Save the Sunflower!

September 29, 2006 5:49 AM

How can I save my iMac G4?

It works fine right now; in fact, since all we use that machine for is light surfing, email, DVD watching and iTunes, it's chugging along just fine. But I know that as time goes on, it will eventually not even be able to perform those tasks.
Thing is, we love the little machine -- it's still my favorite computer, from a hardware design standpoint. It's so pretty.
So I want to save it. My idea is to continue using it to play music -- basically make it a home jukebox. So what I want to know is: what kind of upgrading can I do to it? Is it worth it to upgrade the G4 chip, for example? Or is that pointless without upgrading the motherboard? Can the motherboard be upgraded? Is 1GB really the limit on RAM for it?

posted by eustacescrubb to computers & internet (5 comments total)

I used my iMac G3 for serving iTunes to my other computers, the iPods, and the Airport Express. It wasn't a rocket, but it did the job quite well. I maxed out RAM at 1GB [it couldn't take more] and had an external firewire hard drive for more storage. It worked fine until last year when the CRT tube started to go. Your iMac's LCD should last many more years of the kind of use you describe.

Now I use a G4 Mac mini to do its job. In addition it acts as a print server for my other computers in the house. It doesn't set speed records. I don't use it to rip DVDs or play games. But it works just fine.

Upgrading the CPU is probably least cost effective and most expensive upgrade. Since Apple didn't make G5 versions of that look, you'd have to cobble something together yourself. Just max out the RAM and hard drive [or go external via firewire]. For my G3 to go to a G4, it required some custom work and would have cost as much as going out and buying a Mac mini [sans display, but I needed to get a display too].

The only thing that would send your Mac into early retirement would be when Mac OS X's requirements are beyond what you Mac can be upgraded to do. I think you'll be safe until at least whatever comes after Leopard.
posted by birdherder at 6:08 AM on September 29, 2006

I don't think the the G4s got much above 1 Ghz, so upgrading the chip isn't going to get you very far. You might look for something more radical like swapping the guts for a new mac mini. The imac monitor has no power supply of its own, so theres going to be some complications. You also have to consider that the expected lifespan of the monitor itself, is probably something like five years. The backlight will dim significantly or fail.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:15 AM on September 29, 2006

Wow, I was just about to post a very similar question.

What can I do with an older tray-loading iMac? Almost all of the work I do is high-end RAM/memory-intensive Adobe CS work, so the little 6GB hard drive in the iMac isn't good for much besides web surfing and iTunes.

If I were to put a 120GB hard drive in the iMac, could I use it as a home jukebox or music server? It doesn't have Firewire/USB 2--is there another way to attach my iPod(s) to it?
posted by fandango_matt at 7:35 AM on September 29, 2006

It doesn't have Firewire/USB 2--is there another way to attach my iPod(s) to it?

Unless they've changed this for some bizarre reason, you can connect iPods to USB 1.1...it's just really slow.


As for the OP, not much to say that hasn't been said already. It should work just fine, as-is, as a jukebox. If you must upgrade it past the stock processor or max RAM, you will have to get your hands dirty and totally rework the innards with goodness knows what sort of components (I assume that form factor uses some very non-standard parts). At which point, it's probably not worth the hassle (IMHO).
posted by cyrusdogstar at 8:21 AM on September 29, 2006

I have one and agree the design is an instant classic. It's mostly used for email and web browsing these days, which it does just fine.

Anyway, one thought is that as long as you're willing to keep using the machine for what you're doing right now, it should be just as fast and efficient as the day you bought it. The problem is that software is getting more bloated and requiring more CPU and RAM to accommodate these 'features'. So: don't 'upgrade' your software except security updates. Don't migrate to updated versions of iTunes, MS Office, Firefox, whatever. Just stick with the software from around the time when it was built!
posted by drmarcj at 8:30 PM on September 29, 2006