SillyDog701

[allen-uk]

Hello.

Another 'which one should I buy?' topic.

I've got an iMac Intel, and it is great, but we want a second smaller portable machine to use in an adjacent room.

Its function will be to access the internet, almost nothing else, and I would like it to be wired (not wireless) to my existing Belkin router.

It doesn't need to be very big, or fast, or have stunning graphics capability, or an enormous memory, etc., but it does need built-in Ethernet.

I am thinking of a Powerbook, about 14", unless, of course, you have any better suggestions.

(Refurb. in the UK is a funny market. A company called cancom does do refurbished Powerbooks, for about £700!! On ebay UK, you can get them secondhand for 3 or 400 pounds. Nipping across to New York, you could get one for 200 pounds, but my nipping days are past.)

Any thoughts?

Allen, London.

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[Antony]

Are you looking for a new Mac laptop or a second-hand one?

All Mac laptops (with G4) have ethernet built-in, and all current releases have AirPort Extreme (wireless) built-in.

How portable do you need? Is 12-inch PowerBook too small? Or do you wish to have wide-screen? Also, do you need/want Intel-chip in it?

Antony.

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[allen-uk]

Hello Antony.

Second-hand, or refurbished.

Wired, not wireless.

12 inch might do, but preferably 14 or 15.

No, Intel not needed. In fact I was looking at some G3s, which might be a bit slow these days, so would prefer a G4.

Hope this helps.


Allen.

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[Antony]

12 inch might do, but preferably 14 or 15.

No, Intel not needed. In fact I was looking at some G3s, which might be a bit slow these days, so would prefer a G4.

I would say get at least G4, that is either an iBook G4 or a PowerBook G4.

If speed (and Intel CPU) is not really a concern, there are iBook G4 14-inch and PowerBook 15-inch refurbished available.

The choice is simply, set your budget, and try to get the most of it.

The thing about 2nd-hand (or refurbished) laptop is that the battery life may not be good enough to acceptable level. You might be lucky with battery. If you plan to use it as a portable, you might want to add the cost of a new battery into it. If you will plug it into mains most of the time, you don't need to worry about this.

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[allen-uk]

Thanks Antony.

Took the advice and got a secondhand G4 15", which looks just right.

A technical question:

If I want to plug a second Mac into the USB port of my Canon printer, what do I need? Is there some sort of 2-to-1 adapter plug I can get?

Thanks.


Allen.

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[Antony]

A technical question:

If I want to plug a second Mac into the USB port of my Canon printer, what do I need? Is there some sort of 2-to-1 adapter plug I can get?

I haven't heard of such adapter, sorry.

You have following options I can think of right now.

1) unplug from your iMac, and plug it to PowerBook G4.

OR

2) keep Canon printer connected to your iMac, and on your iMac, enable printer sharing.
In System Preferences > Print & Fax > Sharing,
select (tick) Share these printers with other computers:, also tick your Canon printer.
Then, on the PowerBook G4, you will need to install the printer, which Bonjour should be able to find it for you.
If you are using this option, you must make sure your iMac is on (and awake).

OR

3) Connect Canon printer to your network router IF your printer has network printing (NIC) built-in OR your router has a USB port for connecting to a printer. If neither, you can get a ethernet print server (adapter) or wireless print server (adapter).

Hope this helps.

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[allen-uk]

Thanks for the alternatives, Anthony.

Apparently there is a switchbox which does the job:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-Printer-Switc ... dZViewItem

which you can get for ten or twenty quid. You have to physically turn the switch from one machine to another, so only really for home use, but it'll do me.

I'll let you know how the Powerbook turns out.


Allen.

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