iMac G3 for downloading?

chocolate632 · Aug 17, 2010

I was thinking of getting an iMac G3 to handle my downloads, since I can leave it on at night and have whatever I want downloaded by the morning. I found one on Craigslist with:

OS X 10.39
500 MHz G3
250 MB ram
4.2 gig HD
Airport (WiFi)
Firewire
Modem

for $50

I have a few hard drives laying around so I'll upgrade it, but other than that, can this Mac work as a download machine? I'll be getting content through iTunes, Safari and an app called JDownloader

Thanks

ThunderSnake · Aug 17, 2010

Someone else will have to answer the question about what can still be done on iTunes with a G3 running Panther, but everything else should work fine. That's a really good idea. It should save you some electricity too.

Depending on your network and other practical considerations, it might get a little more done each night with an ethernet connection than with airport. If it's close enough to your router, it might be worth trying. Either way, I think it's a good idea.

416049 · Aug 17, 2010

I would add an external firwire drive where you could store your downloaded stuff also you could try to max out the ram to 1GB and use Ethernet instead of WIFI for downloading because it's less likely to loose the connection.

Intell · Aug 17, 2010

With it being a G3 the highest version of iTunes is 8.2.1. You can't download iPad apps, or view the newest store interface, but it's great for sharing and listening to music.

FourCandles · Aug 17, 2010

Intell said:
With it being a G3 the highest version of iTunes is 8.2.1.

I think that's only true if you upgrade to Tiger. Otherwise it's 7.7.1 for Panther, I believe.

raysfan81 · Aug 17, 2010

FourCandles said:
I think that's only true if you upgrade to Tiger. Otherwise it's 7.7.1 for Panther, I believe.

Yes I don't think Panther supports iTunes 8.x.x. I think the last version is 7.7.1. No matter what version it is iTunes still sucks IMO.

chocolate632 · Aug 18, 2010

FourCandles said:
I think that's only true if you upgrade to Tiger. Otherwise it's 7.7.1 for Panther, I believe.

Yup, I checked it on Wikipedia and 7.7.1 is the last version supported on Panther. Video downloads became available in 4.8 so i SHOULD be able to download tv shows on iTunes, right?

I was thinking about just upgrading the internal drive to an 80GB and then i realized that I would have to reinstall Panther. Does Apple still sell older operating systems? Or would i be better off getting it from torrents or something.

Safari should work, but does anyone know if JDownloader will?

Giuly · Aug 18, 2010

chocolate632 said:
Yup, I checked it on Wikipedia and 7.7.1 is the last version supported on Panther. Video downloads became available in 4.8 so i SHOULD be able to download tv shows on iTunes, right?

I was thinking about just upgrading the internal drive to an 80GB and then i realized that I would have to reinstall Panther. Does Apple still sell older operating systems? Or would i be better off getting it from torrents or something.

Safari should work, but does anyone know if JDownloader will?

Get a USB-2-IDE adapter and clone the drive, or get a Panther-DVD/CDs off eBay (~$150).

MacHamster68 · Aug 18, 2010

of course you can download with a iMac g3 , why not connected via ethernet it will be as fast as any other computer and via firewire you can connect 126 harddrives so if you buy 2 tb harddrives with a firewire 400 connection then it makes 252 terabyte space i guess thats enough for a couple films

robvas · Aug 18, 2010

Get a G4 for a couple more bucks, or beg someone on craigslist to take $50 for one. You can fit more hard drives inside one of those as well.

chocolate632 · Aug 22, 2010

MacHamster68 said:
of course you can download with a iMac g3 , why not connected via ethernet it will be as fast as any other computer and via firewire you can connect 126 harddrives so if you buy 2 tb harddrives with a firewire 400 connection then it makes 252 terabyte space i guess thats enough for a couple films

Yup, downloading full blu ray rips will fill that up pretty quickly

chocolate632 · Aug 22, 2010

robvas said:
Get a G4 for a couple more bucks, or beg someone on craigslist to take $50 for one. You can fit more hard drives inside one of those as well.

Why? Strictly as a download machine, would a G3 not be sufficient?

Giuly · Aug 22, 2010

robvas said:
Get a G4 for a couple more bucks, or beg someone on craigslist to take $50 for one. You can fit more hard drives inside one of those as well.

I think the majority of eMac G4s are <$75 "Buy Now" on eBay.

MacHamster68 · Aug 23, 2010

there is another point that makes the iMac G3 even more suitable , the iMac G3 slot loader had NO fan inside so other then the noise of a harddrive spinning its totally silent
because when downloading raw processor power is not really needed , and external harddrives are more practical if you want to move the files around and firewire does not put stress on the processor unlike usb which uses quiet a lot processing power

molala · Aug 23, 2010

I used to work in a lab with a lot of ageing iMac G3's. Yes, they are suitable for downloading via ethernet if that's the only thing you would do. What I did not like the space they took up and the CRT screens. If I were in the same boat, I'd rather look for a G4 mac mini which you could pair with a flat screen.

