is a G3 300mhz Tower still usefull?

[d-fi]

Hey

My university is getting rid of some of their old apple's putting them up for tender. So (potentially) I have a chance to buy the following computer for cheap.

Blue/White G3 Tower
300mhz
64 mb of RAM (no apple on the campus has 64mb of RAM must have striped as much ram out as they could :()
6 GB harddrive.
cd-rom
philips 15"CRT

Now assuming i could get this for next to nothing, would this still be usefull for wordprocessing, internet e-mail, real basic tasks. I realy just need it so i can work at home so i don't have to keep running to campus everytime i need to work on assignment.

Now i know i would need more ram but 256 MB dimms are reasonable(i'm hoping RAM would cost more then the computer :))

Thanks
d-fi

[whocares]

If it's cheap, go for it!

It'll be fine for basic word processing, internet, e-mail...

Up the RAM (it's quite cheap) and install OS X and you can even meke yourself a little webserver out of it.

Plus, IIRC it's quite expandable storage-wise.

[rainman::|:|]

yeah snatch it up, i wouldn't pay more than a hundred bucks or so (without monitor) but it's definitely still got it's uses. Don't expect to play complex games and do video rendering or anything obviously, but for the basics it'll work just fine.

paul

[Horrortaxi]

Yeah, for the purposes you stated it'll do great. Buy it cheap, get RAM (512MB if you can swing it, but at least 256), get Panther, and you'll have a nice little machine for the day-to-day tasks.

[tiktokfx]

Sure; assuming it's a pretty good price. Then drop a couple hundred on an accelerator... $150 for a 500MHz rated G4, or $235 for a 900MHz G3, if you can live without AltiVec, from OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=41&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat%28Now%28%29%2C+&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades)

[whocares]

Originally posted by tiktokfx
Sure; assuming it's a pretty good price. Then drop a couple hundred on an accelerator... $150 for a 500MHz rated G4, or $235 for a 900MHz G3, if you can live without AltiVec

IMHO that goes against the idea of a cheapo Mac. If you're gonna spend the money for the comp + RAM + accelerator, you may as well go look for a more "modern" computer...

Plus a "low" end G3 (300+ MHz) is just fine for simple tasks...

[true777]

The B&W's were among the most robust, well-made and sturdy Macs ever built. They were awesome machines. I bought one 5 (or so) years ago which has been on practically 24-7 since then and is still running just like on day 1.
Never had a problem with it ever. Mine is 350 Mhz, and in fact, YES, even video editing and such is very possible if you load it up with RAM, make sure the HD is defragmented/optimized, etc.

For simple word processing, email, web, etc., this machine won't even be all that noticeably slower than current models (except for SW startup times), but these babies even now still run Photoshop very nicely, and are also quite capable for web design. I'd snatch one up if I were you. Make sure you'll have current SW and OS, though, not some legacy versions.

[.a]

you have to throw ram into it. i have a 4 year old g4 450mhz - and only because of the 2gb of ram i can do the work i have to do (graphics).
for word- & excel-work your machine will be (almost) fine.
.a

[bullethead]

I am actually using that very machine to post this reply. I bought my B&W G3 new and I've NEVER had a problem with it. We've gone through lots of problems with the whole range of G4's at work but my G3 just kept chugging along. The only things I added were a scsi card and LOTS of ram. I work for a newspaper and do a lot of work from home via Timbuktu which includes color correction of photos in photoshop, laying out pages in Quark and making ads using Illustrator/Freehand. Gaming performance depends on what games you like. Starcraft n/p, Unreal Tournament is OK, not great, and Warcraft III is unplayable. Forget something like Halo :p

My next comp will be a rev.b G5 if they ever arrive. I was all pumped to get one this month but it looks like I'll have to wait a little longer. I've waited this long so a couple months more won't matter.

[chrisnturkey]

One More "AY".

I use my B&W 350 for similar things (and itunes) and it works great. Four years with not a glitch. Also, I am running Panther with no problems. Very easy to add an extra hard drive if you need it and RAm, of course. Also, it is a very quiet machine. Consider yourself lucky!

