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Ravensign · Dec 27, 2003, 02:48 AM

I recently got my iMacDV SE (g3 400) back from my father in law who I had lent it to for about 3 years (most of its life).

Right now, I have it upgraded to 9.2.2, and my son has some educational games, etc that he likes on it.

I was wondering, since its at the lower end of the OSX supported range, if its worth it to get OS X. I am worried that classic will be too slow for old stuff and wont be compatible, and that osx will be a dog too. Right now for memory I have the orginial 128 + 64, for 196 in there, but was thinking of going to 128+256 or 128+512 if I went for OS X.

Any experiences with Panther on this class of machine? How much RAM is necessary to keep it from grinding on day to day use? How much worse is classic apps going to be than on 9.2.2?

Thanks

WizOSX · Dec 27, 2003, 10:33 AM

I have two Macs right now, a 700mhz iBook and a 7600. The 7600 is running OSX using a 604e/200mhz processor which is as slow as you'd ever want to have for OSX. The machine has a fairly quick 40gb hard drive and 448mb of RAM. I experimented adding RAM in 64mb increments and found that anything beyond 384 didn't make much difference if you're just using one program at a time. Obviously if you decide to do "multitasking" type things (like write to a CD while playing music and working on a spreadsheet) no amount of RAM is going to help because the basic machine is just too slow. And it really isn't worth the money putting much RAM in such a slow machine. You'll get more speed for your money by putting the money toward a slightly newer machine.

Still, I find OSX usable on the 7600 for light duty use (although just). Your 400mhz G3 will be somewhat better. But OSX will definitely feel quite a bit slower than 9.2.2 (but still fun to use). Classic, however, will be painful--very slow to start up and apps will be pretty slow. Don't even think of any games in classic. You'll always want to reboot into 9.2.2 to run those sorts of things.

tr · 12:07 AM

i have a G4 450 and my mom has a DVSE G3 400 (which i'm on right now) that i just put Panther on. i can say, that at times, it seems like the iMac runs panther better than my G4.

when i first put panther on the iMac, it had the stock 13GB 5400rpm and 256mb RAM; it ran perfectly fine; i was more than a bit surprised. a week or two later, i put in a new 30GB 7200 and upped the RAM to 512mb. works even better now; i've got my sister's iBook 700 here over the holidays, and the iMac and the iBook are about equal in performance.

although i never use it, i just started up classic right now, and it took about 50 seconds. the only app i really use in classic is adobe streamline, and it works fine here. i'm sure it may be faster if i boot into 9 (as may games), but like i said, i try to stay away from 9 as much as possible.

of course, stuff like expos� is a bit stuttery, because of the low video memory, but other than that, panther on this DVSE performs incredibly well. my mom uses it daily for email, surfing, word, iPhoto, iChat AV, etc. usually, if i'm here, and need to get some work done, i push it to the limits, usually running illustrator, photoshop and iTunes simultaneiously. sure, it's a bit slower compared to my G4 when multitasking (filters, cut and paste, document switching, etc), but i have no problem getting my work done.

to sum up: panther on iMac DVSE 400 - no problems whatsoever.

tr

Ravensign · Dec 28, 2003, 01:15 AM

Thanks for the responses.

I have a copy of 10.2 I am going to put on it with its current 192 MB of RAM.

Then in when I get a little more cash, going to drop either 1 or two 512's in there, and get the panther upgrade.

spiky_dog · Dec 28, 2003, 02:00 AM

my parents still are running a iMac DV/400, and it runs panther (and ran jaguar before it) just fine. currently at 384 mb, 40 gb 5400 rpm disk.

Krusty · Dec 28, 2003, 07:51 AM

Another vote to go for it !! I'm running G3/450/384/80gig 7200. No, its not as fast as 9 but its fast enough, IMHO.

Plus, more and more programs are X-only now. Looking at the 25 or so programs I use most frequently, only about 5 of them will run in 9 or have their latest version run in 9.

I would recommend more ram though ... I have a fair number of page-outs when multi-tasking with only 384mb. Unfortunately, ram for this type of machine seems to have gone up a bit in the last coupla months.

WizOSX · Dec 28, 2003, 01:20 PM

I agree with the above posters--go for it. As I said above, you'll find OSX fun to use. Just don't have too high expectations. I think the slowness grows on you over time. At first the benefits of OSX are obvious but places where it slows down on a slow machine start to get somewhat annoying, especially things related to the internet. I really like Safari and use it a lot. But it is slower than IE on OS 9.2.2. But I really feel that adding 2 512s to a machine of this speed is a complete waste of money. You'll see virtually no difference between 640mb total RAM and 1.1gb!

bradoesch · Dec 31, 2003, 10:50 AM

I run Panther on my iMac DV (see specs in sig). It runs much better than previous verions of X (especially compared to 10.0 and 10.1), but of course it can't match the speed of OS 9. I'll take a little less speed and get the increased stability. The only thing I really miss about OS 9 is the Platinum appearance. I liked Platinum so much, it's part of the reason I bought my first Mac.

vsurfer · Jan 10, 2004, 06:12 PM

My iMac DV G3 400 is now very happy with Panther (much faster than Jag).
Panther has breathed new life into the machine.
Good luck

Big Fat Octopus · Jan 10, 2004, 08:11 PM

I am using the original Blueberry iBook with 300Mhz, 160Mb Ram and a 3.2 gig HD and Mac OS 10.2.8 and it runs fine.

I installed it without the BSD subsystem and alternative language packs to fit it onto the 3.2 GB Hard drive.

I expected it to be slower than it is. It struggles with larger memory hungry apps like photoshop and Dreamweaver but for general word processing and internet use it is fine.

The 800x600 screen resolution and paltry 4Mb video doesn't really do justice to the graphics of OSX though.

I think most G3 iMac's would do a good job with OSX if they had at least 256Mb ram.

I'm happier using Safari on OSX than I was IE and NS on OS9 so the move was a good one for me.

Mr.Clicky · Jan 23, 2004, 05:29 AM

Any experiences with Panther on this class of machine?

>>> do it do it do it.

How much RAM is necessary to keep it from grinding on day to day use?

>>> 386K preferably 512K

How much worse is classic apps going to be than on 9.2.2?

>>> completely crap. But then, go native, you won't regret it.

Mike Pither · Jan 24, 2004, 06:00 PM

Panther runs fine on my 400 dvse though it does have 640mb ram.

Patcarla · Jan 25, 2004, 06:58 AM

Originally posted by Mike Pither:
Panther runs fine on my 400 dvse though it does have 640mb ram.

Same here. iMAC DV 450 with 640 mb RAM. Jaguar was fine, but panther is really OK in terms of speed. Max out the RAM and you'll be fine.

thePurpleGiant · Jan 25, 2004, 05:34 PM

Guys, he said his son has educational games that he likes to run on the computer. The vast majority of educational programs still run on OS 9. I know, its sad, but its the truth.

Often these can be full screen, animated programs that will run very poorly in Classic, sometimes with glitches and speed issues.

Ravensign: Is there any reason that you would like to upgrade to OS X? I ask this because it seems you want to upgrade, without having a reason. OS X will be slower than 9 on your machine, and do you have any native programs? Or will you then have to spend money on OS X, RAM, Updates to software also?

I love OS X and don't use OS 9 anymore, but all my Macs are fairly recent. I would seriously recommend leaving the iMac with OS 9, and upgrade to X when you get a newer machine one day. Don't get carried away with the latest and greatest, if there is no actual benefit to you.