Hi everybody. I'm Chris Larkee, the guy who made the computer in the subject of this thread. I thought I should reply to the comments here (even though this thread is turning out exactly as I would have expected)
Maxicek said:
Like pulling the engine out of a classic Mercedes and replacing it with one from a Ford Mondeo.
And I like the white superglue marks on the back panel. Pure class.
Im not sure what youre seeing, but Ill have to guess that youre refering to the reflections from using a flash on the camera. There is no glue on the back panel at all. There is glue to hold to power button and LEDs in the front, but that is not visible from the outside.
If you think glue is so terrible, take a close look inside a G3. Theres glue holding down the IDE cables. Theres glue holding down the bottom of the drive cage. The G3 side decals are glued on and the Apple logos on the side are glued on too. The hologram design covering the back panel is just a sticker. I had to remove all of this stuff, and yes, it was very unclassy.
And your analogy isnt that great. Are you saying that a 350mhz G3 with no RAM or hard drive would outperform a 1800+ Athlon running Linux? My benchmarks have this computer outperforming a dual processor 1 gHz G4. Try getting one of those for $450.
If you want to make legitimate complaints about the quality of the modding, check my notes, which I linked to on my auction page:
http://www.knellotron.com/stuff/mac/Mac_Notes.pdf
I was a bit reluctant to write a document thats just a list of negative things about the computer, but I wanted the buyer to be informed. Considering that this computer is the first hardware mod Ive ever done, and I think it turned out well.
5300cs said:
Did you seriously think people were gonna say "WHOA!! That's cool!" when they saw a Mac gutted to stuff in PC parts? PCs are like the anti-Christ to many people here, so seeing a poor Mac (and a USEABLE one at that) ripped apart to put sullied PC parts in, is upsetting.
The G3 was not useable. Most of the parts were ripped out when I got it. There was no hard drive, zip drive, CD drive, RAM, etc. I go to film school, and the department here is 100% Macs. This case was sitting out in the hallway, about to be thrown away; thats why all the parts that were useful to the owners were taken out. So not only did I get this case for free, I saved it from the garbage.
Benj said:
The worst thing is the horrible drippy, uneven paint job on the front!
It doesnt look so bad in person; this was the first time I had painted a computer. That bad spot was because I had to flip the panels over and paint the back to get full coverage of the panel, and it wasnt completely dry. So it stuck to the newspaper I was using, and left a mark. I smoothed it out a little, but never re-sanded it or anything.
I have a 2nd case Im working on, and I didnt make the same mistake twice. More information on that case is here:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=378721
brap said:
I don't think it's so bad.
I mean, he could perhaps have put in a better system - 1800+ Athlon? Ew. But the concept is good, so long as the G3 went to a good home. I'd much rather have a B&W case than even my Lian-Li.
Finally, it does look rather well done (hardware side, at least). Not a horrible hack job, all the PCIs are in the right places, and the ATX sockets are all accesible. Kudos to the dude.
To be honest, the entire purpose of this mod is a creative way to get rid of the old processor. The chip came out of my computer, and I replaced it with an Athlon XP 3000, and more RAM. The $450 price tag is the compensation for the new parts in this computer (about $200) and the $250 for the new parts in my main computer.
The whole thing is just a way to earn back the money I spent upgrading my PC.
Windowlicker said:
But why did he have to paint it black/white?! the blue would've been so much better.
Sorry, but I totally disagree. The blue may look nice on its own, but I think it looks dated, especially to those who are familiar with Macs. Black is more unique, and slightly more congruous with Apples later designs.
Finally, the new paint job improves the texture and covers up the wear of the case, so it doesnt look like its 5 years old. I deliberately used glossy black, not matte black, out of fear of having the computer ending up looking like a Dell.
And FYI, the information I used on how to paint it was from
http://www.macmod.com.
Be smooth, people. I'm not a threat to your macs. I'm just a college kid who has more time than money.
