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iMac G3

M

Mike Chambers

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Messages
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don't know if it's QUITE considered vintage yet, but i got a free 400 mhz iMac PowerPC G3 computer. posting from it right now, actually. i've never had a mac in my life, so it's pretty interesting to mess with for me.

the OS X install that was on it was completely messed up when i got my hands on it, so for now i installed the PPC version of debian linux on it just for kicks. i got a copy of OS X 10.3.9 now though, and will install that later.

i'll take some pics tonight to share.
 
It sounds very non-vintage (off-topic) to me. If we dismiss 100 MHz Pentiums as too new or boring, a 400 MHz G3 is a no-brainer. In particular as the heading on this subforum says 68K Macs. But free computers, no matter their age, often are nice to receive if you have the space for them.
 
I purchased a 300 Mhz version of one of those back in December. Still haven't managed to get it out of the shipping box yet. I forgot that I didn't really have anywhere to put it when I bought it. So.... still in the box.
 
Terry Yager said:
Yes, definitely OT, but still very kewl <drooling>! Congrats on your latest score. (Sorry, Mike).

--T
Click to expand...

yes i should've noticed the 68K thing in the forum title! but thanks terry, this thing is pretty neat.

chuckcmagee said:
I purchased a 300 Mhz version of one of those back in December. Still haven't managed to get it out of the shipping box yet. I forgot that I didn't really have anywhere to put it when I bought it. So.... still in the box.
Click to expand...

man i'm the same way. so much stuff i want, and sometimes i'll get stuff and then later end up never using it. i had to move my secondary monitor off of my desk to make room for this iMac actually.
 
here are a few pics of it. it didn't have a CD drive in it when i got it, just a tiny hard disk with a broken OS X install! also, the slot for inserting CD's was kind of ripped apart and the hard drive was outside of it. i don't know who tried to work on it, but they had no idea what they were doing.

right now i just have IDE/power cables coming out of the broken CD loading tray. it does the job, eh? :eek:

i am going to find a replacement slot-loading CD drive before i bother putting drives back on the inside. they work just as well sitting out in front of the mac. :biggrin:

imac1.jpg


imac2.jpg


imac3.jpg
 
Geez, I paid $39.99 for a 350 Mhz iMac with 128MB, 15 GB drive and CD-Rom drive on ebay. That one is very much on the expensive side.
 
chuckcmagee said:
Geez, I paid $39.99 for a 350 Mhz iMac with 128MB, 15 GB drive and CD-Rom drive on ebay. That one is very much on the expensive side.
Click to expand...

Okay, if he wants that option, I found one on ebay nobody was bidding on yet.
http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-MACINTOSH...093553153QQcategoryZ80039QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Personally, I bought P3 Gateway, a P4 Dell, and a 486-SX Packard Bell from Ebay. But somehow I'd rather buy a refurbished Mac from an actual store. The Dell didn't come with RAM... yada yada yada. The Packard Bell seller insisted on selling me the 5.25 drive seperately.

Even though I have purchased PCs in the past from Ebay, I might have bought atleast one of the computers from a store as long as the presentation was good.... *shruge* I don't work for these folks as it is. I just like how their website is arranged.


Anyway... when I was in college, I first encountered a G3 beige PowerPC. It had Avid software on it, I think. In case anyone's wondering about the evolution of Imacs, here's some links to pictures.

http://www.worth1000.com/entries/121500/121995EJli_w.jpg <<< buying a used one off a friend for $300. Well thinking about it anyway. (g4)

http://www.operationgadget.com/images/apple_imac_g5-thumb.jpeg <<< this one further boggles me. I've read that the CD-ROM drive is behind the monitor... (g5)

And in all four cases, these components have the monitor included within the same unit as the CPU for a tower-less configuration... which makes nearly no sense to me still. :D If your monitor shorts out, your whole unit is scrap?

Speaking of monitors, Apple is so insane that they are selling monitors (regular monitors mind you) for $500 to $1000 seperately of the computers. So for instance, so you could buy a $599 mac mini, but be stuck spending ANOTHER $599 just for a stupid monitor. They ARE CRAZY!!!!!
 
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