[markbbb]

Hi,

This is my first message on this board. I have a question for you.

What should I do with my good ol' reliable Rev. B iMac? I don't want to sell it on ebay because they are only going for around $300-400, I don't want to upgrade the processor because it's expensive and the 66MHz system bus will limit the throughput. I am just wondering what you would do with an aging computer.

Thanks guys!

[ 08-11-2001: Message edited by: markbbb ]

[Paul S]

That's a big question. The answer very much depends on what else you do with your computer(s). If you're big into video and have another machine for that, use the iMac for e-mail and internet access, leaving the other machine dedicated to other work. There are many other examples that may come with different suggestions. If you could let us know what you like to do and if you have other computers, I'm sure you'd get a few good ideas.

[markbbb]

I was thinking of rackmounting it and using it in my guitar rig for recording/live playback...the iRac is around $400. But still that is more money than the computer is worth. Urg, I should have sold it when they were going for $600-700.

#1) Kitchen email-web terminal.

#2) Donate to family member, preferably elderly. They might remember you in their will.

#3) mac-quarium

[vmarks]

I want to rackmount one, and the rackmount case I use will have removable drive bays for two hard drives.

The point of this will be, use a drive for the OS and then use a second drive for storage. Down the road, I'd upgrade the processor to the HARMONi, 500mhz with firewire, and use it for video as well as audio.

I'm currently looking for an iMac logic board.. I already have leads on the case. Yes, I want to do this for less than the marathon solution.

[markbbb]

Keep me posted on how it goes. A one space race is ideal. If you have to go two or three it starts to get big.

[Mark N]

I've got a rev. b that I don't want to part with for many of the same reason as you. Plus, I like the nostalgia part, although computers don't seem to become collector's items.

Although upgrades cost a lot, I am considering the sonnett upgrade because it would add firewire.

I will probably use it as a gaming machine, because I'm not into heavily graphics intensive games. Once I do have time to get into some games, my dual 800 should be here .

If I do get the upgrade, I'll probably use it as machine for burning CDs, making video CDs with toast, and a test machine for websites on small monitors.

[seanyepez]

I would turn it into a webserver/a kitchen web terminal. The web server/file server could be run overnight if you have a routed broadband connection.

A kitchen web terminal isn't a bad idea, either. It's pretty cool to be able to browse the Internet while you're cooking.

At this point in the game, I don't think it's wise to turn a relatively new (three years old) machine into a Mac-quarium. I'd wait another two or three years before this option is viable, because you're just going to throw whatever use left in a $400 machine.

[vmarks]

Originally posted by markbbb:
<STRONG>Keep me posted on how it goes. A one space race is ideal. If you have to go two or three it starts to get big.</STRONG>

most rackmount units are thin, but they make up for it in width and depth-
to get that flat, they have to put the other components alongside instead of stacking. I may end up using a 1U hub case with an atx power supply, doing some metal fabrication to make it pretty, but as it ought to be apparent, I'm cheap. If I wanted a pretty solution without working for it, I'd buy a cube, or Marathon's iRack.

Either way, whenever I get the project started (it starts with me getting someone to sell me an iMac logic board, cdrom, and av/io board) I'll be sure to start a thread here with pictures.

[seanyepez]

Hey Vic, how much are those Marathon cases?

Personally, I would keep the iMac in its original case. The rackmount solution is only ideal if you already have a rackmount setup, but since most of us are home users, I don't think it's worth it to fork over $200-300 for another monitor if we can just use the iMac in its original, all-in-one form.

[koffedrnkr]

here's an idea...go over to mousehouse.net and grab some home automation software & some control modules for your mac. use your bondi friend to control your lights, stereo, thermostat, make your morning coffee, whatever.....

[vmarks]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
<STRONG>Hey Vic, how much are those Marathon cases?

Personally, I would keep the iMac in its original case. The rackmount solution is only ideal if you already have a rackmount setup, but since most of us are home users, I don't think it's worth it to fork over $200-300 for another monitor if we can just use the iMac in its original, all-in-one form.</STRONG>

Sean,

I just got two rackmount cases for free, but they're currently network hubs, with tons of rj-45 connectors. I figure I'll take the guts out and make up some faceplates for it. It also has a nice pci riser card, so if I manage to get a B&W G3 or G4 motherboard, I could use it. I almost have a spare iMac bought to do the project with. Like I said, I'll start a website and a thread as soon as I get it.

Monitors are cheap, 100- 150.. 150 is for a 17" that can do 1280x1024. If you find the case for free, like I did, and you've already got one iMac with a bad analog video board, I ask you- what makes the most fiscal sense? it's a tie, depending on where you get your repairs done. If you like hardware hacking, like I do, it's a cinch- alter the thing.

As for the original poster who didn't want to upgrade cause it's costly, and didn't want to sell because he wouldn't get 'enough'- there's only one option remaining. Use it as it is, until it isn't useful any longer. Then, sell it to me for cheap.

[seanyepez]

I have an iMac revision-B that an undisclosed person got mad at and smashed with a bottle. Everything's perfect except the CD-ROM drive still is a little bit sticky.

I'll sell the machine to you for $200. You do what you want with it.

[email protected]

[seanyepez]

Oh, whoops. I forgot to mention that the CRT is dinged up in two pretty central locations. So, I figure, it'll be perfect for your purposes.

It's a revision-B iMac with a 4-gigabyte hard drive and 32 megabytes of RAM. I'm selling just the all-in-one unit, not anything that came with it nor the keyboard/mouse.