboard, hated the mouse (in Leopard, it's fine in Big Sur), so I grabbed a Logitech to use for the time being. For whatever reason the keyboard's function row doesn't work in Leopard (brightness, volume, etc), other than the eject key.
 
@CJRhoades
Can you please tell what do you use as BT controller?
I'm not the one you directed that to, but having bought a few adapters for Macs that did not have stock BT, I'm partial to the Belkin FT80012. It's a USB adapter and it puts the BT icon in your menubar.

There are others in that series that may work. eBay has some for around $10.
 


Exactly the one I have. :)
I had a ton of issues with it at first. I could not get my keyboard to properly pair with it until I unplugged the USB receiver for my mouse that was next to it. Interference I guess? Then, every time I rebooted the computer or waked it from sleep, I had to unplug and plug back in the dongle to get my keyboard to connect. That was solved by plugging it directly into the back of the tower instead of plugging it into the back of the Cinema Display. I guess it doesn't like USB hubs?

It seems to be working ok now, aside from my keyboards function row not working even with the update thats supposed to make them work.
 
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I had a ton of issues with it at first. I could not get my keyboard to properly pair with it until I unplugged the USB receiver for my mouse that was next to it. Interference I guess? Then, every time I rebooted the computer or waked it from sleep, I had to unplug and plug back in the dongle to get my keyboard to connect. That was solved by plugging it directly into the back of the tower instead of plugging it into the back of the Cinema Display. I guess it doesn't like USB hubs?

It seems to be working ok now, aside from my keyboards function row not working even with the update thats supposed to make them work.
I had it plugged into the right-hand USB port on my keyboard for years. With my Magic Mouse on the right it made for a short comm distance. I only own one wireless keyboard and that's being used with one of my Minis and a D-Link BT adapter a member here gave me. I'd use the native BT on the Mini's WiFi, but I managed to mess up one of the antennas when putting in new ram.

My Belkin was working fine on my MP until Mojave. No idea why it's refusing to work now, except perhaps Mojave is too new for it. So, I'm using the stock BT card inside the MP now.

But I never had any issues with it before that. It was preferable to the stock BT ramp card on my Quad G5 because it was smooth where the stock BT was jumpy.
 
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