inherited a clamshell - now what to do.. ?

[mrbigstuff]

I got a 300mhz, nice condtion, blue clammer. Has 96mb RAM, 3gb HD, no FW, one USB. Can I get some legacy software and some hardware kludge to use wi-fi on this thing?

I'm thinking iKitchen computer ;->

[Racer X]

(shudder) I never want to see a blue clam.

On a serious note, there are 802.11 USB plug-ins. With more RAM, and if you wiped the drive, loaded 10.3 and ran an app called delocalizer to strip out non-english support, it should work.

I had 10.2.x running on a B&W G3/300 with a fair bit of RAM, and it was tolerable as long as it wasn't doing serious video stuff.

You can get a 256 stick of RAM for that shipped for about $35, or a 512 for about $85.

[The Grim Ninja]

Sell it.

Buy a Dual USB iBook with the money.

[rickard5]

I'd give ya $100 Cash for it man

[mrbigstuff]

Want to keep it, mainly for recipe look up and the coolness factor of having a nice blue clam in the kitchen (Racer, I have had some bad clams as well, through the years.

Plus, the LittleBigStuffs can play with it and I won't care, unlike an iBook.

[pRON aHOLIC]

Are the airport cards for those still $99? Ouch.

[Psurfer]

Popular opinion (around here) to the contrary, the original clamshell's Are cool.
I expect you know that it does take the original Airport card; someplace was mentioned on this forum selling the cards for a reasonable amount (~$79?) a few weeks ago. Since the clamshell's rounded contours and truly rugged build invite a looser handling style, I'd recommend only an internal card solution for wifi, so there's nothing sticking out to break, or impale. Airport reception on the clamshells is quite good.

Use it for a while and you'll find it's far and away the most comfortable sofa-browsing/typing machine Apple ever made. The ergonomics of the deck and its surface textures are superior. I like the apps SideTrack, and DoubleCommand added for more trackpad (vert/horiz scrolling) and keyboard (+2nd comnd or ctrl key) convenience.

For most slower-loading websites, Firefox is faster than Safari on machines like these (but still too quirky for me to switch from Safari). Otherwise, close as many other tabs as you can when opening a site such as eBay, and it's tolerable. For 80-90% of sites I go to, it's completely fine- just watch the number of tabs open to avoid delays. Load it w/RAM and Panther as noted, and as an auxilliary mac it can serve well, and stand up to years of real abuse.

If like me you end up wanting to keep it going as long as possible, a new hard drive will speed it up, and give it a new lease on life.
I'm typing this out on the same "Blueberry" mdl right now.

[Psurfer]

As far as Airport cards, my original one gave it up after 5 or 6 yrs, so go for a new one unless you can test a used one that's Really cheap.

[anonymouse1]

1. there are usb WiFi sticks for under $25; sometimes for $15. They seem to work, or at least mine does.

2. If you're going to use OS X, max out the RAM,and you'll do fine.

[ztirffritz]

They'll run Yellow Dog Linux reasonably well.