:)

[Santiago]

I'm using a beige G3 tower at 266 MHz with something like 192 MB of RAM as my server, and it's capable of handling several regular websites with server-side includes, a pair of Perl-based wikis, three Mailman lists, a Movable Type installation with MySQL, and our incoming and outgoing mail server.

[evil_santa]

got a g3 bw 400mhz at work running os9, and using media 100, get worked very hard. left on 24/7 a good workhorse!:)

[Mudbug]

My beige 300 is still clunking along without any real problems to speak of, other than a lack of speed. If you dump enough RAM in as others have said, you'll be fine. And correct me if I'm wrong, but if those are blue and white case g3's, you can even run Panther on them. worth a shot...

I still use mine at home as a daily machine workhorse, running my own personal webserver, hosting my music collection for my other macs over airport, and basically being a general workstation. It'll do pretty much everything my other machines can do (albeit much more slowly), except run panther.

If they're still available, get it. monitors are cheap. :)

[tsk]

I've got a 266 here with 384 and it runs pretty well on OS X. The time to install OSX is pretty long, but it actually runs pretty well.

[blue&whiteman]

Originally posted by true777
The B&W's were among the most robust, well-made and sturdy Macs ever built. They were awesome machines. I bought one 5 (or so) years ago which has been on practically 24-7 since then and is still running just like on day 1.
Never had a problem with it ever. Mine is 350 Mhz, and in fact, YES, even video editing and such is very possible if you load it up with RAM, make sure the HD is defragmented/optimized, etc.

For simple word processing, email, web, etc., this machine won't even be all that noticeably slower than current models (except for SW startup times), but these babies even now still run Photoshop very nicely, and are also quite capable for web design. I'd snatch one up if I were you. Make sure you'll have current SW and OS, though, not some legacy versions.

i'm with you 100% on that. I got my blue g3 in the fall of 99 and have not looked back. no problems to speak of, ever. I have upgraded the hell out of it but its still the same old reliable powermac only faster. its the most reliable thing in my life to be honest. runs panther quite well but i'm sure the G4 upgrade has a lot to do with that.

[Chaszmyr]

It'll be fine as long as you don't plan on running anything more demanding than Starcraft

[mms]

If you get enough RAM, it would be able to run Panther fine. However, if you're only using it for such basic tasks, OS 9 would be snappier and would be enough to serve your purposes.

[gwuMACaddict]

boat anchor?
;)

[Opteron]

Originally posted by gwuMACaddict
boat anchor?
;)

That's a wee bit harsh, a better use would be as a wheel-chock for your car on a steep hill:p.

In all honesty Pump it full of RAM, install OS 9 if it doesn't already, and you'll have a reliable work horse, that will make a great server in years to come, after you no longer need it for desktop tasks.

[d-fi]

I just realised that this machine doesn't come with a modem, an item that i would find quite helpful:D Do i have to buy a 'special' apple modem, or can i just chuck in any PCI modem?

What are my options for a modem?

d-fi

[whocares]

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure you can just through in any old PCI or USB modem. You're in luck, they come cheap nowadays :p

Then again, don't go spending money before somebody has confirmed this.

[gwuMACaddict]

Originally posted by Opteron
That's a wee bit harsh, a better use would be as a wheel-chock for your car on a steep hill:p.

In all honesty Pump it full of RAM, install OS 9 if it doesn't already, and you'll have a reliable work horse, that will make a great server in years to come, after you no longer need it for desktop tasks.


i was teasin'.... we have an old imac at home that we use a dedicated mp3 server for the rest of the house and all the stereo systems via iTunes

[tiktokfx]

You're not going to be able to just throw in any PCI modem.

The vast, vast, vast majority of internal modem cards for PCs rely on having the CPU do most of the work... i.e., software. And basically none of them work with any OS besides Windows... even Linux/whatever on x86.

Looks like you can get Global Village internal modems that are made specifically for the modem/serial slot in the B&W G3s on ebay for ~$20 though.

ebay auctions (http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?basicsearch=&from=R10&ht=1&satitle=global+village+internal+modem&sosortproperty=1&sospellrecommendation=1)

[tiktokfx]

Also, while some people may say that throwing accelerators into old Macs is a waste of money... it all depends.

