Guy at school selling used G4. Advice?

[Anaxagoras]

Dual 533, 120gb, 900mb RAM, CD burner (not sure what speed), mouse + KB (won't use the mouse tho, got a logitech wireless that i absolutely love). No monitor, but I already have one of those too.

TONS of software. I don't remember it all off the top of my head, but these are some of the programs he's selling with the mac:

* Adobe Photoshop CS Suite
* Final Cut Pro 4
* Jag (pre-installed, if he gives me the cd great, if not i can buy it for $70 with my student disc.)
* Office X

And his asking price is $700 (USD), and I believe he's willing to nego.

Should I go for it? Or is it overpriced? (Still a bit of a mac newb, just switched about a year ago)

 

[JesseJames]

Club him, grab it, and run like hell.

 

[Nny]

Dual 533, 120gb, 900mb RAM, CD burner (not sure what speed), mouse + KB (won't use the mouse tho, got a logitech wireless that i absolutely love). No monitor, but I already have one of those too.

TONS of software. I don't remember it all off the top of my head, but these are some of the programs he's selling with the mac:

* Adobe Photoshop CS Suite
* Final Cut Pro 4
* Jag (pre-installed, if he gives me the cd great, if not i can buy it for $70 with my student disc.)
* Office X

And his asking price is $700 (USD), and I believe he's willing to nego.

Should I go for it? Or is it overpriced? (Still a bit of a mac newb, just switched about a year ago)

sounds like a good deal to me (but talk him down if you can). i am still on a 4 year old Dual 450 G4 w/ 1 GB RAM and I see no reason for a new system yet. everything runs smooth and quick. are the CDs included for all the software? (if not, try to talk him down in price... pirated software does not make a system worth more) if he has the Jag CD make him do a fresh install (if he has the CDs for all the software)... better to start out with a clean system. keep it for a year or two and if it starts to feel slow i am sure you can get $500-700 for it on eBay.

 

[wPod]

id say for the DP the RAM, photoshop and final cut pro that computer is definitly worth it. but you know if he started at 700 you can go for 650. but i would get panther for it.

 

[rueyeet]

It's not a bad deal, but don't count the software unless you're getting the disks too. After all, if any wierdness happens to your machine, you won't be able to reinstall those programs. All you're getting is a temporary unlicensed copy with no support that will last only long as your current installation does.

But with that said, I don't think $700 is that bad a price for a dual 533 G4....though yes, talk him down if you can. Try the software angle; he's not giving you the disks so you can use that line of reasoning to try to reduce the price.

 

[thehuncamunca]

sounds like a pretty crappy deal personally, a new emac is $749 and will be much faster than a dual 533 granted it won't be as upgradeable

It's not a bad deal, but don't count the software unless you're getting the disks too. After all, if any wierdness happens to your machine, you won't be able to reinstall those programs. All you're getting is a temporary unlicensed copy with no support that will last only long as your current installation does.

But with that said, I don't think $700 is that bad a price for a dual 533 G4....though yes, talk him down if you can. Try the software angle; he's not giving you the disks so you can use that line of reasoning to try to reduce the price.

 

[musicpyrite]

Club him, grab it, and run like hell.

Thats illegal, but exactly what I would do.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

sounds like a pretty crappy deal personally, a new emac is $749 and will be much faster than a dual 533 granted it won't be as upgradeable

I agree, a new Emac will simply dust that machine and now you have the latest OS with warranty and nice and new. this is a better choice. big enough monitor, just load up that ram.

 

[Makyz]

ha pwned sees you

 

[siliconjones]

I would not count the software in the deal unless he hands you the orginal disks, documentation and above all the serial numbers for the software. Unless he does those things the software is pirated. I personally think thats pretty darn high. I would keep my money and lie, cheat or steal my way to another machine. A new one. I wouldn't buy a g4 sawtooth for over 500. Thats me. Maybe I'm cheap. But I have two at my right and 1 quicksilver to my left. I paid 615 for the quicksilver a year and a half ago. I also only look at the processor the bus speed and the video card. Ram and Hard drive do not matter as they are easier and cheaper to come buy. I would buy from a design shop that is upgrading. When you buy from an individual they have more personal stake and attachment and want to make as much $$$ they can. When you buy from a design shop that is upgrading, the old machines are simply in the way, and selling them will help offset the cost of the new machines (which were a justified expenditure already).

This is opposed to trying to possibly finance some other want. That's how you get a mac for a song. sorry for the long post.

Sorry for long. Hope it makes sense.

 

[adamjay]

get an eMac man. its one hell of a deal.
Xbench.com submitted benchmark's shows the highest completed benchmark of a dual 533mhz to be 96.
eMac @ 1.25ghz = 130. BIG difference..

you said you have another monitor... well. there is a software hack you can run to decripple the eMac's and iBook's inability to run dual-displays. so you could have 2 displays, and alot more power for $50 more.

 

[slooksterPSV]

If you don't take it give me his number and I'll buy it. If it has CS Suite thats $1000 (yes one thousand) software right there. Take it and Run

 

[Horrortaxi]

Compared to what the same computer would sell for on Ebay it isn't too bad a deal. The software alone, if legit (but I strongly doubt that it is), is worth that much. The 2 big problems with this computer have already been pointed out--a brand new, faster eMac (with warranty) costs just slightly more. Also, the software is worthless if it's pirated.

I vote for the eMac.