Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

eMac running Leopard - Bad idea?

N

new.Mac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 10, 2010
8
0
Tennssee-USA
I am new to Macs but my Dell laptop just crashed for the 6th time!!!:mad: Therefore I am getting a used mac and I am on a very tight budget. I am currently looking at an eMac g4. It has a 1.25 GHz Powerpc g4 processor, 512 MB RAM, and 80 GB hard drive. It has Mac os x 10.5.4 installed along with programs like: Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and iLife. Would it be a bad idea to get this computer?:confused:
 
new.Mac said:
I am new to Macs but my Dell laptop just crashed for the 6th time!!!:mad: Therefore I am getting a used mac and I am on a very tight budget. I am currently looking at an eMac g4. It has a 1.25 GHz Powerpc g4 processor, 512 MB RAM, and 80 GB hard drive. It has Mac os x 10.5.4 installed along with programs like: Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and iLife. Would it be a bad idea to get this computer?:confused:
Click to expand...

I would put 10.4 (Tiger) on it. Leopard is a hungry kitty for resources.

Office is going to be slow, as is photoshop, and iLife as well.

What is your budget if I may ask? Might be able to get a better computer.
 
If the price is right.... I have had a 1 GHz eMac for several years, and wanted to replace it for a while. It's a workhorse and keeps chugging along, and also with a tight budget, I can't justify the expense of getting a new one, when this one runs great! It's main function now is the conduit for my iPad. Adding a tilt/swivel stand and maxing out the RAM will certainly help. :apple:
 
too many variables... how much is the asking price for the emac that you are interested in? If the price is under $300 then it may be worth it depending on your needs. If you are considering a G4 machine I would suggest getting a 1.42 Ghz eMac or mac Mini with at least 1Gb or more RAM especially if you want to run Leopard. If your budget allows I would go for a used Core 2 Duo imac or mac mini that is equipped with at least a 9400m.

Bottom line is get the best G4 or even G5 equipped mac or at least an Intel machine with a dedicated GPU. Don't even consider an intel mac with integrated GMA graphics. You would be better off with an obsolete PPC based Mac than an underpowered Intel Machine strapped with integrated GMA graphics.
 
my parents use an old G4 800MHz eMac with 1GB RAM and a 40GB hard drive. Panther was bringing it to a crawl, so I put Leopard on it (I know, it doesn't meet the "required minimum" processor speed), and it runs just fine on 10.5.8.

Photoshop will probably crawl, but Office runs quite smoothly.
 
I've got the exact same machine as the one you are looking at, only I installed 2 Gb of Ram instead of the 512 mb that the machine you are looking at has. It runs Leopard fairly well and can do pretty much all the basic tasks such as internet, email, and some light word processing. Granted it isn't as fast as my Macbook Pro, but it definitely is usable with Leopard on it. If you do in fact get it, I would recommending adding more ram because 512 mb will likely be too little.
 
Emac/10.5.8

I run 10.5.8 on a 1 gz E Mac with 768 MB. Runs fine for office 2004, web, tax programs mail, etc.
 
$

the asking price is $120 and I am planning to use it for video editing and things like that, which which is why the programs were a bonus. and my budget(for those who were wondering) is $160-$220 depending on if I get my money in time.

Also, about how much would more ram cost??
 
new.Mac said:
the asking price is $130 and I am planning to use it for video editing and things like that, which which is why the programs were a bonus. and my budget(for those who were wondering) is $160-$220 depending on if I get my money in time.

Also, about how much would more ram cost??
Click to expand...

Do not pay $130 for that thing. I wouldn't pay $75. Where are you looking? ebay, craigslists, etc?
 
new.Mac said:
if i wanted a pc i would have gotten a brand new one. and yes Ebay I am just getting it to have something to use temporarily until I get enough money to buy a new mac mini or Macbook
Click to expand...

$130 SHIPPED isn't too bad, but around $100 would be more reasonable for it (unless it is in great condition or some other variable).

eMacs are great machines, just bulky. Don't expect to break any land speed records with it, but it'll be a serviceable machine. :) My mother-in-law uses a 700MHz eMac with 512MB of RAM every day as her primary machine.

Like others, however, I'd recommend a downgrade to Tiger; I had a PowerBook with a 1.33GHz G4 and 1GB of RAM and it was a dog with Leopard.

EDIT: Try this one. Assuming you're in the US (sorry if I'm wrong), this seller has the 1.42GHz model for $120 shipped. They also have the 1.25 for $95 shipped.
 
js81 said:
$130 SHIPPED isn't too bad, but around $100 would be more reasonable for it (unless it is in great condition or some other variable).

eMacs are great machines, just bulky. Don't expect to break any land speed records with it, but it'll be a serviceable machine. :) My mother-in-law uses a 700MHz eMac with 512MB of RAM every day as her primary machine.

Like others, however, I'd recommend a downgrade to Tiger; I had a PowerBook with a 1.33GHz G4 and 1GB of RAM and it was a dog with Leopard.

EDIT: Try this one. Assuming you're in the US (sorry if I'm wrong), this seller has the 1.42GHz model for $120 shipped. They also have the 1.25 for $95 shipped.
Click to expand...

that is the same price as the other, and thanks.... to everybody for your help but I recently found out that it will not run imovie(which is the whole point in getting a mac, for me) i am looking at imac g5, mac mini, and power macs. hopefully i will find something.:apple:

Try this one. Assuming you're in the US (sorry if I'm wrong), this seller has the 1.42GHz model for $120 shipped. They also have the 1.25 for $95 shipped.
Click to expand...
yes I am in us
 
new.Mac said:
I am new to Macs but my Dell laptop just crashed for the 6th time!!!:mad: Therefore I am getting a used mac and I am on a very tight budget. I am currently looking at an eMac g4. It has a 1.25 GHz Powerpc g4 processor, 512 MB RAM, and 80 GB hard drive. It has Mac os x 10.5.4 installed along with programs like: Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and iLife. Would it be a bad idea to get this computer?:confused:
Click to expand...

You'd probably want more RAM for Leopard. I have a PowerMac G4 with a 1.0GHz cpu and 1.3GB RAM and I saw no performance difference between Tiger and Leopard.
 
Tiger Would Be MUCH Better.

Leopard requires a lot of your graphics card. eMacs were designed for educational uses, such as surfing the web, writing reports, etc. Very low graphical intensive task. Therefore Apple didn't really beef up the video card. I would HIGHLY suggest just running Tiger (10.4.11) and you will be zipping right along!
 
Thanks to everyone who replied. you were a lot of help. I ended up with a MacBook a1181(old non unibody version) & an imac g4 as a backup computer.
 
I had the exact same computer you had and it ran leopard well. Some tasks like making a whole band in garageband didn't work as smoothly as I would have liked but it would still be fast enough to use for like internet, iTunes and some IM all open at the same time without a problem
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back