[X4U] Powerbook question

[Randy B.Singer]

eleventhvolume said:

>I've inherited a G3 Powerbook in fine physical condition - it's a firewire
>model with the semi-transparent keyboard. Lovely piece of kit, arguably as
>elegant as the current Powerbooks. Two problems: firstly it won't start up
>and secondly it has a zip drive instead of a cd drive. My two questions are
>- if I get it repaired, will I be able to install OSX on it by doing
>target-disk mode from my Albook?
>- will OSX run serviceably on the machine or will it be painfully slow?
>If the answer's positive on both these counts I'll go ahead and get it
>fixed.


You can definitely get OS X on this computer, though you will have to 
partition the hard drive to do it:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106235

You don't say what clock speed your Pismo is running at, and you don't 
say how much RAM and hard drive space it has.

A 400Mhz G3 will run OS X comfortably, but slowly.  Some folks are 
annoyed by the speed, others find it to be okay.

The speed problem is exacerbated by the fact that a Pismo can only be 
upgraded to 512MB of RAM, max:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43126
OS X likes slightly more than that to run well. 

Pismo's are going for about $450 right now.
http://www.powermax.com/cgi-global/generate_css_temp.cgi?p=c-u58720

If you have to spend a lot of money on this Powerbook to repair it, add 
RAM and hard drive space, etc., it might be a better value to purchase a 
newer, faster, running, used PowerBook.







Randy B. Singer
Co-Author of: The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

Routine OS X Maintenance and Generic Troubleshooting
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html