[Koralatov]

I've got my hands on a G3 'Blue Dalmatian' iMac as a present for a friend, and I'm in the middle of upgrading it. It currently has 1GB of RAM, Tiger and the stock 20GB hard-disk. I'm considering taking out the CD-RW and putting in a DVD-ROM, but I want to know whether this machine will play them properly under Tiger, or is it too slow?

[gooser]

yes it will work providing you can get dvd player to work with it, but don't bother. the screen will be too dark and some movies will be a little "streaky". get a small tv instead.

[Koralatov]

Originally Posted by gooser 

yes it will work providing you can get dvd player to work with it, but don't bother. the screen will be too dark and some movies will be a little "streaky". get a small tv instead.

Fair enough. It was more because my friend might want to watch DVDs on it when I give it to her, but if it's likely a waste of time, then I'll probably give it a miss. Cheers for the input.

[misc]

If it sees the DVD drive then it will be fast enough to play DVDs.

[slpdLoad]

I don't see why it'll look worse than a cheap TV. As long as the DVD drive is of decent quality, you'll be fine. You can always calibrate the screen. The speakers on those iMacs aren't the worst either. They can go quite loud anyway.

[iREZ]

do external drives not work with the G3 imacs?

[Timetheus]

I once tried to play DVDs through a firewire DVD burner on a G3 400mhz in VLC with mixed results. It was viewable but choppy at best. I'm fairly certain it was a performance issue as much with VLC as with anything, though the FW bus may have slowed it down as opposed to an internal drive.

Firewire is more than fast enough to handle DVD viewing in theory, but on those machines resources are limited at best, so the combo of an external drive and a version of VLC optimized for faster machines probably was a bit much for my trusty G3.

[dn15]

I used to run an iMac DV (400 MHz; first iMac to include DVD) and it played them perfectly fine. I see no reason yours shouldn't be just fine, too.

[Koralatov]

Originally Posted by dn15 

I used to run an iMac DV (400 MHz; first iMac to include DVD) and it played them perfectly fine. I see no reason yours shouldn't be just fine, too.

If that model did, then I can't see why a 500MHz G3 should. Now, this leaves me with a new problem: where to get the DVD-drive. There are bunches of slot-loader CD-ROM drives, and even a few CD-RW drives, floating about on eBay, but seemingly no DVDs...

Anyone know where I can get one for a reasonably price?

[emark]

Not only do you need to calibrate the screen, but you should use a video player that allows you to adjust the picture for each movie...Gamma, brightness, saturation, etc.

VLC has this capability - use one of the stable releases first. 0.86c is the most current, I believe. Under the menu: window > extended controls then expand "image adjustment". I think QT pro gives these type of features too, but costs $30.
mplayer, without compiling your own, doesn't make these controls readily available as I recall, but may have changed?

I've had success with a G3 600 ibook, and a G4 400 powerbook.

[Big Mac]

It depends on the iMac model, but as others have said if it has a built-in DVD drive then it's fine for DVD watching.

[P]

Originally Posted by Koralatov 

If that model did, then I can't see why a 500MHz G3 should. Now, this leaves me with a new problem: where to get the DVD-drive. There are bunches of slot-loader CD-ROM drives, and even a few CD-RW drives, floating about on eBay, but seemingly no DVDs...

Anyone know where I can get one for a reasonably price?

Try searching for "combo drive" or "superdrive" as well - in Apple marketting speak, a combo is a CD-RW+DVD and a superdrive is a DVD-RW.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by emark 

I think QT pro gives these type of features too, but costs $30.

Non-Pro Quicktime already lets you do this (command-K to Show A/V controls).

[Mike Pither]

confirm that it should play dvds fine. My old 400mhz dvse has no problem with them.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Koralatov 

I'm considering taking out the CD-RW and putting in a DVD-ROM, but I want to know whether this machine will play them properly under Tiger, or is it too slow?

Frankly, I'd rather be able to burn CDs than watch DVDs.

If you put a DVD-RW or a combo drive in, of course, that's a different story. But I wouldn't sacrifice burning ability just to be able to watch DVDs on a tiny iMac screen.

[Koralatov]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Frankly, I'd rather be able to burn CDs than watch DVDs.

If you put a DVD-RW or a combo drive in, of course, that's a different story. But I wouldn't sacrifice burning ability just to be able to watch DVDs on a tiny iMac screen.

Personally, I'd love to put a combo/DVD-RW in there, but the only ones I've seen were $150 (~£75), and that's more than I paid for the machine. It's not actually for me, though, and the friend that I'm giving it to isn't hugely technical, and will likely be more interested in watching DVDs on it than burning CDs. I will give it some thought though--tracking down a slot-loader DVD drive from one of these machines is proving to be more work than I thought it would be.

Thanks for the input though; it's much appreciated.

[P]

Unless she means to replace the TV or doesn't have a TV at all, a cheapo DVD player for her TV would almost certainly be a better investment.