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MacHappytjg

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 24, 2008
1,498
1
Winnipeg
how hard is it to swap a harddrive in an emac because i might be buying one with a 40 and i have a 60 at home which i would be installing. is it as easy as a imac g3 because i see there very simalar in look
 
The eMac is one of the hardest Apple machines to upgrade. You have to almost completely take apart the computer to gain access to the hard drive, and you also have to be careful around the CRT so it doesn't harm you. It might be better to get an external hard drive or put your other drive in a case.
 
The eMac is one of the hardest Apple machines to upgrade. You have to almost completely take apart the computer to gain access to the hard drive, and you also have to be careful around the CRT so it doesn't harm you. It might be better to get an external hard drive or put your other drive in a case.

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they have firewire external cases right cause i dont wanna go near the crt
 
You can try looking online for some take-apart guides, but its best to get an external case. What model of eMac are you getting? It got a little easier to upgrade the eMac's with the May 2003 revision, but not much better. Also, look out for raster shift on the first generation 700MHz eMac's, which causes 1/3 of the screen to shift up and the bottom half is black. It can be fixed by purchasing a new inverter cable. If you get one of the 1.25GHz models, those can be affected by blown capacitors. However, i've had my 1.25GHz eMac for almost 4 years and never been affected with anything. Good luck with it, mine has been superb and the CRT used is one of Apple's best screens ever.

RAM is extremely simple to upgrade. Just unscrew the bottom hatch and you're there. It's about the only thing that easy to upgrade.
 
Yes, RAM is easy - there's a hatch on the underside.

There are two version of the eMac, the 700, 800 and 1 GHz USB 1.1 machines use PC133 RAM and can go to 1 GB maximum with 2 x 512 MB DIMMs

The 1, 1.25 and 1.42 GHz USB 2.0 machines user DDR RAM and can go to 2 GB with 2 x 1 GB PC2700 or PC3200 DIMMs.

If you have a 1 GHz machine, you can check which model you have under the Apple menu: About this Mac: More Info... : Memory - and see whether it says PC133 or PC2700U on the existing memory.

It's totally not worth the effort to install a 60 GB inside the machine... go for a nice Firewire case like a MacAlly, and put the 60 in there. Then you have a backup for your internal drive, as well as a place to clean files off to.
 
You can try looking online for some take-apart guides, but its best to get an external case. What model of eMac are you getting? It got a little easier to upgrade the eMac's with the May 2003 revision, but not much better. Also, look out for raster shift on the first generation 700MHz eMac's, which causes 1/3 of the screen to shift up and the bottom half is black. It can be fixed by purchasing a new inverter cable. If you get one of the 1.25GHz models, those can be affected by blown capacitors. However, i've had my 1.25GHz eMac for almost 4 years and never been affected with anything. Good luck with it, mine has been superb and the CRT used is one of Apple's best screens ever.

RAM is extremely simple to upgrade. Just unscrew the bottom hatch and you're there. It's about the only thing that easy to upgrade.


kk just like the imac g3 open a hatch u dont even have to unscrew and easy airport installation :D is the airport the same on the emac
 
Airport card slot is located behind the black border surrounding the CD drive. Just unscrew the two screws and there you go.

ok im thinking wireless but not at the same time it all depends if i get the computer cause macs go fast at this place so im calling tommorw right when they open .
 
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