[rescue] WTB/Advice: Mac iBook/PowerBook

[William Enestvedt]

> I honestly don't know much about iMacs other than the Rev 
> A/B which I wish I didn't know...
> 
   Agreed. *shudder*
>
> Shweet!  I *LOVED* my 1400.
>
   Also agreed. Sadly, mine's only a 117cs -- the cacheless wonder with the
crummy display -- but I'm still fond of it.
>
> > ...is a cheap iMac acceptable for OS X stuff?
> 
> If it has the Rage128 graphics on it it should work ok...
>
   From the web pages: "ATI RAGE 128 Ultra graphics accelerator with 16MB of
SDRAM dedicated graphics memory; AGP 2X support; Three crisp, flicker-free
screen resolutions: 640 by 480 pixels at 117 Hz, 800 by 600 pixels at 95 Hz,
and 1024 by 768 pixels at 75 Hz" -- so that looks good. (What's up with the
"AGP supprt"? Who cares, given that I can't get to the slot? Is it
more-complete support for the card or something?)
>
> ...as they tend to have 100mhz bus on the Rage128-based systems
>
   Again, you're right on: "500MHz or 600MHz PowerPC G3 processor with 256K
on-chip level 2 cache running at full processor speed; 100MHz system bus"
   The limited cache is a drag, but if I'm cutting orners then I ought not
to be suprised by this kind of stuff.
   Now, an iBook (getting back on topic) would be good stuff even for a
person who stayed at their desk a lot: you can move it around, it's tidier
than a iMac or tower-case, and you still get a *lot* of stuff in there.
(They do make a big step from low-end to high-end, though, don't they? Bus
speed, processor speed, display size: yikes.)
   Thanks for the thoughts, Big-End Daniel.
-wde   
--
Will Enestvedt
UNIX System Administrator
Johnson & Wales University -- Providence, RI