A friend gave me a Powermac G3 this afternoon It's not the fastest in the world, but it has OSX installed 10.4.11. What are some cool things I can do with this machine? [more inside]
posted by bsexton on Jul 15, 2009 - 8 answers

Awesome but slightly rambunctious 8th grade class going on a school trip to the country. Rain is possible. Possibility of ultra-rare recreational computer access is likely to be a highly compelling reward for good behavior. The kids speak German. With all of these givens, what non-crack-like game should I install on the beater iBook G3 12" running 10.4 that I'm sending the teacher off with? [more inside]
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks on Jun 25, 2008 - 8 answers

What free/low-cost/simple kinds of things can be done to the clamshell G3 iBook my mom uses for really basic web stuff to make it function better? [more inside]
posted by mdonley on Jun 14, 2008 - 9 answers

How do you remove an odor from a laptop without killing the laptop (or yourself)? [more inside]
posted by speek on Jan 5, 2008 - 8 answers

How do I reset the SCSI ID of the boot drive on a G3 PowerBook, without actually booting that computer up? or... Did I just turn this laptop into a doorstop? [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Jan 2, 2008 - 4 answers

My G3/700mhz (DualUSB) iBook is not booting in a strange way: I definitely need a hint on this one. Lots and lots [more inside]
posted by Orb2069 on May 25, 2007 - 4 answers

I have one of those crappy old iMac G3s that is pink and looks like a piece of bubble gum and it won't turn on. Help? [more inside]
posted by bash on Jan 13, 2007 - 8 answers

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? [more inside]
posted by taita_cakes on Jul 31, 2006 - 13 answers

I've been given a pretty old g3 iMac that boots up to "MacOS: Boot failure - unexpected value for MacOS ROM entry in segment table" and what appears to be a prompt. I know nothing about macs! Is this thing fixable? And if so, how? [more inside]
posted by mcsweetie on Jul 30, 2006 - 7 answers

Please help me power up my Powerbook G3 Wallstreet 300mhz one last time. I'm on my second 45W power supply... [more inside]
posted by dismitree on Jul 4, 2006 - 8 answers

Here's a technical question. Will this motherboard work with a G3 (Mac) power supply? Gigabyte GA-6VTXD Also in the motherboard is an AMD Athlon 900Mhz. Is that fast? What's the comparison to Intel chips? I've never really understood the conversion. I thought it would be neat to use an old, unwanted G3 case for something like this. [more inside]
posted by Napierzaza on Jan 21, 2006 - 8 answers

Trying to use a Sony NW-HD3S with a G3 Mac. IS there any software or workaround to allow communication/ basic functionality -similar to what XNJB manages for Creative mp3 players- on a mac? [more inside]
posted by ClanvidHorse on Jan 18, 2006 - 2 answers

I recently got a large Mac G3 tower and stripped everything out of it. Does anyone know what I could do to make it a true external hard drive? Possibly with 4+ hard drives in it? I'm considering RAID BTW. It already has a power supply so I guess that is taken care of. Anything else I should be aware of? [more inside]
posted by Napierzaza on Jan 11, 2006 - 14 answers

For Christmas, my roommate bought me an internal LG DVD+R/RW drive. The trouble is that I have a G3 iBook (900 MHz, the last model produced before they went G4). From my scouring, it seems that Roxio Toast 6 is the latest bit of software to support G3 Macs. Will that, along with a firewire/USB2 enclosure to make it act as an external drive, be all I need to pirate like mad? Follow up question: Where would I be able to find an enclosure in downtown Manhattan? Is it as simple as going to Radioshack? Please say it's as simple as going to Radioshack. Also, if forced to choose, is firewire or USB2 preferable?
posted by incomple on Dec 28, 2005 - 11 answers

I’ve got a B&W G3 running OS9 (actually, mostly gathering dust) - can I slap a big hard drive in it and use it to feed downloaded television to my TV? [more inside]
posted by juliewhite on Nov 18, 2005 - 5 answers

Ever since upgrading to QuickTime 7 and Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger), I've noticed that apparently what I think is the H.264 and H.267 codecs play very choppily on my machine. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Nov 2, 2005 - 11 answers

DIY: What can I do with an old G3 tower computer (or maybe a couple). I'm thinking maybe a file server or a web server. Any other neat ideas???
posted by Napierzaza on Sep 2, 2005 - 4 answers

I recently acquired a G3/Pismo via ebay and decided to upgrade the hard drive. Upon doing so, my dvd/cd drive no longer functions; Help me sort through my options! [more inside]
posted by AllesKlar on Jun 8, 2005 - 4 answers

AppleFilter: I have an old tower G3 that I'd like to update, but I have no external monitor. Can I use another Mac to access the G3? [more inside]
posted by anarcation on Apr 27, 2005 - 10 answers

So, I bought my friend Tom a G3 PowerMac on eBay, which turned up, then booted to a blank screen. After a reboot, it started up, then the power supply went flash, bang and off. I've since connected my PC's power supply to the G3, tried the PRAM battery from my G5, and no luck. When the power button is pressed, the fans in the PSU twitch, and the lights on the motherboard come on, but then go out straight away. Is this a power supply compatiblity thing, or is the logic board fried?
posted by armoured-ant on Jan 19, 2005 - 10 answers

Parental Computer (Mac) Assistance: Should I attempt to replace the internal modem or scour the web for suitable external modem for my mother's Powerbook G3? [MI] [more inside]
posted by sillygit on Dec 17, 2004 - 5 answers

600MHz G3 iBook / 30GB / 256MB
-->
1000MHz G4 iBook / 60GB / 512MB

Worth the upgrade? Or do I need to dig deeper into my wallet? I'd like better AVI playback and iMovie performance, as well as the ability to run GarageBand.
posted by scarabic on Sep 28, 2004 - 16 answers

We're trying to figure out if we can continue using my old PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard) for another year. The deciding factor will be if a Firewire external drive can be somehow connected to it -- it doesn't have a Firewire port though. Is it possible to somehow get a Firewire --> USB connector? [MI] [more inside]
posted by fionab on Aug 25, 2004 - 8 answers

As an extension of this previous thread: I've decided on an iBook. I have the opportunity to get a 14" 900MHz G3 refurb'd for $900. I can also get this discontinued model new for $1000. The comparable G4 iBook, which has almost exactly the same specs (save the processor, of course) is $1300. My $1000 could also buy me a 12" 800MHz G4.

I'm having trouble parsing the literature about the chips. I understand that, particularly with Macs, it's not just about the MHz, so should I expect the "slower" G4 chip to outperform the G3 I'm looking at? I expect to use this computer until at least spring '06, which seems like a long way off considering that the G3 chip is now technically obsolete. Also, there are obvious form factor issues; does anyone have a strong opinion about the old iBook design vs. the new? Has anyone been personally affected by the logic board problems I've heard about for the last-gen G3 iBooks? Any warnings about Apple-refurbished machines? [slightly more inside] [more inside]
posted by blueshammer on Dec 27, 2003 - 14 answers

My G3 Powerbook is 3.5 years old. I love my Powerbook and intend to stick with Apple. Unfortunately, my G3 is starting to deteriorate. The CD ROM is broken and programs randomly close for no reason. I lost several pages on a paper I was writing. Which is all to say that my parents generously offered to get me a new computer for Hannukah / graduation (I graduate in a few months). Since I definitely want to buy another Powerbook, should I just go out and buy the Titanium G4? Or do you think a G5 Powerbook will come out soon and I should wait?
posted by adrober on Dec 22, 2003 - 30 answers