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jamesl · May 18, 2005, 03:43 PM

HI

I am looking to purchase a basic iMac for a relative. I dont want to spend too much money.

Anyway, I am looking towards purchashing an iMac G3 400Mhz. Would you say that these are still worth purchasing for a low price? I have heard problems with the power supplies and hard drives dieing after a good few years, so do you think that this is likely to be a problem?

It would definetly be required to run os 10.3

Look forward to hearing from you!

discotronic · May 18, 2005, 03:56 PM

Just make sure that it has a least 512MB RAM. Anything less just makes for a very slow experience. It will run Panther or even Tiger fairly well for the basics. If you can get it for a very cheap price I would say go for it.

As far as the hard drives failing I would say that it is the truth. All hard drives will fail eventually. Some just sooner than others. I haven't heard anything about the power supplies being faulty.

jamesl · May 18, 2005, 04:09 PM

Yeah, ill definetly get one with good levels of ram in it.

Crazy as it may sound, somebody I know who runs a mac network had mopre problems with hard drives failing and equipment dieing under os 9 than has ever been the case now they are upgrade to os 10.

trip · May 18, 2005, 04:21 PM

umm, that depends.

I currently use the computer you are talking about and I am at the point where I have to buy something new. Running OSX with a G3 400 is becoming brutal - so very slow. I have 384 ram so bumping up the ram could help, but not much.

My question to you is how much are you paying ? does this person already have a monitor keyboard & mouse ? cause the mini is only $500 and considering you'd have to shell out a few hundred for OSX I would thing you'd be better off with the mini.

The other thing is that sofware is getting to the point where I can't even run them anymore, look around and you'll find many many apps with min reqs @ G4.

iKevin · May 18, 2005, 04:57 PM

I personally think anything under a G4 733 is slow in OS X.

Big Mac · May 18, 2005, 06:28 PM

"Slow" is a relative term. On a daily basis I use my iBook 466 and my G5 DP 2.0. My iBook is definitely slower than my G5, but it is still usable. Using my iBook does not make me want to scream out, "Damn, this is slow!"

ryaxnb · May 18, 2005, 06:32 PM

I would go for a iMac g3 500 or 600, Combo or DVD, w/FireWire. No less.

trip · May 18, 2005, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

"Slow" is a relative term. On a daily basis I use my iBook 466 and my G5 DP 2.0. My iBook is definitely slower than my G5, but it is still usable. Using my iBook does not make me want to scream out, "Damn, this is slow!"

Lucky you. I do !

jamesl · May 19, 2005, 05:30 AM

Hi

SO am I right in saying that the white iMacs (the final ones, after they stopped making coloured ones) are the best ones to go for?

Are these significantlyy better?

WHat wo[uld the specifications be of one of these?

Goldfinger · May 19, 2005, 05:51 AM

Originally Posted by jamesl

Hi

SO am I right in saying that the white iMacs (the final ones, after they stopped making coloured ones) are the best ones to go for?

Are these significantlyy better?

WHat wo[uld the specifications be of one of these?

You mean the flatpanel imac ? The white dome with the floasting LCD monitor ? Then, yes. I would also advice against buying a G3 system today. They really are too slow even for light stuff. Sure, they are useable, but it the long run the will only frustrate you.

As said before, look into buying a Mac mini.

jamesl · May 19, 2005, 06:28 AM

No, I mean the newer of the G3 imacs, which came in a 'snow' colour.

P · May 21, 2005, 12:36 PM

I have an iMac DV/400 with 512 MB RAM and an upgraded HD (Seagate Barraucd 7200.7 120 GB, highly recommended). While I also have a new iMac G5, the old Mac is definately usable. I'd recommend disabling some of the effects (like the Genie suck-in) for faster reactions, and the small screen means that I have to dsiable the Finder toolbars to get the screen real estate I need, but it's still a great machine.

The one thing it doesn't have is a CD-R. If you can find a decent machine with that in, it might be worth some more, but the other upgrades to the DV line are very minor. A faster HD does more than a couple of hundred MHz.

Eug Wanker · May 21, 2005, 12:39 PM

I would rip my hair out if I had to use a G3 400 on a regular basis. A G4 450 is more tolerable, but still slow.

Hanul · May 21, 2005, 03:58 PM

I bought an iMac (Summer 2000) for a friend a year ago. It was a low-end version even when it came out. 400MHz, 256MB, 8GB HD, no FW. I installed Panther and she's using it for surfing the web via 56k modem and some mild word processing. As it is her first computer (and no computer at work), she has no way to compare it to other experiences ;-). She is quite happy with the system - cute, little footprint, noiseless.

the_glassman · May 21, 2005, 04:31 PM

OS 9 or Linux would be fine. OS X with enough RAM should be alright for light duty task.

Oneota · May 21, 2005, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by jamesl

No, I mean the newer of the G3 imacs, which came in a 'snow' colour.

