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A few questions about the iMac G5

M

Metoyou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Okay so I've finally decided to jump in and switch to Mac, but I have a few questions 🙂

How many memory slots are there? Will I have to purchase 1GB with it to put another stick in for 2GB or can I go for 256mb and then put my own in? What configuration works? I do realise I could probably find this out from a technical specification but human beings explain it to a dumb girl like me much better 😛

I noticed there was an offer for 0% Interest if I was a Higher Education student, I am, but I'm 17 and the deal says I must be 18, is there any way I can utilise a guarentor in the family or is it absolutely compulsary for the person in education to be 18? (which seems sorta dumb since most people leave higher education at 18 =\)

That's pretty much it for now -- I'll probably have more questions later but these are the most pertanent since 14.9% would probably kill me >.<

TIA!

Ohhh yeah also, where can I get the right Memory for my Mac, bearing in mind I'm in the UK 😀
 
the imac G5 has two memory slots, when you get ram, get them in pairs and keep them in pairs too allow for 128 bit dual channel thingo...
 
Metoyou said:
How many memory slots are there? Will I have to purchase 1GB with it to put another stick in for 2GB or can I go for 256mb and then put my own in? What configuration works? I do realise I could probably find this out from a technical specification but human beings explain it to a dumb girl like me much better 😛
Click to expand...
The iMac G5 has just 2 slots. Which can take up to 1GB DIMMS each giving you a max of 2GB. You don't have to put memory in in matching pairs, so it's quite alright to have a 256MB+512MB in there. One plus point of having matching pairs (of whatever size - 2x256, 2x512, 2x1024) is that the memory BUS gets doubled from 64 bit (if your DIMMS don't match) to 128bit, which from the benchmarks we've seen does make quite a difference.
Ohhh yeah also, where can I get the right Memory for my Mac, bearing in mind I'm in the UK 😀
Click to expand...
I normally just go with crucial.com/uk, good price, and reliable.

No idea about the edu disscounts/finance, sorry.
 
So would it be advisable to get the 256mb with it, take that out, and put 2 1GB Crucial sticks in it, or get 1GB Apple 1GB Crucial? Does it make any difference?>
 
iMac G5 - Two slots for RAM... One of them is already filled with the stock 256mb... The maximum RAM you can have is 2BG, two times 1GB... There is a WHOLE LOAD of stuff about matched RAM being faster, so you might wanna read one of those threads first before you buy your RAM, and lastly, the website for the UK is www.crucial.com/uk 😛

Good Luck, I'm getting one soon too 🙂

Just read your above post - If you need two gigs then It will be apparently significantly faster to get two IDENTIVAL MATCHING 1GB RAM sticks from Crucial. Apparently 1 apple and one crucial will not be as fast. You need MATCHED 🙂
 
Metoyou said:
So would it be advisable to get the 256mb with it, take that out, and put 2 1GB Crucial sticks in it, or get 1GB Apple 1GB Crucial? Does it make any difference?>
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Don't pay Apple a penny for extra memory, it's a huge rip-off. Just take the 256 stock out, and install how ever much you want. It's cheaper to have the 256MB stock go to waste than it is to pay Apple for an upgrade 😱
 
Okay this seems great 😀

Okie next, is it really easy to add memory, and is there any other manually upgradeable part to the iMac G5? I mean is it dangerous to be in there, can I **** stuff up? Also how easy is it to start on a Mac, I mean in terms of compatibiity with my cable modem etc?

Also if anyone can shed some light on the finance offer thing that'd be great 😀
 
Metoyou said:
How many memory slots are there? Will I have to purchase 1GB with it to put another stick in for 2GB or can I go for 256mb and then put my own in? What configuration works? I do realise I could probably find this out from a technical specification but human beings explain it to a dumb girl like me much better 😛
Click to expand...
First, there are two slots in the iMac G5 (based on thread title, I am assuming that's the Mac you're looking at). To get to 1GB, you either order from Apple that way (or with a single 1GB DIMM and add your own), or you order 2 GB from Crucial and throw out the 256MB.

