It sounds like you've got your answer.
If you're interested in a working dual USB iBook, I recommend looking at the earliest models, the 500MHz and Rage-graphics 600MHz models in both sizes are fairly reliable, physically. I have also heard varying things about some of the G4 iBooks, so you may as well go all the way to a 1.2/1.33 or 1.42GHz 12-inch or 14-inch iBook G4, if it's about the machine itself and not about having a particular model of machine.
If you're looking for a reliable laptop, look for a Mac made in 2009 or later, or a ThinkPad other than the T30 and T61/p with nVidia graphics.
One other thing you could do is get one of those laptop cooling pads that's really just a USB powered fan that you set your laptop on, if you're going to remove the mobility and tranquility of using a mobile machine. (I do this with a ThinkPad T42p that has a failed fan, it works pretty well to keep at least that particular machine cool under duress.)