Dang, I've been so busy looking at the 2011 iMac forums I totally overlooked this one! Here's my deal. I'm running a 1 Ghz, 17" PPC G4 I bought in 2003. I've finally decided to upgrade to the 27" iMac next Tuesday when the Back-to-School sale is rumored to begin. My only real complaint with my current computer is that it runs some video formats (like youtube) too slow for my liking. I know, not a very good reason to get a new computer but it's lasted eight years and I'm ready for an upgrade. My question is what should I do with my old computer once I get my new one? What would YOU do?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What to do with old PPC G4?
- Thread starter rdees12
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Donate to a local charity or school? They are OK files servers but very power hungry to keep going all day.
Keep it and use it as kitchen computer, or donate to some unfortunate kids... or if you are in for the money sell it on CL or ebay.
You could also opt to keep it as a backup machine, or try modding something into it in the future if you're feeling brave. I've heard Mac Minis get that treatment a lot.
Having a backup machine, regardless of how old, is a good thing, provided it can at least access the internet. (Found myself relying on a Cyrix build from 1998 for a few months, a couple years ago... not that great, but loads better than nothing!)
Having a backup machine, regardless of how old, is a good thing, provided it can at least access the internet. (Found myself relying on a Cyrix build from 1998 for a few months, a couple years ago... not that great, but loads better than nothing!)
Nothing hardware-wise. Try CPU optimized software: Ten Four Fox, Camino, MacTubes or/and use HTML5 on YT etc. These are solutions to improve video playback performance on G4. But don't expect miracles. Even some Intel machines have troubles with flash video.
Maxing out RAM will help in overall machine performance but not in this specific issue.
If you have the space to easily keep it as a backup, I would...that's precisely why I have a computer to use at all right now (dual G4)...because I'd kept it as a just-in-case, and poof, my laptop is no more...
^^^ This
You will always need a backup MAC (not PC) to help your newer mac at some point in it's life.
If you ever need to burn a .dmg, it's there. If you ever need to diagnose the new Mac in Target Disk Mode, it's there. (Not in your case, since your iMac won't have FW400..but that's besides the point
)
At some point you'll probably find SOME use for it, and the 17" iMacs don't look all that bad sitting in plain sight if you decide to use it as a desk ornament!
Every time I sell an old Mac my Dad says, "Is it really worth the small amount of $ you'll get on something you'll find USEFUL in the future?"
You will always need a backup MAC (not PC) to help your newer mac at some point in it's life.
If you ever need to burn a .dmg, it's there. If you ever need to diagnose the new Mac in Target Disk Mode, it's there. (Not in your case, since your iMac won't have FW400..but that's besides the point
) At some point you'll probably find SOME use for it, and the 17" iMacs don't look all that bad sitting in plain sight if you decide to use it as a desk ornament!
Every time I sell an old Mac my Dad says, "Is it really worth the small amount of $ you'll get on something you'll find USEFUL in the future?"
Backup
Eight years is pretty good. Honestly, I would try to see how much longer I can get out of it. I got a Dell I bought new in 2006 for about $2000 dollars. The irony's this: the equivalent for today's PC is about $300-600. Technology flies when unleashed. And prices drop like dead flies.
I would not change my PC /yet/. It's still got life in it. For as much money that's been invested in it, it would be a foolish move to just get a new PC or Mac. In my case, it would be a Mac next time around. =)
As for your Mac, I third the backup idea.
Eight years is pretty good. Honestly, I would try to see how much longer I can get out of it. I got a Dell I bought new in 2006 for about $2000 dollars. The irony's this: the equivalent for today's PC is about $300-600. Technology flies when unleashed. And prices drop like dead flies.
I would not change my PC /yet/. It's still got life in it. For as much money that's been invested in it, it would be a foolish move to just get a new PC or Mac. In my case, it would be a Mac next time around. =)
As for your Mac, I third the backup idea.
You could always donate it to me, I've been wanting one of these for ages.
I wondered how long it would take for someone to ask for a freebie.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)
Keep it as a collectors item
Keep it as a collectors item