Second, dumb girls don't buy iMacs 😉

Metoyou said:
I noticed there was an offer for 0% Interest if I was a Higher Education student, I am, but I'm 17 and the deal says I must be 18, is there any way I can utilise a guarentor in the family or is it absolutely compulsary for the person in education to be 18?
Click to expand...
I'd call Apple. The 18 is probably a credit thing, nothing else. Oh, and dumb girls probably don't get into college at 17, either 😉

Metoyou said:
Ohhh yeah also, where can I get the right Memory for my Mac, bearing in mind I'm in the UK 😀
Click to expand...
I agree with crucial.com

Edit: Sheesh, take a phone call, drop in 5 posts late... 😀
 
RAM putting in is a doddle... Two (or three?) screws off, and then the whole back comes off and you slot one in... I suppose you COULD muck stuff up if you start pulling and hitting stuff... 😉

Other upgradables, airport card - thats the only one I can think of at the moment. Your modem shoudl work fine, is it Ethernet? Ethernet port on the back of the iMac... I'm afraid I don't know about the finance, but I should think that apple would stick tight to the ages...

Damn! Two replies since I started typing mine... 😉
 
Metoyou said:
Okie next, is it really easy to add memory, and is there any other manually upgradeable part to the iMac G5? I mean is it dangerous to be in there, can I **** stuff up? Also how easy is it to start on a Mac, I mean in terms of compatibiity with my cable modem etc?
Click to expand...

Installing memory should be easy, even for a dumb girl like you (you should never have said that... 😀 )

Getting started with the Mac will be simple from a networking standpoint. Plug it in. Go to Safari. Start browsing. Other aspects, if you're not familiar with the Mac or OS X will take a little time, but it's pretty simple to find the main things. Other things, we'll help with.
 
XIII said:
RAM putting in is a doddle... Two (or three?) screws off, and then the whole back comes off and you slot one in... I suppose you COULD muck stuff up if you start pulling and hitting stuff... 😉

Other upgradables, airport card - thats the only one I can think of at the moment. Your modem shoudl work fine, is it Ethernet? Ethernet port on the back of the iMac... I'm afraid I don't know about the finance, but I should think that apple would stick tight to the ages...
Click to expand...

I doubt Airport will be any use to me since the Mac's just gonna go where my current PC is and the modem will fit in fine.

Okie another question D:!

Is there any aspect of the computer (aside from the memory) that I should need to upgrade? How are the speakers and such?
 
Metoyou said:
I doubt Airport will be any use to me since the Mac's just gonna go where my current PC is and the modem will fit in fine.

Okie another question D:!

Is there any aspect of the computer (aside from the memory) that I should need to upgrade? How are the speakers and such?
Click to expand...

Don't know about the speakers, as I have never used them...but all things with internal speakers have one thing in common: the speakers are never very good.

I have these (JBL Sonnet 2.1...on Ebay for $59):
sonnet.jpg


Which sound very nice for their small size, and do actually match the iMac pretty nicely (and when off to the side and behind the iMac, with the subwoofer under the desk, they can't even be seen).
 
the speakers are suprisingly good. they are very full and have pretty good low range. that being said i would get some externals for sure. they are nice but if you are gonna be doing anything that requires a nicer louder sound externals will always be better.
 
