Is this powerbook worth the money?

May 5, 2009 7:57 PM

Is this 2002 titanium PowerBook g4 worth the money?

I'm strapped for cash, but I've got the opportunity to purchase it for about $300. I'm a freelance graphic designer, and I'd like to install CS3 on it (if it'll install on a PowerPC) but will really only use it on vacation and not for intense tasks.

Assume it runs fine on Tiger, needs a new battery and needs a memory upgrade (to 1G). Think it's a good buy or not worth the $$?

posted by shopefowler to computers & internet (12 comments total)

Your call, but I wouldn't. CS3 would be pretty intense for a TiBook, and you're very quickly going to hit the wall of what you can do with a non-Intel processor these days.

Also, $300 plus upgrade fees is a lot of money for a 7 year old computer... even a Mac. You can get a new laptop for that (albeit a crappy one). I'd take a pass.
posted by captainawesome at 8:04 PM on May 5

Not worth $300. Doubly not worth it if you need a new battery, memory (which can be expensive for old macs - I spent $50 on a single 512M chip for an old Digital Audio powermac G4 not so long ago).

What CPU? I think the November 2002 series topped out at 1GHz. That's (imho) optimistic for any type of design work, and Tiger minimum spec calls for 867MHz w/512M (so you're scraping the bottom edge).
posted by devbrain at 8:06 PM on May 5

Yeah, that's a neat computer, but not for what you have in mind.
posted by box at 8:11 PM on May 5

If you were using it just for surfing then maybe, but if you want to run cs3, I'd pass.

You could get a netbook for that price and install os x on it. I think the MSI wind is supposed to be good for os x, but maybe do some checking.
posted by meta87 at 8:13 PM on May 5

nthing no. RAM will run you another $50 and battery another $120 or so. at most, that will be a 1GHz G4. save the money and buy something newer.
posted by mrg at 8:27 PM on May 5

Absolutely not.
posted by mmdei at 8:39 PM on May 5

Agreed. For a bit more than $300 you might even be able to find a 1st-generation MacBook if you're looking in the right places. Even a 1GHz Titanium PowerBook G4 isn't worth $300, esp. if the battery is shot and you need to buy RAM. I'd pay $150 for this unit and use it only for web browsing and general use. Adobe CS1 may run fine, but CS2 and CS3 will be dog slow on even the fastest of this model (1GHz G4).
posted by mrbarrett.com at 8:39 PM on May 5

You will also want to swap out the hard drive, so budget for that.

The TiBook was an amazing machine, but you shouldn't purchase one today for anything other than nostalgia. Get the most recent macbook you can afford.
posted by b1tr0t at 9:01 PM on May 5

Thanks dudes - That's pretty much what I needed to hear!
posted by shopefowler at 9:03 PM on May 5

I just got rid of one, it was awesome, but I couldn't do much but surf the web on it.
posted by Brian Puccio at 9:23 PM on May 5

You can get a new 15 inch laptop with 2g ram and a 2.1ghz dual core CPU for $420. Which is less then the total cost for the 7 year old laptop and the new battery/ram for it. The cheapest 17 incher on newegg is just $650.
posted by delmoi at 1:46 AM on May 6

God, no. I have this computer with CS3 running on it, and it makes me want to die every time I have to use it. It's basically like not having a computer at all.
posted by booknerd at 9:41 AM on May 6