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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Is this a good deal?

Is this a good deal?
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kmarketing
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Jun 26, 2004, 10:03 AM
 
Hi.

A colleague of mine offered me his imac for the price of $625. I just wanted to check with you to see if it is a good deal.

It is a 15" Flat Screen 800mhz 60gb Superdrive Imac (the dome one). He is also throwing in a 120gb Lacie external 7200 hard drive. I've seen everything, and it is in mint condition. It also has a ton of software on it.

Is this a good deal? How does this compare with my 17" 1ghz powerbook (besides the difference in screens of course)?

My wife is really interested in it and is willing to part with her loving sony laptop (she never travels with it), if we can somehow get kazaa on it. My colleague is leaving virtual pc 5.0 on the machine. Will that help run Kazaa (I have licensed windows xp if I need that)? What would be the best way to set this up - Partitions on the hard drive - separate hard drives, etc.?

Thanks for your opinions!!
     
NYK Ace
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Jun 26, 2004, 10:09 AM
 
i think its a good buy!

i will try to post more later but saw this on my way out
     
BrunoBruin
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Jun 26, 2004, 10:57 AM
 
That's a great price. I just sold a 700MHz CD-RW model for $700, and I've seen combo-drive models for $799. If it only has the standard 256MB of RAM, though, buy another 512 for the external slot. Especially if you want to run Virtual PC.

It will be pokier than your PowerBook, which has a faster system bus and so on, but for that price I would buy it myself.
     
kmarketing  (op)
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Jun 26, 2004, 11:12 AM
 
Hi,

Thank you!! Wow, it seems like this would a great deal then - especially since it has the dvd burner and external hard drive which I can use with my powerbook.

Do you have any idea how fast is the internal 60gb hard dive on the imac?

Also, with virtual pc 5, will that be sufficient to run windows xp and kazaa lite, or do I need the most current version of virtual pc?

Is it possible to add a gig of memory using 2 512mb chips, since I already have those?

Also, if I wanted to upgrade to a faster dvd burner or larger hard drive is that possible? Would you have instructions to any of these upgrades?

Thanks so much!!
     
scottiB
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Jun 26, 2004, 11:59 AM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi,

Thank you!! Wow, it seems like this would a great deal then - especially since it has the dvd burner and external hard drive which I can use with my powerbook.

Do you have any idea how fast is the internal 60gb hard dive on the imac?
It's 5400rpm, I'm pretty sure.
Also, with virtual pc 5, will that be sufficient to run windows xp and kazaa lite, or do I need the most current version of virtual pc?
Version 5 should be fine. IIRC, I ran XP on v.5 on an iBook (since deleted). VPC is simply the environment. The Windows flavor is your choice.
Is it possible to add a gig of memory using 2 512mb chips, since I already have those?
Yes, but the iMac uses two different size chips: the external, user-accessible slot (located on the bottom) uses a 144-pin SODIMM (small outline) chip like an older iBook, and the one inside the dome is a full size chip as would be used in a PowerMac G4 (PC133-SDRAM-DIMM).
Also, if I wanted to upgrade to a faster dvd burner or larger hard drive is that possible? Would you have instructions to any of these upgrades?
To take apart an iMac G4,
Here, ya go

FYI, You're limited to a 120GB drive, I believe.
( Last edited by scottiB; Jun 26, 2004 at 12:07 PM. )
     
kmarketing  (op)
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Jun 26, 2004, 05:07 PM
 
Thanks for answering all my questions!!
     
turtle777
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Jun 26, 2004, 05:50 PM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi.

A colleague of mine offered me his imac for the price of $625. I just wanted to check with you to see if it is a good deal.

It is a 15" Flat Screen 800mhz 60gb Superdrive Imac (the dome one). He is also throwing in a 120gb Lacie external 7200 hard drive. I've seen everything, and it is in mint condition. It also has a ton of software on it.
It's a bad, bad deal.

Give me your friends phone number and email and I will deal with him.

-t
     
discotronic
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Jun 26, 2004, 11:32 PM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi.

A colleague of mine offered me his imac for the price of $625. I just wanted to check with you to see if it is a good deal.

It is a 15" Flat Screen 800mhz 60gb Superdrive Imac (the dome one). He is also throwing in a 120gb Lacie external 7200 hard drive. I've seen everything, and it is in mint condition. It also has a ton of software on it.

Is this a good deal? How does this compare with my 17" 1ghz powerbook (besides the difference in screens of course)?

My wife is really interested in it and is willing to part with her loving sony laptop (she never travels with it), if we can somehow get kazaa on it. My colleague is leaving virtual pc 5.0 on the machine. Will that help run Kazaa (I have licensed windows xp if I need that)? What would be the best way to set this up - Partitions on the hard drive - separate hard drives, etc.?

Thanks for your opinions!!
Great deal. I say go for it. The Superdrive is the deal sealer.

As far as VPC goes...I would upgrade to verson 6 if possible. Version 5 has sometimes has problems running under Panther and 6 is faster. If you can get Windows 2000 you would be better off. If not, turn off as much of the graphics and eye candy as possible to help speed up the OS. You should be able to run Kazaa but it won't be as fast as on a regular Wintel machine. Downloads shouldn't be affected to badly. I wouldn't worry about setting up VPC on a different HD. It will use your existing disk space up to 15GB but it doesn't take the 15GB and keep it for itself so OSX still has access to the space.
     
kmarketing  (op)
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Jun 26, 2004, 11:59 PM
 
Hi,

I think we would only need the windows to run Kazaa for my wife. Would virtual pc 6 be that much better for our purpose?

