Apple iBook 14.1 in. (718908503324) Mac Notebook

I bought an iBook 14" G3 900mhz notebook computer earlier this year (2006). It has been a few months and I think it is time for a review.

Preface: while this machine is now three years old, there is a very active resale market for Macintosh computers. It would not make sense for me to write a review on a three year-old PC model, for example, as PCs are more/less commodities. But many people trade, buy, and sell years-old Macs every day. See eBay listings as proof. So this is why I am writing this review.

What is especially relevant for this machine is the specifications. It is important to keep in mind the hardware capabilities of this machine, because if I am to compare it to relevant applications, I need to keep in context with the specifications of this machine.

Following are the relevant specifications of this machine:

iBook 14" G3:

Model: M9009LL/A

Chip: 900Mhz PowerPC G3
Level 2 Cache: 512K at 900Mhz
System Bus: 100Mhz
Memory: 640MB
Hard drive: 40GB Ultra ATA
Optical Drive: Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
Display: 14.1" TFT XGA (diagonal)
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 with 32MB of DDR SDRAM
Firewire: one port
USB: two USB 1.1 ports
VGA, S-video, and composite-ready (necessary adapter)
Modem: built-in 56K V.92
Ethernet: built-in 10/100BASE-T
Wireless: built-in 802.11b

These specs may not seem overwhelming. I'll speak of the chip and its performance a bit later. However, aside from that, the system has 640MB of RAM, a 40 gig hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive and a CD burner, dedicated video RAM (not shared), and built-in wireless 'B.'

So you ask me the questions.

Is it fast enough?

Yes. Admittedly, I was somewhat surprised. Believe me, I read reviews of this machine and the consensus was that this machine held up with today's Web applications and Office applications. I am not the least bit disappointed. I remember trying out G3 iMacs. This isn't the G3 I remember. But it should be well noted that this G3 is the final iteration of its generation. This is the fastest G3 that Motorola/Apple released. I had an iMac G4 at 800 mhz and I have to say, this laptop runs faster! Slow down, Apple fanboys. Nice and easy, now. I have run this machine for three months now with multiple applications running - iTunes, MS Office, and Firefox - and it runs smooth as silk.

A caveat. I bought this machine off eBay. When I received it, I immediately wiped it clean and installed Tiger. I can't believe how well this machine runs. Multi-tasking is well accomplished on this machine. It came with Panther. The restore disks were not available. It is supposed to have OS 9 and Jaguar, according to the timeframe of its release, which was early 2003. That is, this model was released in early 2003 and discontinued later that same year (iBooks moved to the G4 chip).

How about a short discussion of the chip specifications? Well, the 900mhz clock speed is certainly not overwhelming. The level 2 cache at 512k however, is rather impressive, given the raw chip speed. The system bus is not overwhelming, either, at 100mhz. All this said, however, the machine runs fast. Yes, "fast." I will go so far as to say that this machine runs comparably to my eMac G4 1.25ghz. The eMac is a bit more responsive, but my the slimmest of margins. This laptop gets the job done. And for the $525 I paid for the machine and shipping to my residence, has been well worth the money.

Why did I buy it? Probably because I need to buy a computer at least once a year. And I combed eBay for bargains. iBook G4s are still going for relatively high premiums. Even at the low end. This machine has been selling for $525-650. I don't know why my machine didn't get more bids. It doesn't make sense to me, as I put in a max bid of $600 and I figured I would get out-bid. But it fell into my lap and I couldn't be more thrilled. And I suppose I could call that a pun. It fell into my lap and that's where it sits.

Now, we're not talking bleeding-edge speed, here. Heck, even as of 2003, at any time during the year, a 900mhz chip was laughable. I bought a laptop PC in May of 2003 with an AMD chip clocked at 1.67ghz, and that was slow for that time. Intel had notebooks running well into the 2.0-2.5ghz range. So to say that this machine runs today's applications quite well is indeed, quite a statement. As it turns out, Motorola (Freescale as its spin-off) had a fairly good architecture with this chip and the instruction set obviously performs everyday tasks quite well.

Is there anything else worth noting?

Well, is a notebook/laptop computer worth anything these days if isn't wireless capable? Absolutely not. And I would not have bid on a laptop without built-in wireless capability. Although this machine has Apple's branded "Airport" wireless 802.11 'B,' it should be noted that the 'B' specification obtains data at a true 4-5mbs speed. That is well enough to maintain most high-speed, broadband connections. It won't transfer files on a home network over wired Ethernet at 100mbs, but how often do I need that? I need this wireless capability in coffee shops and classrooms. Even if a given location has the 802.11 'G' specification, this machine is compatible, albeit backwards. But bottom line, the built-in wireless 'B' in this machine is plenty good enough to meet my connection needs.

Other factors? Well, a laptop computer from 2003 that has a 40 gig hard drive is rare. Most laptops from that timeframe were in the 20-30 gig range, particularly in the consumer market. The iBook is Apple's consumer line. This model was the King of the iBook line, circa 2003. Even as of now, 2006, 40 gigs of storage is well enough to keep a good stock of business or school files. And there is enough room for heavier files, including a few video clips and many audio files. I like to keep at least 1/5 of the hard drive free for memory swapping, and I don't foresee a problem with this machine and what I intend to do with it. That said, my audio library is 18.7 gigs in size, so it will not fit on this machine, along with all of my other necessary files and applications, short of the space needed for the OS itself.

But put quite plainly, how does this machine run? That's what you Maccies out there are wondering, right? These are the people who are reading this review - those looking to buy this machine and hoping it will get regular tasks done with ease.

Well, I can safely say that this machine holds up very well. Like I said earlier, it can multi-task everyday applications such as iTunes, Firefox, and MS Word with ease. That's right, "ease." Firefox by itself launches within 10 seconds and is very responsive from there. Likewise for MS Word and iTunes.

Will it run Adobe Photoshop or its consumer version, Elements? Of course. But don't be expecting blazing speed. I tried launching iPhoto for the heck of it - without any loaded photos - and it popped right up. I don't know how it will react with 1,000 photos. It seems to be very responsive.

This machine is not for people who intend to do intensive tasks, such as video editing with iMovie or even heavy-duty photo touch-ups with Adobe Elements or even iPhoto.

This machine is very good for word processing, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, Web browsing, and listening to music. And short video clips.

OS X Tiger runs smooth as silk. I couldn't be more thrilled, although I have to say I am not surprised. My eMac came with Panther and of course when I got Tiger, I thought the new OS would dog the system. Not so. Tiger does not require any more hardware specifications than does Panther, from my experience. Tiger runs very well, provided you have at least 512 megs of RAM. Less than that - and Panther for that matter - and you're throwing dice. If you simply get a machine with 512 megs of RAM, I guarantee that you'll be pleased with your system, so long as what you're doing is predominantly Office tasks, Web browsing, and listening to music.

Take note of the model number of this machine. It's the final iteration of the G3, on any machine that Apple released. The G3 topped out at 900mhz, and that's where this machine is at. I'm thrilled with how this machine is performing. If you get the same machine and have the same expectations, I'm confident that you'll be just as pleased.

I highly recommend the iBook 14" G3 900mhz (M9009LL/A).

Yours, brad.