haemoglobin,
I own a PowerBook G4 1.67 (max RAM, stock HD) and I can tell you that even seven years on it is still a very capable machine!
Web browsing is a pleasure with most sites. Some of the more Flash heavy sites bog the machine down, but for the most part it just makes scrolling choppy.
The browser 'TenFourFox' is regularly updated and is probably one of the best browsers for G4 Macs.
You may have problems running Flash online but I know that a team of people have hacked newer versions to improve its performance on PowerPC machines.
Using YouTube within a browser does not yield favorable results. A workaround for this is a program called 'MacTubes'. It is a standalone player for YouTube and it can be set to use QuickTime to view a video. I have had very good results using this software. It plays YouTube videos as if they were in a browser!
I am running Mac OS 10.5.8 at the moment- its performance and stability is is all I could ask for!
You may want to watch out for a dead PRAM battery. My PowerBook refused to start up so I decided to desolder it.
Even my 1.00GHz PowerBook handles the Internet surprisingly well!
Don't let anyone discourage you from getting one because of its age or processor architecture.
You will feel a large deal of accomplishment when you have tweaked and hacked a older Mac so that it can compete with the best of them!
If you are offered one of the newer PowerBooks for a fair price I'd say take it!
I own a PowerBook G4 1.67 (max RAM, stock HD) and I can tell you that even seven years on it is still a very capable machine!
Web browsing is a pleasure with most sites. Some of the more Flash heavy sites bog the machine down, but for the most part it just makes scrolling choppy.
The browser 'TenFourFox' is regularly updated and is probably one of the best browsers for G4 Macs.
You may have problems running Flash online but I know that a team of people have hacked newer versions to improve its performance on PowerPC machines.
Using YouTube within a browser does not yield favorable results. A workaround for this is a program called 'MacTubes'. It is a standalone player for YouTube and it can be set to use QuickTime to view a video. I have had very good results using this software. It plays YouTube videos as if they were in a browser!
I am running Mac OS 10.5.8 at the moment- its performance and stability is is all I could ask for!
You may want to watch out for a dead PRAM battery. My PowerBook refused to start up so I decided to desolder it.
Even my 1.00GHz PowerBook handles the Internet surprisingly well!
Don't let anyone discourage you from getting one because of its age or processor architecture.
You will feel a large deal of accomplishment when you have tweaked and hacked a older Mac so that it can compete with the best of them!
If you are offered one of the newer PowerBooks for a fair price I'd say take it!