Is a super cheap iMac really worth it for a PC user?

July 31, 2006 5:28 AM

Apple Filter: I'm a PC man, in a PC house, but I'm hoping to pick up a iMac G3 super cheap. What can I do with it?

And yes, I have read the aritcle on digg etc. here...

Generally, I have a few questions. They can be researched, but I have so many it's much easier to get a general opinion:
1) Can all iMac G3s be updated to OS X?
2) Obvious one, there is a OS X download for VLC Player, so I take it I would be able to watch movies and tv eps problem free? Even on an old [333-400mHz?] system?
3) I'm unfamiliar with Apple systems, if this only has a CDROM drive, the DVD drive can be plugged in via usb? I remember my cousins using external disk drives like floppy etc. And how much can one of these cost?
4) I have a Belkin four-port wireless router. What is the chance of connecting to this? I have it set up already with two of the LAN ports taken by PC's. Fair impossible I think?
5) Are there any other great uses for a mac like this? It will probably sit up in my room, so I don't want it folding constantly. I also tend to do most of my graphic design and animation right here on this family PC. I chat a lot, but it might be a bit useless if I can't connect it to our four-port router [but it is wireless too].

posted by taita_cakes to computers & internet (13 comments total)

2) VLC is certainly available for OS X. If the current version isn't compatibile, older versions of VLC are available here
3) External DVD drives can work via USB, yes. Try this link for pricing. Convert the link .com if you're stateside.
4) If both devices have ethernet - I don't see why there would be a problem.
posted by dance at 5:44 AM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

OH, ANOTHER QUESTION

Can you use an external hard drive on both a Mac and a PC, such that it will run in whatever it plugs into? I know that sometimes you format for Windows, or FAT32 etc. But will most/any external HDDs be supported?
posted by taita_cakes at 5:55 AM on July 31, 2006

connecting to the LAN is easy. that's the good news.
the bad news is a 333 mhz g3 is too slow to play most divx movies. forget about it. for that you need a g4.
also, the usb on such an old machine is 1.1. external dvd might not work well.
posted by Silky Slim at 6:16 AM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

I have a blue/white powermac G3 I got for $15 (woot!), and basically all I can use it for is AIM (with Adium, which rocks). I found some pc100 ram laying around, and even 256mb of ram didn't help out the sluggishness of the machine. It barely plays youtube videos, nevermind divx or h.236. I'm pretty sure you can only load 10.2 on a G3 (.3 and .4 need a g4 AFAIK). It will definitely connect to your router though.
posted by Mach5 at 7:05 AM on July 31, 2006

Contrary to what Mach5 says, an iMac G3 will run 10.3.9 just fine with 256 MB or more of system memory.

Just don't expect miracles out of your five year old+ machine.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:14 AM on July 31, 2006

I would die trying to use OS X with only 256mb of RAM.

My folks have a 400mhz g3 iMac that's maxed out on RAM--I want to say a gig, but I'm not sure what the max is--and it can play xvid type videos in VLC no problem if you don't really do anything else with the computer at the same time.

My 400mhz G4 powerbook that served me well for many years could easily play a video in VLC while I chatted, surfed, etc, at the same time.

An old G3 iMac will probably only have slow USB ports, so I wouldn't use a DVD drive that's USB. Better to get a firewire drive.
posted by bcwinters at 7:27 AM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

I find Apple's OS X Tiger System Requirements page useful when I contemplate picking up an older system.
posted by elderling at 7:30 AM on July 31, 2006

1) Can all iMac G3s be updated to OS X?

Yes.

2) Obvious one, there is a OS X download for VLC Player, so I take it I would be able to watch movies and tv eps problem free? Even on an old [333-400mHz?] system?

I've run VLC on a 600 MHz G3; it was dropping frames on some of the more recent codecs (divx/xvid), so don't expect good results there.

3) I'm unfamiliar with Apple systems, if this only has a CDROM drive, the DVD drive can be plugged in via usb?

Note that G3 iMacs only have USB 1.0. Some models have FireWire; if this one does, that might be a better option.

4) I have a Belkin four-port wireless router. What is the chance of connecting to this? I have it set up already with two of the LAN ports taken by PC's. Fair impossible I think?

Depends on which model of G3 iMac: it may or may not have a wireless card slot. If it does, it's 802.11b only.
posted by mcwetboy at 7:39 AM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

You could play Diablo II.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:53 AM on July 31, 2006

Any USB external HDD will work, but at very slow USB1.1 speeds.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:43 AM on July 31, 2006

Try to get an iMac DV+. You'll be able to get 10.4 on it, and it's fanless architecture means a pretty quiet machine (just disk drives making noise).

The DV+ will accept an Airport wireless card (though a USB solution will be cheaper) and play DVDs. You can also look at the iMac DV SE, which runs 50 MHz faster and contains 10 GB more hard drive space.

May I suggest the Sage model?
posted by sdrawkcab at 8:52 AM on July 31, 2006

Yellow Dog Linux has great support for most Apple hardware. If Linux is your thing, you might find it to be a better experience than OS X on older hardware.

XPostFacto is necessary to run later versions of OS X on some hardware.

Memory is very important. Max it out, memory is cheap, and once you start hitting swap it will be unbearable.
posted by kableh at 9:01 AM on July 31, 2006

Ubuntu also has a PowerPC version that should work on that machine.

Low-End Mac seems to be the definitive choice on what you can do with older mac hardware.
posted by timeistight at 9:26 AM on July 31, 2006