Imac G4

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

That wasn't a good deal.

[ExtremeG]

Yeah not a good deal, just to be able to brag to your friends that you own a Mac. You would have been better off saving until you get about ?200 and buying a new Samsung 10.1" netbook which you could install Linux Mint on, and run MonoDevelop to do programming in C# and other languages. Also it is very light and portable.

^ Far more useful than a knackered old Mac, my mum bought an iBook G4 when it was new in 2004 and it has been next to useless since 2009, apart from crawling the web at a snails pace, watching youtube videos is extremely jerky and there is nothing of benefit from having one. Unless it was bought new back in the day and now only serves as eye candy.

[.Neo]

The guy is set on buying obsolete and increadibly slow hardware against insane prices and throws our advice in the wind. At this point after so many people recommended him against it I'd say by al means let him.

[Glassed Silver]

Maybe he got it from a business and hence got a warranty along with it?

If not, it's not a too good deal, especially the eMacs are mostly for loving the design and all.

Well at least you get some nice built-in speakers haha.

Glassed Silver:mac

[threetonesun]

Maybe he got it from a business and hence got a warranty along with it?

What's the warranty on something that old? If it doesn't work, they'll send you the money back, and you can throw it in the trash for them?

[.Neo]

Maybe he got it from a business and hence got a warranty along with it?

Warrantee...? On a 2004 eMac??

[Astra.Xtreme]

Oh man, those eMacs are so slow that Youtube videos won't even play smoothly. All it's really good for is a huge paper weight or door stop, or maybe a strange looking fish tank. Besides that, it will just be one huge source of frustration.

[.Neo]

Oh man, those eMacs are so slow that Youtube videos won't even play smoothly. All it's really good for is a huge paper weight or door stop, or maybe a strange looking fish tank. Besides that, it will just be one huge source of frustration.

Yeap the 1,42 GHz eMac in the next room stucks pretty hard at playing Flash and pretty much all software on it is out of date: OS X Leopard v10.5.8, Microsoft Office 2010, iLife '09 (I think)? The only thing up-to-date is iWork '09.

[ExtremeG]

Oh man, those eMacs are so slow that Youtube videos won't even play smoothly. All it's really good for is a huge paper weight or door stop, or maybe a strange looking fish tank. Besides that, it will just be one huge source of frustration.

My point exactly, it's just gonna cause a lot of frustration, which might make the O.P end up throwing it out of a window. The budget spent on that eMac would have been better spent on an old Logitech Z2300 speaker system, at least it would provide entertainment and be useful for something.

I know people that get redundant, old computers like these given to them for free when their workplace updates their systems, the most common thing that happens is they get turned into personal file servers or seedboxes until they die completely (which doesn't take too long).

[Glassed Silver]

Warrantee...? On a 2004 eMac??

What's the warranty on something that old? If it doesn't work, they'll send you the money back, and you can throw it in the trash for them?

It's a collector's item to some, so they might care about it functioning, too.

Warranties last longer than just the the first few days after arrival.

I don't know about US laws, but here in Germany, a seller that is not private must provide a warranty with used items, too.

(1 year minimum)

Glassed Silver:mac

[startrek1997]

i am sorry my interests don't live up to your guys expectations. :/

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Yeap the 1,42 GHz eMac in the next room stucks pretty hard at playing Flash and pretty much all software on it is out of date: OS X Leopard v10.5.8, Microsoft Office 2010, iLife '09 (I think)? The only thing up-to-date is iWork '09.

My 2Ghz C2D Mac Mini is still jerky while playing Flash videos, Safari can kinda handle them, but Safari is so slow that I don't use it.

[.Neo]

It's a collector's item to some, so they might care about it functioning, too.

Warranties last longer than just the the first few days after arrival.

I don't know about US laws, but here in Germany, a seller that is not private must provide a warranty with used items, too.

(1 year minimum)

Glassed Silver:mac

Whether such warrantee can be put in actual practice with 2004 hardware is a second. I've seen eMac components online in the ?100-350 range, which is much more than the entire machine costs. So at best you'll get a refund or a replacement machine (if available), but don't expect it to actually get fixed at these prices. In the case of a refund you're not really getting anywhere.

[threetonesun]

I don't know about US laws, but here in Germany, a seller that is not private must provide a warranty with used items, too.

(1 year minimum)

Glassed Silver:mac

In the US it's just caveat emptor on used stuff, unless you want to deal with some sort of outside warranty agency that would charge money for it.

[startrek1997]

It really doest matter.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Well I might as well add my 2 cents in here..

I have an old Powermac G5 at home with dual 2GHz CPU's and about 6GB of RAM. It's fun to power up every once in a while and OSX 10.5 still feels new enough to not feel out of date, and it runs OK. But I think for what it'd cost to get a Powermac G5 and possibly replace worn components (HDD, etc) you might be better off finding an Intel Mac Mini.

Don't get me wrong the just having one of those G5's on your desk is a good feeling as they still look fabulous and they are still perfectly usable. But diminishing application support, and the expense of replacement parts when they die (let alone all the other caveats) mean a Mac Mini is a much more sensible proposition.

But it's your money and do what makes you feel happy. You asked for everyones advice but you are not under any obligation to take it :)

[startrek1997]

I was hopeing to get a powermac g5 because they look so cool but i could never find one in my price range. If i did find one it was for parts or repaire.

[b10h4z4rd]

What is your budget, I can watch for the next G5 to come in to work.

[startrek1997]

ummm...Max about $100 and i dont have that right now. But would appreciate it if you would watch for one. :)

[b10h4z4rd]

I think I have about 5 or 6 iMac G5s sitting around ready to be processed. Let me know when you have a bit more than that.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

For reference, b10h4z4rd works in what could best be described as an elephants burial ground, but for computers. Floor to ceiling of random models and manufacturers.

He's shown me pictures, it's a thing of beauty.

[b10h4z4rd]

I would have to say it's glorious. I've had the pleasure of abusing a dual Quad Core Xeon Mac Pro w/ approx 20 GB DDR2.

For those wondering (old pictures)

I can take new ones tomorrow.

[threetonesun]

University computer lab?

[b10h4z4rd]

University surplus.

[startrek1997]

• You sould take some pics.(But for some reason i cant see tham :/ ) How much are you looking to get for one?