This is one of the passages about the iBook G3 Clamshell modification project, of which a logicboard of Intel i5 was being installed into the classic Apple iBook G3 Laptop.
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| The Blueberry, Graphite and Tangerine iBook G3 Clamshell |
The iBook G3 Clamshell was issued in July 1999 and discontinued in May 2001. It was a product for more than a decade. However, as time goes by, we find that its design is still very cool and elegant.
Is iBook G3 Clamshell obsolete?
The iBook G3 Clamshell had been classified as "obsolete" or "vintage" because it is no longer supported by Apple in terms of software upgrade or hardware repairation. Apple won't fix a broken iBook even one is willing to pay. However, if your iBook G3 Clamshell runs out-of-order, you can still find parts from ebay for self replacement.
Ironically, the iBook G3 Clamshell is quite durable, as in my iBook collection (of about 15), 13 of them still life healthy, running effectively and smoothly.
If you are not in pursuit of latest software and hardware, like some hobbyists do, iBook G3 Clamshell, with Mac OS 9 and old applications, will be an excellect machine to play with. Many vintage softwares are still powerful when working with vintage Macs. It is still a perfect tool in word-processing , CD player, or an excellent mobile music station.
You could still upgrade the iBook a little bit by installing a SSD (Solid State Drive), accordingly, the start up speed will have an obvious improment.
As to the DVD rom, you may get rid of it and replace it by a secondary hard disk.
But remember, this is only limited to run vintage softwares in non-internet environment. If you connects this buddy with the world wide web, compatibility issues will be arisen. It will takes long time to load because at its time, the web pages has smaller images, small files and a different set of scripts being used.
Can we replace the hardware of the iBook G3 Clamshell?
My team-mates and I have been thinking the possibility of hardware replacement over and over. We think that it is difficult, but NOT IMPOSSIBLE. Just treat the shell of iBook G3 Clamshell as a computer case, and fit a right logic board into it will make this possible.
If we could install a PPC G5 logic board into it, it will become a G5; likewise, if we could install an Intel Core i5 logic board into it, it will become an i5.
As mentioned earlier, I have 2 broken iBook G3 Clamshell, I will use them for this experiment. We call this iBook G3 Clamshell Modification Project.
Is this a cool idea?
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