The 12” G4 Powerbook is regarded by many as being one of the best ever notebooks produced by Apple. Despite being replaced by the original plastic intel based MacBooks it still remained a highly sought after model long after it was discontinued. Many users preferred it’s aluminum casing to the cheaper looking plastic of the MacBook and because it had a smaller screen (12” vs the MacBook’s 13”) it was the ideal choice for users looking for an ultra portable Mac.

I owned the 1.33 GHz model and was very happy with its performance. It came installed with Mac OS X Panther, but thanks to 768 MB of RAM it also ran Mac OSX Tiger with ease.

The one aspect of the 12” PowerBook that I was a little disappointed by was the screen quality, it was a cheaper spec than the 15” & 17” models and as a result colours looked a little washed out. Thanks to a little app called SuperCal though I was able to improve the quality significantly, and if you're intending to use the PowerBook 12” with an external monitor you won’t have any problems.

One definite plus point is the battery life of these Macs, in general use you should get around 3hrs from a battery in good condition. Although MAC OS X Tiger would be recommended for most of the PowerBook 12" range, higher spec models such as the 1.33 GHz with maximum RAM should also be able to run MAC OS X Leopard at acceptable speeds.

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Apple launched the iBook Clamshell in 1999 as an affordable portable Mac for the consumer market. In contrast to the more understated design of Apple’s PowerBook range, the Clamshell’s design was a continuation of the radical all in one, curvy, multi coloured iMac. Many people loved the unusual design though some cruelly likened it to a toilet seat. Despite the detractors the Clamshell was hugely popular, no doubt some of it’s success came from it’s prolific placement in many movies of the time - it was instantly recognisable on screen and had a futuristic look that other laptops didn’t have.

The first two Clamshells were available in tangerine or blueberry colours, had PowerPC G3 300 MHz processors, and could be fitted with a then new AirPort wireless network card. With an AirPort card fitted the Clamshell could be used to browse the internet without the need for wires - one of the first mainstream laptops to have such a feature.

A Graphite Clamshell was launched less than a year later with a faster 366 MHz processor. This was followed by models featuring Firewire ports and improved graphics (6MB vs 4MB in the previous models). The new models were available in two new colours - indigo blue and key lime. The final Clamshells had 466 MHz processors 8MB of VRAM and DVD-ROM drives and they were available in Lime or Graphite.

Based purely on the iBook Clamshell’s unusual design I bought an indigo model off ebay a couple of years ago, and despite being 8 years old it still performs very well today. Thanks to a mixture of plastic and rubber casing these Macs are incredibly tough. Other innovative touches include a fold out carrying handle and a latch free opening and closing mechanism.

The later iBook Clamshells such as the indigo, key lime and graphite models can officially run Mac OS X Tiger, though even with maxed out RAM performance is poor, so it's best to opt for Mac OS X Panther. If you do still want to try Tiger on a Clamshell that doesn't have a DVD-ROM drive you will have to connect it to another Mac (that does have a DVD-ROM drive) and reboot the Clamshell in FireWire target disk mode (hold down T while it restarts). This will turn the Clamshell into an external hard drive on the other Mac from which you can then install Tiger.

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