Apple iBook G3 800mhz 256MB 30GB CDROM 12.1'' w/ Original Airport (WIFI)

by Apple

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• ASIN: B000YA7R3E
• Item model number: G3
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,763 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 1, 2007

Product Description

Calling all you Apple enthusiasts! This Apple iBook G3 notebook is looking for a good home. Pre-installed components include an Apple G3 800MHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, a 30 GB hard drive, and an Airport Wireless card! The Apple iBook notebook has Mac OS 10 pre-installed and a Cdrom drive ready to access media. Watch vivid images on its 12.1-inch TFT LCD and listen to integrated audio with its built-in speakers. Connect to the Internet with via its integrated ethernet, 56K modem, or surf without wires with the pre-installed Airport card! If you've always wanted an Apple notebook but couldn't afford one, this Apple iBook is for you!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware - common main motherboard/display defect, July 26, 2010

By 

M. M Magliaro "maxvideo" (Philipsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple iBook G3 800mhz 256MB 30GB CDROM 12.1'' w/ Original Airport (WIFI) (Personal Computers)

First, I love Macs, and when this iBook G3 800 works, it's a fine machine.
BUT... this series of G3 iBooks suffers from a very common and notorious soldering defect on the motherboard that affects about 90% of the systems.
In fact, for 3 years after they were made, Apple was replacing them for free because the problem was so rampant, but that offer is long expired.

Symptoms? The system won't boot, or will boot and immediately freeze, or will freeze after a few minutes. Many times, the machine will boot, but the display will be all black, all white, covered in stripes, or any of a zillion other display problems. Some people "live with" the problem by
actually clamping a C clamp onto the case in just the right spot to put
pressure on the chip inside, which keeps it in contact with the board.
Some people open the case and wedge pieces of paper on top of the chip, so that when the case is closed, they press on the chip to keep all the pins in contact. But this is pretty dicey.

The problem was faulty soldering on a ball grid array (BGA) chip on the motherboard. In my case, I knew this going in, and sent the machine out to
a repair services that specializes in this repair. They disassemble the machine, and re-solder the BGA. It's been trouble-free for 2 years and still going strong since I had that repair done.

Search the web for "iBook G3 BGA defect" and you'll find all you need to know about this issue. You can find many places that can fix this for $50 - $75, plus shipping. Just expect to have to do this, and build that into your total cost if you buy one of these.

ALSO - these machines are now far too slow to play YouTube videos (or most on-line video of any kind). Just be aware of that, if that is important to you. When I bought it 2 years ago, it played YouTube fine, but YouTube and most on-line video continues to get more and more processor-intensive, so now a processor this slow cannot handle it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!!, April 8, 2010

By 

M. Harley (PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple iBook G3 800mhz 256MB 30GB CDROM 12.1'' w/ Original Airport (WIFI) (Personal Computers)

Yes right, it's not a most powerful laptop(obviously it's older model)out there but this machine is very reliable and great for somebody who try out Apple brand for first time. This great looking (white) laptop never crashes or freeze. And remember when it comes to Apple laptop, they don't get virus somehow. Just for these reason it's worth to own a apple ibook to me. Great machine!!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars its just old, October 15, 2008

By 

Lara Josie Bryers - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple iBook G3 800mhz 256MB 30GB CDROM 12.1'' w/ Original Airport (WIFI) (Personal Computers)

i brought it used from amazon, the screen broke within 3 weeks, i spoke to others, theirs had the same problem, the screens are old now and if buying used be careful.