Can anyone recommend some reallyyyy good subwoofer systems? Although I realise the Mac isn't for gaming I'll be playing them a lot, along with my intense movie watching and music listening so it's important 😀

Any price will do, but use your common sense and think about a sensible region 😛
 
Metoyou said:
Can anyone recommend some reallyyyy good subwoofer systems? Although I realise the Mac isn't for gaming I'll be playing them a lot, along with my intense movie watching and music listening so it's important 😀

Any price will do, but use your common sense and think about a sensible region 😛
Click to expand...
I like my iSub and Soundsticks. Pretty when visible, sound nice. 😀
 
The iMac is pretty upgradeable. You can replace the RAM, drives, and a ton of other things yourself (just not the video card or CPU without replacing the entire board with those on it). There's a thread somewhere about that. Do a forum search. I've been told it's pretty easy. Get the 256, buy 2x 1GB sticks from crucial, sell the 256 on eBay. When you get it, play with it for awhile with the internal speakers. If you want better ones, do another search on this forum. There have been some good ones on what are good speakers.

Call Apple on the education thing. I know in the US you have to be going to College to qualify for the discount, but sometimes they let you slide if you are a senior in High School and have been accepted to a College. The loans are only for 18+ people here for, I assume, legal reasons. It's like a credit card. I'm not sure how it works in the UK, so you'd have to ask them about their loan and discount programs.
 
Well I was sorta hoping the 18+ thing was for the credit, of which there should be no problem with me using someone else as a guarentor 🙂

It doesn't look like I can go for the 0% thing anyway since I probably couldn't pay it off in 10months anyway 🙁
 
solvs said:
Call Apple on the education thing. I know in the US you have to be going to College to qualify for the discount, but sometimes they let you slide if you are a senior in High School and have been accepted to a College.
Click to expand...
uhh thats not true. you can be k-12, college student or be accepted to a college. if you click on the education link you can pick a k-12 school or a university.
 
hmm a sorta unrelated topic, does anyone know what he next line of eMacs will be like? and how far off they are?
 
Metoyou said:
hmm a sorta unrelated topic, does anyone know what he next line of eMacs will be like? and how far off they are?
Click to expand...

I would think they might get a similar processor bump (dual-core) that's rumored for the powerbooks, but I doubt it'll get a sweet flatscreen, then there would be no differentiation between that and the iMac. There is an educational institution-only iMac without an optical drive, but I don't think they'll go that route with the eMac.

May see them early next year (1st quarter).
 
earthtoandy said:
uhh thats not true. you can be k-12, college student or be accepted to a college. if you click on the education link you can pick a k-12 school or a university.
Click to expand...
K-12 is for teachers and staff at elementary-high schools. Not students. Students are only eligible if the are going to College, and like I said, sometimes they let you slide if you have a College acceptance letter.

I still don't know how it works in the UK. Try a reseller when you get the money. Sometimes you can get a discount or free stuff thrown in.
 
ok you are right about the k-12..found some more documentation. but they dont let people slide.. it is built in to the policy that people accepted to college are eligible.
Higher Education
Any individual student enrolled in a course of study leading to a degree or certification in a public or private Higher Education Institution is eligible to purchase. In addition, any individual who has been accepted by a public or private Higher Education Institution and who has responded by stating his or her intent to enroll in the institution is eligible to purchase.
Click to expand...
 
Metoyou said:
I noticed there was an offer for 0% Interest if I was a Higher Education student, I am, but I'm 17 and the deal says I must be 18, is there any way I can utilise a guarentor in the family or is it absolutely compulsary for the person in education to be 18? (which seems sorta dumb since most people leave higher education at 18 =\)
Click to expand...

Congrats to switching. Call them up and ask them the best way to get the lowest rate. They are usually great about doing this. If you have someone that has perfect credit that can guarantee it then you should be able to get the lowest, and most likely 0%. Also, remember you can always pay it off earlier than the planned if you do have to end up paying some interest. 0% rocks...best they offered at the time I got mine was 9.9% for some ed deal I think.
 
earthtoandy said:
but they dont let people slide.. it is built in to the policy that people accepted to college are eligible.
Click to expand...
You are right. They probably just say it to make you think you are getting away with something when there it is, right in the faq. Like when you call some place to buy something and they have a promo and pretend they are personally giving you a deal by telling you about it. Sneaky bastards. 😛
 
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