Trade advice: B&W G3 for a Wallstreet or iBook

Just got an email about the Wallstreet: 266Mhz (thus Series II and 1MB cache), 64MB RAM and a 3GB drive. I have a pair of 128MB SO-DIMMs, so I'm not worried about the RAM, and I've got a 6GB 2.5" drive around some where. I'll have to ask about 12.1" vs 14.1" if anyone knows if the 266 was sold with 12.1", or if it was only available on the 233. I'm not too attracted to the 800x600 screen of a clam shell as I've got that on the 3400c, and the guy says he'd rather keep it anyway. If that's the case I'm not sure why he posted it as available for trade.

Look at this link.

G4 Powermac Value
http://the-ish.com/g4value/

Your G3 is "worth" about the same or less than the G4 300MHz PCI, or less than $100.

Cheers, Tom

In my humble opinion, a B&W 400 is better than a 300 PCI G4 because the G3 has ADB. Not much else different about the machines, except Apple's creepy G4-block on the B&W's firmware which is now a non-issue because of a patch.

Interesting site. Seems to me, once a computer gets under $150 or so in value, it becomes a noman's land of estimates--mostly depends on the value of the parts--especially since the age of the computers at that price really puts a variable on their reliability.
If I were in your position, I would pull the SCSI. SCSI should only be passed along to people who appreciate SCSI and recognize its value and know how to handle it's peculiarities. And in the B&W, two buses can quickly lead to headache, so even if it's stable now, he might get himself into a mess, especially if he's not familiar with it--and those ultra drives are lovely things, even to look at. I would probably even pull the 10GB ATA and see if he goes for it with just the 20GB--a simple machine for a simple transaction. You can always throw that in during the bargaining to sweeten the deal if needed. The SCSI too, but it doesn't sound like he's got a whole lot of additions on his side of the bargain.

I've offered it as a single drive system. He wants the fastest drive, so that should be the Ultra SCSI. I won't have much use for the card on it' own as the only other PCI Macs for it would be an old 120MHz PowerWave or a 7600/132.

That's an interesting site. If I ever end up in the market for a G4 tower, that'll be a stop. And it does seem to put the machine around $100. One thing that makes it iffy is that the site doesn't make any correction for ATA vs SCSI drives, which can make a difference for various applications.

And, as I'm sure most of us know, I really meant to type that it's an AHA-2940U2 card...

The g3 is probably a fair trade for a 300+ mhz or firewire clamshell or the 290something mhz wallstreet. I believe all 266 wallstreets are the 1024x768 14" displays. If it had a 10-20 gig drive it might be a good trade, mostly depends how much you value the mobility factor of the laptop vs the b&w.

ATM the G3 is sitting unused. I've got the mini and the Linux x86 machine setup on the desk, and the iBook for mobility. My wife tends to take the iBook to work and also use it at home if I'm on the mini or Linux machine. I've been looking for something to use for myself as a portable Mac and the 3400c just doesn't quite cut it, even if it has a 1-2 hour battery.

Your point of the mobility factor is pretty much what I've been thinking about. I don't really need another desktop machine, but another mobile machine would be nice esp. if it's OS X capable so I can run Firefox or Camino. Running the classic Mac OS on the 3400c doesn't give me much usability for modern apps.

An Airport equipped iBook would make me forgive the smaller screen, but I do have a couple WiFi PC Cards to use on the Wallstreet. I'm pretty pleased to see that my investment int he B&W seems to be paying off. I paid little for it ($25 sans video card) and traded a G3 400MHz ZIF for a stock video card and put in a stick or two of PC-100 I already had on hand. I know I don't have $100 in it right now, and if I really though about it it may not even be $50. I've been thinking that an OS X capable Powerbook should be worth at least $50, even if it's only officially 10.2.8.

As you may have noticed, PowerBooks Wallstreet are a bit finicky with X, so unless you are happy running classic apps only I'd say go for the iBook.

Also, the clamshell iBooks are relatively indestructable, so if it's gonna live in any kind of rough environment it'll hold up much better.

Downside on the non-FW equipped iBooks is . . . well, no FW and no way to easily add it.

hth,

dan k

One other strike against the iBook is WiFi ability. I've already got a Mac usable WiFi PC Card (I've used it with the 3400c), but it could cost up to $100 for an original AP card. It looks like the guy doesn't want to let go of the iBook anyway. Luckily I have been able to get him to take a fourth option of a 9.1GB Ultra160 drive instead of my nice 20GB ATA drive that still holds a warranty until Aug of 2009.

I can probably deal with a finicky OS X install as long as it will let me run a browser that will let me use the web in a modern sense. Of course if OS X turns out too bad, I can use Linux on it. I'd probably put it on the iBook to dual boot too, as a matter of course.