350MHz iMac G3

Jethryn Freyman · Dec 12, 2012, 03:59 AM

So, today I spent roughly $90 of fuel to collect a 350MHz iMac I drunkenly won on eBay of about $10.

Perfect condition though, I just stuck Tiger on it and updated it to 10.4.11. MacTracker tells me the 350Mhz model (lacking Airport and Firewire) can only officially support up to 10.3.9, but I had no trouble with using my PPC Tiger CDs.

But yeah, anybody with an early (~11 year old) G3 iMac with any... general advice? It's got the 7GB hard disk, 8MB ATI Rage Pro GPU, and (astonishingly) 320MB of memory.

I bid on it in the first place simply for the nostalgia value... I always wanted one of those iMacs since I was but a wee boy in primary school. now that dream is fulfilled.

Thoughts?

<3

Intell · Dec 12, 2012, 08:36 AM

Apple released two variants of the 350Mhz iMac. The first. And out with the first slot loaders. This one has an Airport expansion slot. When Apple revised them in 2000 or 2001, they removed the Airport slot. It's pretty easy to check which one yours is. Just flip it over an open the ram door. If it has two clear pastic holders next to the ram, it is the older Airport capiable one.

I have one of these models, it doesn't get used very much since it was replaced by an eMac. But when I did use it, it was used mosty for music and movies. They have pretty good speakers. If you are lucky enough to have a G3 iMac/G4 Cube DVD drive around, they are great for DVDs. I put a CompactFlash card in mine with an adapter. It maxes out the iMac's ATA/33 bus with easy and makes it overall faster and completely quite.

California · Dec 12, 2012, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intell

Apple released two variants of the 350Mhz iMac. The first. And out with the first slot loaders. This one has an Airport expansion slot. When Apple revised them in 2000 or 2001, they removed the Airport slot. It's pretty easy to check which one yours is. Just flip it over an open the ram door. If it has two clear pastic holders next to the ram, it is the older Airport capiable one.

I have one of these models, it doesn't get used very much since it was replaced by an eMac. But when I did use it, it was used mosty for music and movies. They have pretty good speakers. If you are lucky enough to have a G3 iMac/G4 Cube DVD drive around, they are great for DVDs. I put a CompactFlash card in mine with an adapter. It maxes out the iMac's ATA/33 bus with easy and makes it overall faster and completely quite.

I'm pretty sure all of the slot loading iMacs had airport expandability...? http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...ac_se_700.html

92WardSenatorFE · Dec 12, 2012, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by California

I'm pretty sure all of the slot loading iMacs had airport expandability...? http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...ac_se_700.html

A few of the 350MHz models (slot loaders) don't have airport expandability. These models were offered at a cheaper price than the normal slot loading iMacs (400MHz +).

Intell · Dec 12, 2012, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by California

I'm pretty sure all of the slot loading iMacs had airport expandability...? http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...ac_se_700.html

One variant of the 350Mhz didn't. It was the budget model that didn't get the Airport because it was too costly for a piece of plastic and a ATAPI connector to be affixed to the board.

California · Dec 12, 2012, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intell

One variant of the 350Mhz didn't. It was the budget model that didn't get the Airport because it was too costly for a piece of plastic and a ATAPI connector to be affixed to the board.

LOL. So the USB nonfirewire 350mhz slot load did not have airport?

Intell · Dec 12, 2012, 10:36 PM

Apple made two 350Mhz G3 iMac models. The original slot loading one and the Summer 2000 model. The are exactly the same expect that GPU is a ATI Rage 128 Pro instead of the slower VR and that the Summer 2000 model does not have an Airport connector inside. Everything else, from the lack of FireWire and VGA output to the maximum ram and optical drive is exactly the same.

zackkmac · Dec 12, 2012, 11:49 PM

Sounds like you have a new toy now.

Any plans to upgrade it? I have a 400MHz graphite G3 that I upgraded to 1GB RAM, SuperDrive, Airport, 120GB HD. Great little machine. I want to upgrade the logic board to 700MHz but that's $90 at the least.

Dec 12, 2012, 03:59 AM	#1
Jethryn Freyman macrumors 68020 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Australia	350MHz iMac G3 So, today I spent roughly $90 of fuel to collect a 350MHz iMac I drunkenly won on eBay of about $10. Perfect condition though, I just stuck Tiger on it and updated it to 10.4.11. MacTracker tells me the 350Mhz model (lacking Airport and Firewire) can only officially support up to 10.3.9, but I had no trouble with using my PPC Tiger CDs. But yeah, anybody with an early (~11 year old) G3 iMac with any... general advice? It's got the 7GB hard disk, 8MB ATI Rage Pro GPU, and (astonishingly) 320MB of memory. I bid on it in the first place simply for the nostalgia value... I always wanted one of those iMacs since I was but a wee boy in primary school. now that dream is fulfilled. Thoughts? <3 __________________ Power Mac G5 - 2x 1.8GHz - 4GB - ATI Fire GL X3 256MB - 10.5.8 Macbook Pro 3,1 - 6GB - 240GB OWC SSD - 10.6.8 www.michaelanthonyralph.com/blog/
	0

Dec 12, 2012, 08:36 AM	#2
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	Apple released two variants of the 350Mhz iMac. The first. And out with the first slot loaders. This one has an Airport expansion slot. When Apple revised them in 2000 or 2001, they removed the Airport slot. It's pretty easy to check which one yours is. Just flip it over an open the ram door. If it has two clear pastic holders next to the ram, it is the older Airport capiable one. I have one of these models, it doesn't get used very much since it was replaced by an eMac. But when I did use it, it was used mosty for music and movies. They have pretty good speakers. If you are lucky enough to have a G3 iMac/G4 Cube DVD drive around, they are great for DVDs. I put a CompactFlash card in mine with an adapter. It maxes out the iMac's ATA/33 bus with easy and makes it overall faster and completely quite. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

Dec 12, 2012, 10:36 PM	#7
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	Apple made two 350Mhz G3 iMac models. The original slot loading one and the Summer 2000 model. The are exactly the same expect that GPU is a ATI Rage 128 Pro instead of the slower VR and that the Summer 2000 model does not have an Airport connector inside. Everything else, from the lack of FireWire and VGA output to the maximum ram and optical drive is exactly the same. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

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Dec 12, 2012, 11:49 PM	#8
zackkmac macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Chicago	Sounds like you have a new toy now. Any plans to upgrade it? I have a 400MHz graphite G3 that I upgraded to 1GB RAM, SuperDrive, Airport, 120GB HD. Great little machine. I want to upgrade the logic board to 700MHz but that's $90 at the least.
	0