I am concerned about possible viruses and other problems associated with kazaa. Do you think a separate hard drive just for kazaa would ensure more security?

Thanks!!
     
turtle777
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Jun 27, 2004, 09:20 PM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi,

I think we would only need the windows to run Kazaa for my wife. Would virtual pc 6 be that much better for our purpose?

I am concerned about possible viruses and other problems associated with kazaa. Do you think a separate hard drive just for kazaa would ensure more security?
Thanks!!
No, that wouldn't help a lot. Just a bit, maybe.
If you are really concerned, then you should better not use Kazaa.
Otherwise, some common sense and an up-to-date windows installation will do it.

The most security issues you will have with Windows IE and Outlook. So you better not use these.

-t
     
chalk_outline
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Jun 28, 2004, 01:25 AM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi,

I think we would only need the windows to run Kazaa for my wife. Would virtual pc 6 be that much better for our purpose?

I am concerned about possible viruses and other problems associated with kazaa. Do you think a separate hard drive just for kazaa would ensure more security?

Thanks!!
You could just use Poisoned on OS X to get into the Kazaa network. No Virtual PC or Spyware, ect..

http://gottsilla.net/
     
Krusty
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Jun 28, 2004, 09:32 AM
 
Originally posted by chalk_outline:
You could just use Poisoned on OS X to get into the Kazaa network. No Virtual PC or Spyware, ect..

http://gottsilla.net/
Ditto .. dump kazaa if that's all you need the PC for. Poisoned rules. Rather than wax poetic about its benefits, I'll just quote their 'About' page which pretty much sums up its strengths.
Poisoned is a file sharing application for Mac OS X. Poisoned may look like your average file sharing application at first glance, but it is so much more. Unlike applications like Limewire or Kazaa that connect to only one file sharing network, Poisoned can connect to several seamlessly. Unlike Kazaa and several other file sharing applications, Poisoned contains no spyware and no adware. In addition, Poisoned, is, and always will be, free and open-source software. We also release our code for other developers to work with. We embrace developer interaction with our program; we realize that the more people that contribute to this application, the better it will be. The philosophies behind the development of Poisoned are much like the file sharing networks themselves; its all about sharing with the community and giving back.

Poisoned connects to the FastTrack network (Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh), the Gnutella network (Limewire, Acquisition), and OpenFT. This is all made possible by something called the giFT daemon (http://gift.sf.net), the same people behind the OpenFT network. The different networks supported in our application are actually plugins for giFT. Right now, network plugins being developed for two high-profile networks: OpenNapster and eDonkey. This means that in a little while, Poisoned will support 5 networks within one application, all with a low strain on your system. Poisoned supports multiple source download, so your files will download quick and painlessly. Poisoned integrates with iTunes beautifully, automatically importing into iTunes and deleting the original file if iTunes manages your music library.
     
kmarketing  (op)
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Jun 28, 2004, 10:34 PM
 
Hi.

Poisoned looks great!! The only thing that I am concerned about is if it has some of the same terrible programs that kazaa downloads have. I can't tell you how many tracking programs there are because of kazaa on my wife's sony.

If there are such programs, is there software (like adaware and spybot) that can help clean the computer?

Thanks!!
     
turtle777
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Jun 28, 2004, 11:22 PM
 
Originally posted by kmarketing:
Hi.

Poisoned looks great!! The only thing that I am concerned about is if it has some of the same terrible programs that kazaa downloads have. I can't tell you how many tracking programs there are because of kazaa on my wife's sony.

If there are such programs, is there software (like adaware and spybot) that can help clean the computer?

Thanks!!
Don't worry.

I have not heard of any spyware on Mac's yet.
Even if there was, it couldn't install itself without you giving it permission in the first place. It would ask you for your password when being installed.

-t
     
Krusty
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Jun 29, 2004, 12:59 AM
 
Originally posted by turtle777:
Don't worry.

I have not heard of any spyware on Mac's yet.
Even if there was, it couldn't install itself without you giving it permission in the first place. It would ask you for your password when being installed.

-t
oooh ...my first doubt "ditto" (seconding two different posters in the same thread). As Poisoned site notes, their product is open source.. so no "secrets" about what's in it. Also, besides the inherent protection of the limited /user spaces in OS X (and password requirements for installs noted by turtle777) you also have the added "stealth" of OS X in that it can't run Window's executables or vb scripts in the first place . (eg. even if TerribleBug.exe somehow got on your machine, how would it run ?? -- except through Virtual PC or something. It'd have to be a bug specifically targeted at OS X)
     
bobannikolic
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Jul 15, 2004, 06:35 PM
 
I paid more (btw 800 and 900 if I remember correctly) for my 15" superdrive imac last year (a 800 as well)... definatly buy 512 mb ram, it makes it much more speedy.... I wish I could have gotten mine that cheap...

Everyone I know takes notice of my imac, its definatly a conversation piece.

I would use acquistion instead of kazaa or poison, easier to use and has more hits than poision... it runs on the limewire network...
CCCC- Serbs should know what that means
     
   
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