Blast from the past - the Clamshell iBook!
Written: Aug 28 '05 (Updated Aug 29 '05)
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Pros: Well built, runs Linux like a charm, clever design.
Cons: Wee bit pokey for OS X. Small screen. Mono speaker.
The Bottom Line: Excellent for running Linux, cheap, plentiful and well designed laptop.
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| Eutek's Full Review: Apple iBook Indigo 12.1 in. (M7721LL/A) Mac Notebo... |
I just picked myself an iBook Indigo and...
Yes, you read correctly. I do realise that it is 2005 and not 2000, that the G4 and G5 chips have come out and that Apple is about to go Intel. However, I *really* did pick up an iBook Indigo the other day. It is practically brand new and came running OS X (which is a fine OS by the way).
However, I am not running Mac OS on this fine notebook, but rather Ubuntu Linux (Hoary - dreadful name, but nice distro). This iBook came with 192MB of RAM, a 366MHz CPU, Firewire, modem, Ethernet and a working battery. Unlike many iBooks available on eBay nowadays, this battery holds a charge for several hours.
Although I was not enamoured of the clamshell design when these laptops first came out, I have to admit that it has grown on me. It is rather cool. There is no lock to keep the laptop closed, but rather the screen overhangs the lower half. There is some kind of clever mechanism to add tension or weight to this and as a result the laptop stays closed. You have to apply some effort to open the thing, but it should be manageable, even for wimpy folks.
The fit and finish of this laptop exceeds any other that I have owned up until now. Apple makes a nice product. A lot of thought goes into their designs. The 12'' display is sharp and clear. Amazingly enough, there are no dead pixels, marks or defects on this screen after all this time.
The keyboard is without a doubt the most comfortable that I have ever used on a portable. As a former PC user, the one-button mouse takes a bit of getting used to, but it works fine for my purposes.
Granted, this is an older machine, but it is actually quite quick. I am not doing anything particularly intensive with it, but it is fine for that. Just day to day computing, albeit in Linux. Even OS X ran well enough, although I would not want to have to do any graphics-intensive work on it.
This clamshell has a 10GB drive, which is more than enough for what I am doing.
Ubuntu runs great on this laptop. It is a wee bit pokey, but that is to be expected. I imagine that if I were to go with some lightweight window manager like IceWM it would flat out fly, but I like Gnome. I can live with the performance hit.
The only complaint I have, and it is a minor one, is that this iBook only has one speaker. I can live with that however. One is better than none.
Connectivity is not an issue with this iBook. It has a modem that I have not used yet. I will eventually get an Airport card (the older version, as I have read that the newer versions don't play nice with Linux) so I can have Internet on the move. I have connected it to our LAN via the Ethernet port and it works fine.
FOr anyone looking to resurrect an older system and learn Linux, I highly recommend picking up an old clamshell-style iBook. It is a sturdy, comfortable design that works very well under Linux.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Operating System: Linux
Processor: PowerPC G3
Processor speed: 301-400
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
Eutek
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Location: NY-Dublin-London-Bucharest
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 1 member
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