Yeah, as long as it has enough RAM, the very last G3 iMacs (the 700 MHz variety) should be fine. Heck, even a 500-600 MHz would do in a pinch, if the price was right. I wouldn't bother with anything much slower than that, though.

sniffer · 06:22 AM

I wouldn't worry to much about performance (for simple light tasks). I've owned a y2k iMac my self so I know what its capable of. But the lifespan on CRTs is by my observation around three years. Past that they tend to get blurry, hard to the eyes, sometimes even noisy. Depends on usage though.

ajprice · May 23, 2005, 06:59 AM

I second the 'Get a Mac mini' option, the G4 will be better for OS X. If they haven't got a screen, keyboard or mouse then they could get a 17" CRT monitor (a bigger screen than the iMac G3) and MS keyboard and mouse set from CompUSA for less than $150. That or a second hand eMac (G4 chip, 17" screen...).

darkknight30 · May 23, 2005, 12:49 PM

My 6 year old iMac DV just died on me. The logic board went out. Everything else is in great shape. I had a great experience with it, up until the point it went bye bye, it was a very solid machine. It worked basically problem free the entire time. Now I have a tangerine colored paperweight sitting on my counter because I bought an iMac G5, so a it would have been a bad cost-benefit ration for getting the iMac DV fixed. I would like to recommned one to you, but the older the iMac, the more miles it has.....

ApeInTheShell · May 27, 2005, 01:13 PM

You are better off with an eMac for the price and features it offers like a larger hard drive capacity, built in 17' monitor, DVD-R/CD-RW burner, better video card, and the software included. I wanted a basic computer and thought I wouldn't find iLife and others important but I was wrong. I have some relatives that look forward to purchasing a basic computer and I keep urging them to buy an eMac because it is less hassle.

jamesl · May 27, 2005, 02:03 PM

The thing is, we only mean spending around £100, as its only a temporary comuter, until we can afford a brand new iMac maybe next year.

SO even the mac mini is a little out of our price region. remember, it is only designjed to replace a windows, Pentium II computer, simply to get away from the windows platform ASAP. We arent looking for a speed boost at this stage!

P · May 28, 2005, 05:50 AM

Could everyone who is giving out advice here plese qualify it with the amount of experience they have using an iMac G3/400 with OS X? Because right now it looks like all the people who say it's fine are people who have used a lot, and all the people who say you should get something better are people who haven't really used it. That can't be right, eh?

If it were me, I'd buy the iMac. I got an iMac G5 because it was a good enough bang for my buck and because I had money after working lots of overtime that summer. If the iMac G5 had been a year late, I'd have waited another year. If this machine goes up in smoke tomorrow (and since that's what iMac G5s have been doing, it's a definitie possibility) I'll survive on the old iMac some time again.

jamesl · May 28, 2005, 07:43 AM

Are there really a lot of the imacs going up in smoke?

P · May 29, 2005, 10:34 AM

There is a problem with resistors from a certain batch from a certain manufacturer. They fail, and the computer fails - they don't actually go up in smoke. Apple uses them in iMac G5s. They're used by other manufacturers as well, most notably Dell. I think that if you buy a machine now, you'll be OK. Those of us who already have one have more to worry about, though.

Spliff · May 30, 2005, 04:52 PM

James,

My iMac 600 recently died after four years of nearly continual use. The flyback transformer packed it in. Apparently, this is a common problem with the CRT iMacs. They don't have fans and the heat the generate shortens the life of the components, at least according to a local Mac store that specializes in used Macs.

All-in-one designs are risky. If the monitor goes, you're basically pooched. But if you're not paying too much to begin with, then it might be worth your while. Just try to find an iMac that hasn't been used heavily.

Although, I think it would be better to buy a mini and a cheap CRT or LCD.

Eynstyn · May 31, 2005, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by darkknight30

My 6 year old iMac DV just died on me. The logic board went out. Everything else is in great shape. I had a great experience with it, up until the point it went bye bye, it was a very solid machine. It worked basically problem free the entire time. Now I have a tangerine colored paperweight sitting on my counter because I bought an iMac G5, so a it would have been a bad cost-benefit ration for getting the iMac DV fixed. I would like to recommned one to you, but the older the iMac, the more miles it has.....

So, how did you get your info transferred to the new G-5?

Spliff · May 31, 2005, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by Eynstyn

So, how did you get your info transferred to the new G-5?

With my iMac, I gutted it. I'm going to ebay the CDRW and the logic board. I bought an external hard drive enclosure (Macally Firewire/USB 2) and put the iMac hard drive into it.

khufuu · May 31, 2005, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by jamesl

The thing is, we only mean spending around £100, as its only a temporary comuter, until we can afford a brand new iMac maybe next year.

SO even the mac mini is a little out of our price region. remember, it is only designjed to replace a windows, Pentium II computer, simply to get away from the windows platform ASAP. We arent looking for a speed boost at this stage!

Never mind.

Eynstyn · May 31, 2005, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by Spliff

With my iMac, I gutted it. I'm going to ebay the CDRW and the logic board. I bought an external hard drive enclosure (Macally Firewire/USB 2) and put the iMac hard drive into it.

Great solution. I never would have thought of that.

darkknight30 · Jun 1, 2005, 10:33 PM

Eynstyn,

I took my deceased iMac DV to a computer repair place and they recovered all the info I needed from my hard drive. It works fine, just the logic board is gone. By the way the new iMac G5 is awesome, I love it!

jamesl · Jun 2, 2005, 03:46 AM

So, over all, would you recommend getting one?

If anything it will either be the blue slot loading imac or the later snow one.

macaddict0001 · Jun 2, 2005, 10:32 PM

That will be a big improvement over any pentium 2 they really are not that slow, I bought one new and I am currently running 10.4 on it. It is by no means slow. It was my main computer until late 2003.