i don’t know where else to go but I figured you hip kids would have some answers.
Here’s the deal. I own an original iMac which does everything I need it to do — a damningly unambitious range of demands I must admit. I love it but I can’t take it with me when I travel. I could use a lap top but, thanks to a chronic overdose of existential authenticity, I’m one poor b**stard. All I really need is to piddle around in Microsoft Word, typing out my ravishing insights, and then transfer these inanities back into my main computer. Ebay has numerous auctions for cut-rate laptops but I don’t want to go too primative here. Basically my question here is what level can I get by on? They range everywhere from a 145 to a G3, though I’m guessing a 3400 is more like it. Any wisdom you can share?
I you are honest when you say that all you need it to do is run Word then you are very lucky. First, you must decide which version of Word you want to run. Is it always the newest version or will some past version like Word 98 or even Word 5.1 be enough to capture your brilliance. If it is an older version, I don’t think it is possible to go wrong. Just get any old cheap laptop that you like. If you need the newest version of Word, then just make sure the lap-top meets the minimum specs for processor speed and hard disk space with a reasonable amount left over for your files.
How complicated are your files? If they are mainly text then any old machine should work. You will just need to find a good way to transfer them tio the I-MAC. You could use a floppy disk if you have a drive for your floppy, e-mail, a zip disk or a direct cable connection.
If you really just want to write and transfer word processing stuff, you could buy a cheap Palm and a foldup keyboard for about 4 bills. Type on the run and sync at home. Better yet, learn to use the grafitti and ditch the keyboard. Even better, there are a ton of cool things the palm can do for you.
3 years ago I finally replaced my 170 (!) (harddrive was named “Luddite Rebellion”) with one of the first iBooks (orange, which I do love, and which now itself is very outdated); the screen hinge of the 170 broke and to fix it would be more than the 350 US I paid for the thing (imagine that it had cost the first owner 4000 US in 1991!). I managed to get a master’s thesis done on that 170 in 1998. I am convinced that one can get by on older technology and I’m really pissed off about OS X, which I don’t like-- I’d like to stay at 9.1.2 forever as it works pretty well. I also don’t like the “more is more” attitude with the Word versions and Netscape and such. I wanna write a damn text, wihtout embedded pictures and URLs etc, damnit! Things are getting way too unneccessarily complicated. I want an OS 6 skin for X, so that things aren’t all shiny and icky.
I think a 3400 would be fine, as long as you ran OS 7 or 8 or something, didn’t use a big browser for surfing (try iCab) used older Word '98 maybe (I’ve had trouble getting 5.1 docs to translate right in newer versions), and don’t try to run Photoshop or anything similarly suicidal. Keep it nice and stripped down and things should be fine.
Alternative for your inane traveling rants-- I have a Handspring visor with a folding keyboard that I can spout on and then hook it up and transfer the texts to my real computer. . . This hookup would be about 250$ total, I think (I have the Visor deluxe, top o’ the line when it came out and now the budget machine, mine now old and depreciating)
and if you hovered and bid carefully you could land one for a bit cheaper than that, I’m sure.
Going more upscale, the “WallStreet” G3 is one hell of a nice computer, and they are long enough in the tooth to be available for pretty cheap. I see a couple on eBay that have stayed in the $250 range within the last day of bidding, e.g.– http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2008661417
Get one with the 14.1 inch screen. It’s a spectacularly nice screen for a laptop of this vintage.
All of them have CardBus (2 slots) and 2 expansion bays for which a wide variety of modules such as Zip drives and CDRW drives can be found or still bought as new. Built in ethernet is only 10-base-T but if you really need more bandwidth you can use one of the CardBus slots.
They only support video mirroring to an external monitor without an extra card, but with a Margi card (or a used Road Rocket card) you can run a dual monitor system. No USB or FireWire, but you can add them via CardBus if/when you need them. It has the old Mac ports instead: SCSI, Mac serial, ADB.
The WallStreet in stock condition will have a 250 to 300 MHz G3 processor, anywhere from 32 to 128 MB of RAM, and a hard drive of anywhere between 2 and 8 gigs. These factors are all upgradeable when you find yourself with more money on hand. I’m typing on a WallStreet right now, which has half a gig of RAM, a 500 MHz G3 (G4 upgrade cards are also available), and an 18 gig HD, and this weekend I’m installing a 60 in its place. It is new enough & powerful enough to run any MacOS from 8.1 to the latest release of MacOS X, and any flavor of Word (or Photoshop or Bryce or whatever suits your fancy) that you want to throw at it. Those aren’t half bad stats for a 4 year old, potentially <$300 used laptop computer.