iBook slow going to sleep

This began with 10.3.4, and is actually an improvement over earlier 10.3 releases.
Alan Quirt wrote on :

When I try to put my dual-USB iBook (700 MHz G3) to sleep, either by menu or by closing the case, it usually goes into a locked-up state for about a minute before sleeping. During that time the display backlight and the mouse are powered, but the display is black. Once it finally decides to go to sleep, the display backlight goes out and the usual pulsing light comes on.

This began with 10.3.4, and is actually an improvement over earlier 10.3 releases. With them the locked-up state would continue until the battery ran out or the power button was held down.

I have seen quite a few sleep problems reported for 10.3.4, but nothing quite like this. Is anyone else seeing something similar?