By far the best reason to buy a SSD is for the extra shock resistance, if your computer will be transported a lot under rough conditions or operated while you're riding in a car, bus, train or plane. Boot time will be shorter, but there's no reason to reboot a Powerbook except when a software update requires it, so that's really a non-factor.
It has an 867 MHz CPU, requires Mac OS X 10.2.4 or later, and includes 256 MB of RAM (128 MB on the logic board, and expandable to 640 MB according to Apple - or 1.125 GB based on field reports) and a 40 GB hard drive. I definitely suggest searching on eBay, like I have. The first 12' PowerBook G4was introduced in January 2003 at US1,799 with a Combo drive (a SuperDrive was available at extra cost). 1.33GHz and under) will NOT work with it, like it would for iBook G4s with different clock speeds. and the websites of such vendors as, buy.com,, , etc.ĭon't count on longer battery life with a SSD. You HAVE to find another PowerBook G4 track pad pulled specifically from another 1.5GHz 12' PowerBook G4, because the older track pads (i.e. For user reviews of them, try the Drive Compatibility Database at Really, the only starting point on troubleshooting this type of problem is trying a known good power adapter first to see if the problem is the older power.
There are few PATA SSDs in production now. That being said, if your PowerBook is actually a 15 inch model (where the case is about 13-1/2 inches wide) then you should definitely be using a 65 Watt power adapter, like this one. Those SSDs are all Serial ATA models that your Powerbook can't use anyway. They are outrageously expensive on a per-gigabyte basis now, being new, and the really fast ones cost much more than you paid for your computer. All are more shock-resistant, but their longevity in real life is still unknown they are too new. Some SSDs (but probably not any of the ones that are comparable in price to a 320GB hard drive) are substantially faster than any hard drive. All SSDs are not equal - not by a long shot.