ApplePowerMac G4 PowerPC w/733MHz Processor,1Gb RAM

[Trelous]

I am new to Mac's and have no idea on the value of the older Mac's. I have a few questions, was hoping for some light on the issue.
I have an opportunity to buy a used ApplePowerMac G4 PowerPC w/733MHz Processor,1Gb RAM ... has OS X (Tiger) & 80 Gb Hard Drive ,DVD RW/CDRW. This computer is about 5-6 years old, and I could buy it for $350, is this a good price? (Is it a great deal, avg. price, over priced ... some explanation why if possible)
How is the hardware in this computer? (will it last, or are there known problems with any of it)
I currently use Linux (Ubuntu) ... my wife uses Windows XP ... this computer would be for both of us but mostly for my wife. We are hoping this computer will last, and use it for baby photo's ect ... so if we bought it, we are hoping it would last at least 5 years, get us into using Mac's and go from there. Any and all comments are welcome, Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Sincerely,
Trelous

 

[motulist]

That is not a good price. For a similar amount of money you could get a used mac mini and it'd be much faster and more powerful.

 

[disconap]

$350 isn't terrible for the amount of RAM and the fact that you can upgrade that processor up to 2gHz (or dual 1.8gHz). I would try to get it down to $300 or lower if possible, but you could definitely do worse. Also find out the RAM configuration; if it is 2X512mb sticks, then it may be worth it. 4X256 (or if the model only takes three sticks, then 2X256 and 1X512) isn't as worth it.

You may want to check around for a faster mini, you can get G4 minis at that price and they are much faster than the base system. However they aren't upgradeable (you can upgrade the graphics card on the tower you're looking at as well). Ubuntu also runs quite well on those G4 towers.

I'd say it's worth it but you may want to look for a newer machine for the money. Value wise $350-400 is pretty much the ceiling for a non-upgraded lower end G4, so you're paying top tier but you're getting your money's worth. It really just depends what you want out of the machine; if it will do exactly what you want, $350 is a good deal. If you want more power, get a better machine or expect to pay another $200-400 upgrading it.

Also note that the processor is below the minimum requirement for Leopard, but you don't need Leopard and probably won't for a year or two.

 

[MezicanGangxtah]

well the computer is a fine machine suitable for simple task and such but if you seriously want it to last 5 years or more then your gonna have to go for a brand new imac or mac pro and if you want to go slow into the mac world go for a refurbished mini their as good as new and will be way faster than this G4 system take into consideration that this machine is also below system rquirements of leopard just so you know .

 

[26139]

Decent

That's not a terrible price. I paid $200 for a 450mhz G4 with a 120 gig hard drive and 512 of ram last year. I added another drive, doubled the ram and gave it USB2 pci card and it's a great lil server now.

While I do like Mac Minis, they aren't as expandable or as cheap to upgrade as a tower would be.