In fairness... the ones I had issues with were pre-iSight.
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Yeah, the iMacG5 - I too like it's style very much. Got my first one to be used as an RDP-Client in my office, but I had problems, to connect with my Win-Server, because the old MS-RDP-Client certificate-handling didn't meet the specs of the Win-Terminal-Client-Server ...
So I went for white c2duo iMacs just to have a similar look&feel. And do enjoy every day!
Great sound too. You may use them as speakers for a mobile device by AirTunes or LineIn-Software.
A TN is a type of LCD. It has faster latency than an IPS, but worse colour and much worse viewing angles. Usually only a gamer prefers them, but newer IPS are also getting faster and cheaper now. Most laptop LCD's even now in 2020 are TN.
No, just 23 screws (minus the lost/broken ones) ...
The best part about taking apart PowerBooks is that it gets slightly easier each time since there are fewer screws each time
The best part about taking apart PowerBooks is that it gets slightly easier each time since there are fewer screws each time
FWIW, I find the 15 and 17" models MANY times easier than 12".
I can just about do an 15"/17" AlBook in my sleep, and the Intel equivalents are similar enough to not split hairs over.
The 12" ones, though...totally different story.
I’ve had a 12” since college; maybe it’s just because I’ve delved into it so many times, but I could tear that little guy down and swap any part with my eyes closed at this point! To be fair, though, the 12” PowerBook seemed like one of the worst I’d taken apart for a long while. Then I encountered the nightmare fuel known as an iBook. I recently tore one of mine down to the bare frame, and these were all the little parts and groupings of screws from that. Not shown is the bottom case, bottom shield, keyboard, upper case, upper shield, and logic board. Whoever designed these hates repair techs
I have a 2005 12" that has had some pretty odd issues. The RAM expansion slot seems to work for 15-20 min, then kernel panics. Then the oddest issue of all... half the VRAM died on the 5200 Go. One day I had 64MB, and the next I had 32.
Oof, that’s a bummer; my little 12” 1.5 has been without a doubt the single most dead reliable little laptop I’ve ever owned. Got me through a computer science degree and is still kicking today as a writing machine. I’ve got two others, one I got for my mother for a school laptop (we are both teachers) that got wrecked in shipping, and the replacement for that one that she ended up giving back to me after a year or so. Both of them are still working as well.
Indeed, I have never worked on a 12" PowerBook, but if they're anything like the iBook G3/G4, I'd rather not work on one. Such a huge nightmare, HDD replacements are fairly common and on the iBook you have to pretty much gut the computer to get it out. Luckily they came around with the MacBook, and HDD replacement is quite simple. Only issue I have is the little pads that go over the RAM like to come off because of old adhesive.
I love my iMac G5 20". I think an Intel 2006 unit might be better, I'm not sure how important PPC really is to you, because you can find the white Intel iMac for far cheaper than the G5. Don't think they have cap issues, but I know the GPU can die with time. Regardless of what you get, they are nice machines.
For iMac, 20" is better than 17". The extra size and resolution is greatly appreciated. On computers, I have a hard time using anything less than 1680x1050, which is what the 20" has. Above that, the panel is Much higher quality, being IPS. Viewing angles and contrast on the 17" suck, the 20" is quite pleasant to look at. Speakers appear to be the same on either size.
I love my iMac G5 20". I think an Intel 2006 unit might be better, I'm not sure how important PPC really is to you, because you can find the white Intel iMac for far cheaper than the G5. Don't think they have cap issues, but I know the GPU can die with time. Regardless of what you get, they are nice machines.
For iMac, 20" is better than 17". The extra size and resolution is greatly appreciated. On computers, I have a hard time using anything less than 1680x1050, which is what the 20" has. Above that, the panel is Much higher quality, being IPS. Viewing angles and contrast on the 17" suck, the 20" is quite pleasant to look at. Speakers appear to be the same on either size.
I've found, there are some PPC Macs that just feel better than others - I put the iSight iMac G5 and the DLSD, both running Leopard, into that category.
I deeply regret selling my iSight but I also had a Core Duo model that obviously had more horsepower, so the G5 wasn't getting used - incredibly, even though I only paid £20 for it I still managed to sell it at a loss!
I don't disagree with some just feeling "right" and on the other side of it some that I just never really take to.
As laptops go, I've "bonded" with the TiBook, DLSD, and Pismo.
On the desktop front, I've felt weirdly at home with iMac G3s, Cubes, and the DA/Quicksilver generation towers. I know that there are a lot that are technically better than those. I used a Quad as my work computer for a while and churned out a lot on it, but never really felt a connection to it. For some reason the dual 2.7 was better for me, even though it's an inferior computer on paper.
I suspect the amount of use a computer gets has to with that too. An MBP 8,1(2011 13") was my first Mac and only computer for a long time. It felt comfortable, but a few years later I bought the 9,1(2012 15".) I'm comfortable-ish with my "backup" newer computer, a 13" Retina, but no computer, PPC, Intel, or otherwise feels as much an extension of my hands as that 9,1.
Likewise…I have a preference towards the very first 17" PowerBook G4. I have a DLSD 17" (dead) but I've always gravitated towards the A1013. It's possible that it's closer to the old TiBooks than to the rest of the AlBooks so maybe that's why. I used a TiBook 400 for years. In any case, that's my preference.
I'd forgotten about the Pismo - I only had one briefly (again, regret selling) but it had a special feel to it - maybe because it was a stark design contrast to all the other metal clad Powerbooks I'd had?
But it also felt very capable, robust and versatile - must've been great to have one back in the day when it truly was a powerhouse.
I think my preference for the DLSD (especially 17") is the harmony of decent display, Leopard flying without having to force the eyecandy off because of a great GPU and the silky response of the trackpad - that's why Linux always felt clunky by comparison on a DLSD - less responsive GUI and that infernal trackpad driver!
I actually have a fondness for the G3 iMacs too - I suspect the aroma of warm plastic and ionisation arouses memories of being sat too close to the tv as a youngster!
Same. IMO the iMac G3 SE is the most gorgeous Mac ever made.
Maybe the screws, that press the heatsink against the processor are broken off the board?
Agreed, some feel 'good' and 'right', and as others have posted, I think it has a lot to do with their usage with you. I have a number of PowerPC machines (2x 14" iBooks, Pismo, 12" PBG4, 20" iMac G5, G5/2.0DP, G4/500DP) and the two that stick with me and get used most often are the 12" PowerBook and the G4/500DP. The Power Mac was my main desktop from around 2005-2009, and served me very well. The 12" PowerBook got me through five years of college. I think I just have more nostalgia for those two
The Pismo is kind of a weird one to describe for me.
I made an effort back in ~2014 or so to live with one for a week, and it really made me appreciate how thought out the design was. It was great to have two batteries on-board. It was piddly with a lot of stuff, but at least the time was imminently useable for light web browsing(granted in those days I could still do MR on a 604 based Mac).
My real like of it, though, was just in the overall handling. The keyboard is excellent-it's very similar to the TiBook , with plenty of travel and a nice "crisp" feeling. It was made when Apple laptops were still "chunky"(before the Johnny Ive diet that seemed to start with the TiBook/white G3 iBooks and continued up to the modern day) and even though that makes them less portable I appreciate what it does for my wrist height/position when typing on a desk. A G4 upgrade can make them a lot more useable these days...