Should i get a eMac

I would say no.

Which eMac? I like the 800/1000 w/ATI graphics - you can hook up a second monitor. The 700/800 machines with NVidia are a smidge lower in my book.

It should be able to boot OS 9 if its 700/800. Only some 1GHz machines can - see everymac.com for an exact list, if OS 9 is important.


It has a USB 1.0 port - very slow filling up iPods.


Try and get the OS cds with the machine.

The originals will be for OS 10.1 (for NVidia, 10.2 for ATI).

If it currently is running Tiger (10.4) and something happens w/o the disks, you may be looking at $99 to $250 for legitimate disks.

certainly not, my sister has a eMac G4 and it's painfully slow for anything, my advice is save up more money and get a mac mini or an old intel iMac if you need the screen, G5's are mildly better but they will still struggle with what you want to do

CurtisEnergizer said:

Hey i didn't really understand what you were saying. This is the emac
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=276015569

It has OS X, 1gb RAM and thats all i know.
I would like to use it for video editing.

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You can't use an emac for any modern software. You will have to use old versions that were made when computers were as crap as that computer.

You should not buy that computer. It is actually worth like $30.

if it comes with tiger and the discs fine , it will handle garageband just fine , but as its the powermac 4.4 means either 700mhz or 800mhz or 1 ghz make sure its the 1ghz model as for handling final cut
Final Cut Studio System Requirements
Macintosh computer with 867MHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core Duo processor; HD features require 1GHz or faster single or dual processors (authoring HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor)
512MB of RAM; HD features require 1GB of RAM or more (2GB recommended)
Display with 1024-by-768 or higher resolution
AGP or PCI-E Quartz Extreme graphics card

Pachang said:

You can't use an emac for any modern software. You will have to use old versions that were made when computers were as crap as that computer.

You should not buy that computer. It is actually worth like $30.

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that comment is a bit harsh, i sold my powermac g5 quad 2.5, because there was nothing my emac could not handle too , and i prefered the emac because of its design
emac's are still fine computers , maybe not a fast as the last g5 powermacs or latest intel's, but nobody who is considering buying a eMac is expecting it to be faster

and when i look at the prices for used mac's ... the emac offers good value for the money

There's also a 1.25 ghz eMac, I used to have one.

Can you save a little bit more or sell something?

I just had a quick scan down the buy-it-now desktop Macs on that site, in price order, and this stood out:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Apple/Desktops/auction-275576431.htm

For an extra $100 it'd be so much better. I had one of those eMacs years ago, and it was dreadfully slow, even then. You can use it for video editing (not HD video, mind), but it'd be a painful experience, and you might also find that you're better off running an older version of FCE, which was designed with that kind of hardware in mind.

i even would consider this one
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Apple/Desktops/auction-275954306.htm
ok its not working , but if you get it for under 100 new zealand dollars it might be worth to repair it ,depending if the seller can explain what went wrong , as i seen working 1.42 ghz models go for over 600 dollars in new zealand
you could use this one for the spares needed looks battered with speaker grill missing but working
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Apple/Desktops/auction-276957017.htm
i mean if the broken parts in one match the working parts in the other you could have for nz dollars under 200 a working eMac 1.42

and keep in mind only the 1.25 and 1.42 models offer usb 2.0 , but actually not a problem as all emac offer firewire 400 which is faster then usb 2.0 (if you connect external harddrive or dvd burner) (there was a 1ghz model with usb 2.0 and the faster bus of 167mhz too but only sold to the education market )

i prefer the eMac over the imac g5 , but thats me , but if emacs 1.42 sell for over 500 in new zealand i would be very suspicious about someone selling a imac g5 for less then 400 (looks good in advert , but if someone sells for less then others i always get careful)it COULD be a bargain

... video editing? Are you kidding me? On THAT eMac?
I'm sorry, but that would never work. If you're trying to get REALLY old software for it, then maybe, but you also have to think how much that software had advanced over the years. So most likely you would never be able to do any decent video editing on there.

Seriously, just save up more money and do yourself a favor. Don't waste your money on this thing.

mtnDewFTW said:

... video editing? Are you kidding me? On THAT eMac?
I'm sorry, but that would never work. If you're trying to get REALLY old software for it, then maybe, but you also have to think how much that software had advanced over the years. So most likely you would never be able to do any decent video editing on there.

Seriously, just save up more money and do yourself a favor. Don't waste your money on this thing.

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typical answer of a intel mac owner ,there are people out there who cant safe up that sort of money a intel mac cost ,even used as the owners charge more then these are worth , so starting with a eMac to get into mac world is a perfect solution
if final cut says minimum 867mhz g4 then a 1 ghz eMac will be just fine if you give it a bit more ram and for some it is not necessary to have the latest software to edit some home made films for example, the latest software is not always the best anyway

$300 you can get a cheapo PC that is a lot faster than an ancient emac

Exactly my sentiments! Some of the Mactel owners here do NOT realize that there are still PPC users out there with machines that boot and get things done faster than the brand new unibody boxes!

Having said that an eMac for web surfing is very good. I’d put Flash Player 8 on it, too, to guarantee flawless Flash playback, tho.

As far as video editing is concerned, I’d be rather cautious. To get good results you’d need at least 1.42 GHz CPU and 1 GB of RAM. Depends however what exactly you understand by saying “editing”? Will it be your usual family DVD or some more serious stuff? iMovie 6 HD would be fine for the first option.

I believe anything with an Intel Core2Duo processor will suit you.

Anything that is labeled G3, G4 or G5 is simply too old and the architecture is no longer supported.

Find a MacBook, those things go for major cheap.

Keep saving that money for a new iMac. Just think how great your computer will be when you have enough! I'm sure the next generation will be out by then.

your teacher is right trust him
after the slot loading iMac g3 the eMac is the best AIO computer apple has ever produced
the new ones might be faster , but just to big and to fragile
the emac is well made and heavy and looks rugged and at the same time just beautiful , and with it you get a perfect display
no dead pixel , no stripes, no pressure marks ( and i don't refer to the problems with the latest iMacs 27" ) just look on ebay uk and ebay .com and other ebay sites worldwide and look how many faulty eMacs are listed and compare with how many faulty imac g5 and imac core duo and core 2 duo are listed most of them with screen trouble , they didn't build them to last
thats why i don't consider the newer imac's worth buying used ,faster processor doesnt help if the screen doesn't show a proper picture or none at all and is more expensive to replace then the value of the whole computer , ok some might cry out now that theirs is perfect , but for how long? when even new imacs with up to 7 dead pixels ? are no argument for replacement ? ....i dont like gambling , i stay safe with the eMac


and for all friend of the iMac G4 dont worry yours is not a computer its a design icon
so its worth to replace a faulty screen at any cost

this post reflects my opinion , you dont have to share it and i dont force you to agree, so you are allowed to have your own

save a little more and get a mini, you won't regret it

is op serious? what a waste of money.

definitive said:

is op serious? what a waste of money.

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a emac is never a waste of money , what is more a waste of money buying a 5 year old computer which works flawless for £200 or buying a new computer for near £ 2000 which gets one problem after the other ... i prefer to buy some more eMacs ...

Garage Band should work on it, I've seen it done quite a lot before. Though Final Cut might not work too well on it... To better your chances of it working though you could try sticking some more RAM in it, since its only got 1GB. 2GB would help greatly

eMacs are pretty great computer running Tiger, I've had one and it smokes my iMac white Intel Even though the eMac's specs aren't nearly as good...lol

Good luck!