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+--- Thread: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? (/showthread.php?tid=89765)
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - dan steinberg - 12-18-2009
Thanks everyone for all the quick and detailed responses, I knew I could count on you for some wise thoughts. I do tend to agree with most posters that it's an awful old machine to throw too much money into, especially with my in-laws casual use habits.
One poster mentioned that you could get a more recent Imac used, any ideas on the bets sources? One challenge we have is that if we get a new machine, new or used, it needs to be in hand in the next few days so that I can set up the new/used machine for them.
We are in Albuquerque, NM. Any posters in that area have an appropriate machine they would like to unload?
The $850 Imac refurb seems like a lot of computer for the money and is tempting. But again the timeframe issues comes to mind. Does anyone know how good the apple web store is about shipping stuff quickly if we are willing to pay extra for expedited shipping? There is also a local Apple store here in Albuquerque, I will call them and see if they have any refurbs in store, you never know.
Any additional thoughts still welcome!
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - Wailer - 12-18-2009
To find a sub $300 c2d imac, you'll need more time to browse craigslist. I'm not sure what the used computer market is like in Albuquerque, but in LA there are a lot of people who like to own the newest mac so they essentially give away their old hardware. I picked up a 17" 2.0ghz C2D, 250gb HD for $330 about 8 months ago. I think it was a pretty good deal at the time, but I bet you can find something comparable for $300 with some time/work or about $350 with no work.
The 700mhz G4 will fetch more than it's worth. You might be able to get $80 for it, if you are willing to wait. You could probably sell it in a day for $50. It may not seem like much, but I doubt you could give away an almost 10 year old PC. Ok, it's 7 years old.
I forgot to add that my 1.25ghz g4 ibook w/1.25gb of RAM runs pretty well and is more than adequate for my parents. I bought the imac for them, but they couldn't tell the difference so I didn't want to "waste" it on them and I took it back.
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - decay - 12-18-2009
check these out:
http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/sys/1497118834.html
http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/ele/1496701098.html
!! http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/sys/1486020447.html
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - mrbigstuff - 12-18-2009
i'm in something of the same boat, with a 800mhz G4 iMac. sure, it's long in the tooth, but I love the design. i'm trying to come up with a useful solution to extend its life, too. but my situation is a bit different as I'm thinking along the lines of an iTunes server or just a backup storage device (maybe) with drives attached to the FW ports. one thing this machine does have is ample ports. the other possibility is to use it in some capacity for home security, but I have not researched that well enough (no time).
one concern for me is that extending the life of these machines keeps it out of a landfill in India or China or Africa where many electronic detritus ends up.
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - dan steinberg - 12-18-2009
Wow, now I feel really lazy when other posters have looked up the Albuquerque craigslist for me
I emailed all three craigslist posters to touch base and request additional system details that might not have been present in their ads.
The $425 one sure seems like a darn good deal with all of its extras, My father in-law likes Iphoto alot and surely would appreciate having the 09 version, and I could have the aluminum keyboard for myself......
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - jdc - 12-18-2009
jump on that last one.
pretty much maxed for a core duo, but its an intel chip, so they will be more than good
theres still life in that G4/700 -- you might be surprised at how much you can sell it for
my mom has the G4 1 ghz version of that same imac running 10.4.11 with only 256 ram and it runs great... guess the extra mhz really does help (and shes on fast cable...)
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - RAMd®d - 12-18-2009
I hope that iMac ends up in a good home.
I really, really like that model and it runs great on 768MB and Panther. Tiger? I don't know.
At this point the battery should be replaced. A bad battery will give some horrible video artifacts. But it still has a lot of life left for basic work.
And it *is* a Classic.
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - mrlynn - 12-18-2009
RAMd®d wrote:
I really, really like that model and it runs great on 768MB and Panther. Tiger? I don't know.
At this point the battery should be replaced. A bad battery will give some horrible video artifacts. But it still has a lot of life left for basic work.
And it *is* a Classic.
I agree. Our runs Tiger (10.4.11) fine. I especially like the adjustable screen on the moveable arm, a brilliant design feature that Apple unfortunately abandoned with that one model.
Guess I should replace the battery on ours. . . At this point the machine sits in what has become a guest room.
/Mr Lynn
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - Wailer - 12-18-2009
The last one on CL has been there for almost a month. If it hasn't sold, you can probably offer a bit less depending on how desperate you are.
Then again, if it's a good price to you, you want to be done with it and you don't want to risk insulting the seller, just offer his asking price or an even $400.
I take the cost of Apple refurb (or low-end current machine) with a full 1 year warranty and then try to justify the price. In other words, if you can get a refub 2.0ghz mini for $429 or so, it may not be worth the "risk" of buying a 3 year old machine that someone is selling for who-knows-what reason. Also factor your time and is-this-guy-gonna-mug me risk.
Re: Imac G4/700: Upgrade vs. replace? - Lew Zealand - 12-18-2009
A few people have mentioned G4 1GHz and 1.25 GHz machines and these are significantly faster than the Mac's G4/700, more than just the processor speed difference, for technical reasons (bus speed and L2/L3 cache differences are very big for G4s).
So this means that the G4/700 is not the best machine to invest more $ in. The suggestions of a refurb or used Intel iMac are good ones.
That said,
I have an iLamp G4/800 (slightly faster than yours and with none of the bus speed/cache advantages of the faster models) and it get more use by people sitting in front of it every day than all the other Macs in the house (and it is the slowest one in the house). Because it's ergonomic and in the kitchen where everyone is half the time. It has OS 10.4.11, 1GB RAM, 250GB 7200 RPM HD and plays great full screen video (480p as long as you stick to MPEG-4). Of course it does web, email, MS Office, PDF, etc. duty as well.
If this machine had anything less than 768 MB and a 40 GB 7200 RPM drive I think it would be too slow to be of much use so if you have the time and resources to upgrade it to that, then go ahead. But if doing that is too expensive (time or $), then an Intel iMac is a great choice.