[nJm]

My grandfather has decided to move into the 20th century and get a computer. All he needs is email and a little internet so I thought a second hand G3 iMac would be perfect.

He doesn't have much to spend, so I was wondering which of the earlier iMacs are a good buy? Looking at the pricing here in Australia, I'd say he could get anything up to a 350mhz model. I could always upgrade the ram (it is SD-RAM right?)

So, any of them in particular that are good? I've seen a few things about the slot-loading ones having problems with their CD drives recently. Does this mean getting an older tray one would be better?

Oh, and would any of them run Panther ok with 128mb ram, or should he stick with OS9?

Cheers,

Nick.

[discotronic]

I wouldn't recommend running 128MB on anything that runs OSX especially an older iMac. I would recommend at least 512MB. An iMac 350 would be a great little machine for what he wants to do. The RAM can be upgraded to 1GB on the slot-load version but I think the tray-load version can only take up to 512MB. Also, if you are going to install OSX on a tray-load you will need to partition and install on the first 8GB of the hard drive. The slot-loading iMac uses standard PC100 SDRAM desktop memory and is very easy to upgrade where the other uses (if I'm not mistaken) 1 desktop and 1 laptop PC100 SDRAM module and isn't so easy to install.

I would spend the extra money and get the memory upgraded so he could use OSX. OS 9 is a great OS but the memory management of OSX makes it well worth it. There are tons of other reasons but that one seals the deal for me.

I just purchased an iMac 350 for my nephew and I was highly impressed. I don't think your grandfather could go wrong with it.

[CaseCom]

Go with a slot-loader. The tray-loaders' 8 MB hard drive limitation maybe isn't a big deal if he's just doing just e-mail and Web, but their video cards don't handle OS X as well, and their built-in speakers aren't as good.

Don't skimp on RAM for OS X. At least 256 MB, or 512 if you can afford it. If you have to stay at 128, then I'd stay with OS 9.

My iMac DV 400 still runs like a champ after 4 1/2 years

[nJm]

One of the local Mac specialists has a big sale on 333mhz iMacs. They are ex government computers, and have 64mb ram, 6gb hd and a CD-rom.

Is the 333mhz a slot loading? If I did buy one for him, would I be able to use a 128mb PC-100 SD-RAM chip I have sitting in one of the PCs? I never really used OS9 (skipped from 7.5 to X, after tinkering around with PCs for a few years). Is it ok, or would it definately be worth upgrading the ram and using Panther?

thanks guys!


Edit: I just checked. For an extra AU$100 I can get a 350mhz with 128mb RAM. I see that it also has a newer video card? I guess it is worth the extra money (about US$70).

[discotronic]

How much are they wanting for each of them?

[CaseCom]

Originally posted by nJm:
Is the 333mhz a slot loading? If I did buy one for him, would I be able to use a 128mb PC-100 SD-RAM chip I have sitting in one of the PCs? I never really used OS9 (skipped from 7.5 to X, after tinkering around with PCs for a few years). Is it ok, or would it definately be worth upgrading the ram and using Panther?

333 MHz would be a tray-loader; slot-loaders are 350 MHz and higher.

And I would recommend OS X over OS 9, no question, as long as you can give it enough RAM.

Slot-loading iMacs take standard PC100 RAM, so your chip from the PC should work. Tray-loaders take different RAM, on smaller "SO-DIMMs" that often were used in laptops.

[nJm]

Well it sounds like the 350mhz one is the way to go.

They are priced at (in Australian dollars)

$295: iMac 333/64mb/6gb
$395: iMac 350/128mb/6gb

[tooki]

Originally posted by discotronic:
The slot-loading iMac uses standard PC100 SDRAM desktop memory and is very easy to upgrade where the other uses (if I'm not mistaken) 1 desktop and 1 laptop PC100 SDRAM module and isn't so easy to install.

You are mistaken. The iMac G4 uses one regular DIMM and one SODIMM. The slot-load iMacs have two PC100 DIMM slots. The tray-load iMac G3 has two PC66 SODIMM slots.

tooki

[nJm]

So, does that mean if I got a 333mhz tray-loading iMac I could use a new PC133 SD-RAM chip, and it would work, just at 66mhz?