Buying A Used iMAC

[DAVE2158]

Hello,
First Things First I do not come he much but when I do I some realy great stuff and with the few threads I have posted I've gotten great information that has help me a long the way. So I just what to say thanks to all of you
Mac Heads.
Ok now the question I want to get my Daughter a used CRT imac something simple I just do know which ones I can upgrade to OS X
and is installing harddrive and memory a big deal. I have see a some good deals are Ebay just that I need a little more help before I leap.
Well again Thanks

 

[jxyama]

what's your budget?

you may get a better overall deal just buying a brand new eMac. (which, contrary to popular belief, is not any bigger than a CRT iMac.)

if you are getting an iMac, memory installation should be simple. HD replacement would be a bit harder, if not a bit dangerous, since you will have crack open the case and risk messing around a bare CRT. you may also need to re-apply thermal paste, not sure about that one...

 

[jsw]

I'd recommend going to the Apple Store and clicking on the red SAVE tag.

As of a minute ago, I saw some good eMac deals there (see image).

 

[Artful Dodger]

If you are looking for a used Mac my emac with 18mths. of apple care will be for sale after tomorrow night as i am getting a new iBook.
If you want more details just e-mail me and I will get back to you today or Saturday morning.
emac 800 MHz, Apple care till April 2006, 1 gig ram, swivel stand, DVD/CDR Burner, just installed Panther(retail version) Still have all the org. boxes that everything came with.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Memory installation is not so simple in the tray-load CD iMacs, the hood has to come off and the "guts" pulled out and opened up. One good reason to avoid the tray-load models. Another reason is the poor performance (233, 266 MHz) and no Firewire. The slot-load CD models are better.

Hard drive installation is not a picnic on either the tray-load or the slot-load CD model.

If you must have a G3 iMac look for a DV or Special Edition model, with Firewire.

But get the eMac if you can afford the extra couple of hundred. Performance is night and day.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[hikeNM]

In the past few months I've purchased two slot loading imacs from ebay. Both have been a success. Of course, ebay is a case by case basis, and success depends on the seller. I wouldn't buy from anybody with a less than stellar record. Also, I've found, if I'm bidding on something, to contact the seller before, just to make sure the seller is there. I've had several occasions where I've purchased something and not been able to get a reply from the seller.

Also, if you do end up buying an older imac and want to upgrade to anything above 10.1, make sure you update the firmware before updating. Otherwise, you'll be wishing you had. The first computer I bought, I didn't do that and spent hours trying to figure out how to fix it (it makes the screen not work).

RAM is easy to install also on the older imacs. Don't own a new one, so can't vouch for them.

 

[timnosenzo]

I'd recommend going to the Apple Store and clicking on the red SAVE tag.

As of a minute ago, I saw some good eMac deals there (see image).

I bought one of the 1.25Ghz refurb eMacs, and it's a great machine. Can't beat the price!

 

[sushi]

(which, contrary to popular belief, is not any bigger than a CRT iMac.)

Uh, I suppose it depends on how you see things. While they have similar dimensions, the iMac is more rounded giving it a smaller looking shape.

Here are the dimensions:

iMac: 15.8 x 15.2 x 17.6 wt 40lbs

eMac: 15.8 x 15.8 x 17.1 wt 50lbs

Having said that, I would go with the eMac if you are interested in Mac OS 10. While you can run 10 on an earlier iMac (G3 type), a G4 is much better.

Sushi

 

[DAVE2158]

Thanks

Thank You,
To everone who reply to my post Thanks alot for all the help. Once again the Apple Community has come through......You Guy's are the best never get this help in the PC world ......Thanks Again.

 

[tom.96]

Memory installation is not so simple in the tray-load CD iMacs, the hood has to come off and the "guts" pulled out and opened up. One good reason to avoid the tray-load models. Another reason is the poor performance (233, 266 MHz) and no Firewire. The slot-load CD models are better.

I have an imac 400mhz slot load DV machine, and would agree that on my model memory installation is extremely easy. Just undo the little door at the back and slot it in. (You do have to take precautions about static etc but that is the same with any memory installation) I'm sure full instructions are available on Apple's website for this, but really unless you are accident prone it shouldn't be too difficult

 

[csubear]

ya, i just bought a 333Mhz imac, and it was not very fun opening it up to get at the harddrive. I upgraded the hard drive and i think that i am going to get another 128 stick of RAM for it.

Its not setting any speed records, but panther works just fine.