Say

$100 for a B&W G3
$235 for a 900 MHz ZIF G3
$90 for 512MB RAM

$425 for a machine that's not a barnburner, but is very close to the speed of current low end new Macs at at least half the price. Sometimes paying twice as much for the latest, and some extra HD space etc makes sense, and sometimes you just don't have the money for it.

[Mudbug]

while the PCI modems probably won't just plug and play, there is a host of USB options that work like a charm, and plenty of them come with mac drivers, although OS X recognizes a bunch without them.

[Horrortaxi]

Originally posted by tiktokfx
$90 for 512MB RAM

According to Crucial, 512 will cost $190. Kingston somehow gets $320. It's mind blowing considering it's just PC133 SDRAM. Apparently this computer won't recognize a single 512 stick so you need 2x256. Still, I used to get that for $30. Even generic RAM on pricewatch is $80 (2x256). Ebay prices are about the same. Crazy.

Is it an obsolescence issue? No supply? 512MB DDR for my G4 is $85 from Crucial. Newer, faster, better, cheaper.

[tiktokfx]

RAMSeeker (http://www.ramseeker.com/)

PC100 RAM

256MB RAM + s/h -> ~$45

[NusuniAdmin]

Originally posted by Horrortaxi
According to Crucial, 512 will cost $190. Kingston somehow gets $320. It's mind blowing considering it's just PC133 SDRAM. Apparently this computer won't recognize a single 512 stick so you need 2x256. Still, I used to get that for $30. Even generic RAM on pricewatch is $80 (2x256). Ebay prices are about the same. Crazy.

Is it an obsolescence issue? No supply? 512MB DDR for my G4 is $85 from Crucial. Newer, faster, better, cheaper.

Mac sales.com, PC100 for 49 bux @ 256 megs

[tiktokfx]

Whoops. Read past where you commented on generic already.

[vollspacken]

get that machine... it's perfectly fine for the tasks you mentioned and you can use it as a home fileserver or iTunes streamer later if you might upgrade to a better machine like an iBook or eMac...

I wish I had one...

vSpacken

[Jookbox]

i have a use for that machine:

PORNO SERVER.

but seriously, just dump some ram into it. a couple years ago i used a 400mhz g3 with osx and it was very sluggish. i recommend os 9.xx for it, if you're just going to do those tasks you mentioned.

[d-fi]

I just found out that it comes loaded with OS 8.5.1 i'm not even sure if i've used this version before.

is 8.5.1 still usefull as a OS or is it a bit dated? I might have use some of my powers of persuasion to convice them to part with other versions of "OS" ;)

[leftbanke7]

8.6 was probably the best of the "8 family" but I am sure that 9.2 is better. I actually haven't used 9.2 much as I went straight from 8.6 to X and only use 9.2 on those rare occations that I have to jump into classic (less than twice a year). IMHO, I'd say get OSX but for the modest work that you will probably give your computer, 9.2 would be fine. And if I am thinking right, iTunes won't run on anything less than 9.

[ingenious]

And if I am thinking right, iTunes won't run on anything less than 9.

You're right, but 9 only runs up to iTunes 2 (now unavaliable). iTunes 4.2 is the only one (does 4.1 do it?) to support the music sharing feature. You also have to have like a 600 MHz G3 and 10.2.8.


Just my 2 cents

After all, y listen? I'm j a newbie.... :(

[rickvanr]

Also, if i remember, they had an abundance of G3 chips, so all of the chips are the same, the bumper settings are just different.

so u can overclock them and they wont overheat...

[Opteron]

Originally posted by tiktokfx
You're not going to be able to just throw in any PCI modem.

The vast, vast, vast majority of internal modem cards for PCs rely on having the CPU do most of the work... i.e., software. And basically none of them work with any OS besides Windows... even Linux/whatever on x86.
[/URL]

If you get an internal modem make surre it has a "ROCKWELL" chipset.

since these do the calculations onboard.

[mms]

OS 9 only supports up to iTunes 2. iTunes 2 does not have iTMS and I don't think it supports music sharing. However, if you decide to go with 9, iTunes 2 can be found at:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5366