MacHamster68 · Aug 23, 2010

my opinion to that differs despite the mini is a good little box i have one , but the iMac G3 (i have two of them)is if you like it or not the design icon that rescued apple , without it apple would be gone since the last century like many others in the computer industry but the iMac G3 made apple popular and it just looks so sweet with all the different colors you can get , not only in boring sad grey like today' apple Mac's ,
so its not about owning the fastest computer possible , despite the fact that the iMac G3 is still fast considering its nearly 10 years old and happily runs tiger ,if fitted with more then 256mb ram ,
but its about owning a piece of apple history thats still usable today and if you are not fanatic about using youtube or other flash things you can still live with it as main computer for surfing,downloading , emailing ,office work , even light photoshop work is possible with earlier versions of PS ,among a lot more things but it takes a different approach to that "speed is everything" thing ,if you grew up with commodore pets and c64's like i did , then a iMac g3 is a speed demon in comparison and in 2001 even pro's did on the G3's what they do now on a iMac 27" i7 only with older versions of the same programs , ok it took a bit longer but they did the job

chocolate632 · Aug 23, 2010

MacHamster68 said:
there is another point that makes the iMac G3 even more suitable , the iMac G3 slot loader had NO fan inside so other then the noise of a harddrive spinning its totally silent
because when downloading raw processor power is not really needed , and external harddrives are more practical if you want to move the files around and firewire does not put stress on the processor unlike usb which uses quiet a lot processing power

That's good to know. I will probably place it in the living room which is far away from the bedroom area so noise is not a HUGE concern, but definitely something to keep in mind.

chocolate632 · Aug 23, 2010

molala said:
I used to work in a lab with a lot of ageing iMac G3's. Yes, they are suitable for downloading via ethernet if that's the only thing you would do. What I did not like the space they took up and the CRT screens. If I were in the same boat, I'd rather look for a G4 mac mini which you could pair with a flat screen.

Thanks for the advice, but the G4 Mac Mini is a bit out of my price range (goes for $300 and up on kajiji), not to mention that i don't have a flatscreen to hook it up to. I managed to find a eMac for $69 with these specs:

17" Screen
700Mhz G4 Processor
40Gb HDD
CDROM Drive
384Mb RAM

It's coming from a shop too with a 90 day warranty so I don't think I can go wrong here.

MacHamster68 · Aug 24, 2010

no normally you cant go wrong with a eMac and they are really cheap to get now (even higher spec ones ) but for 69 dollar and warranty you just cant go wrong

max out the ram as soon as you can afford it , the 700mhz takes max 1 Gb
(2x 512mb LOW DENSITY ram PC133 SDRAM ) mind you its not so much important for the download process itself

raysfan81 · Aug 24, 2010

MacHamster68 said:
no normally you cant go wrong with a eMac and they are really cheap to get now (even higher spec ones ) but for 69 dollar you just cant go wrong

Well for ~$40 more you can get a 1.42 ghz model.

MacHamster68 · Aug 24, 2010

for around 100 dollar its worth to spend the money if you get the 1.42 models ,
it offers the ability to add 2 Gb ram and has a better graphics card ati 9600 with 64mb vram ,
while the mini G4 1.42 is more expensive , and takes only 1 gb and has only the ati 9200 with 32mb vram
and that means it makes the eMac 1.42 even superior compared with a 1.42 mini
and you do not need to buy a extra monitor

both the mini 1.42 and 1.42 eMac need 184-pin PC2700 (333 MHz) DDR SDRAM. LOW DENSITY ram

chocolate632 · Aug 24, 2010

MacHamster68 said:
for around 100 dollar its worth to spend the money if you get the 1.42 models ,
it offers the ability to add 2 Gb ram and has a better graphics card ati 9600 with 64mb vram ,
while the mini G4 1.42 is more expensive , and takes only 1 gb and has only the ati 9200 with 32mb vram
and that means it makes the eMac 1.42 even superior compared with a 1.42 mini
and you do not need to buy a extra monitor

both the mini 1.42 and 1.42 eMac need 184-pin PC2700 (333 MHz) DDR SDRAM. LOW DENSITY ram

But you have to understand, I don't need to use this computer for anything other than downloading, specifically with the app JDownloader. I know that the extra ram would be beneficial and i would definitely go with the higher spec computer if I planned to do anything else with the computer, but I don't so thats ok. JDownloader needs Java 1.6 or 1.5 to run properly (I don't remember exactly). Will the lowest model be sufficient?

chocolate632 · Aug 24, 2010

Also, this computer should be capable or running Mac OS X Tiger, no?

MacHamster68 · Aug 24, 2010

even the iMac g3 you originally intended to buy can run OSX tiger ,
but you will need a cd version of the tiger install discs as the emac you choose has no dvd drive in order to install directly,
or
the dvd version but then you need another Mac to install in target disc mode ,
means using the dvd drive of it while both Mac's are connected via firewire ,
you have to put in the dvd in the one with dvd drive ,
then boot the Mac you want to install from (the one with the dvd drive)in target disc mode ,
the other where you want to install tiger you have to boot normal,
it will then see the dvd as it would be a external dvd drive connected via firewire

chocolate632 · Aug 25, 2010

MacHamster68 said:
even the iMac g3 you originally intended to buy can run OSX tiger ,
but you will need a cd version of the tiger install discs as the emac you choose has no dvd drive in order to install directly,
or
the dvd version but then you need another Mac to install in target disc mode ,
means using the dvd drive of it while both Mac's are connected via firewire ,
you have to put in the dvd in the one with dvd drive ,
then boot the Mac you want to install from (the one with the dvd drive)in target disc mode ,
the other where you want to install tiger you have to boot normal,
it will then see the dvd as it would be a external dvd drive connected via firewire

Thanks, i'm most likely gonna see if they sell the CD version of Tiger or i'm just gonna pick up a firewire cable. I'm not even sure what operating system it comes with, but the screenshot looks like Panther

iMac G3 for downloading?

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