Help me upgrade my 2005 1.6Ghz iMac

[Dj BW]

So I just got a used 2005 iMac ( M9248LL/A )

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac_g5_1.6_17.html

Unfortunetly it only supports 2GB of ram, but thats okay. It currently has 1GB. And a 80GB HD. I have a brand new MacBook Pro but I bought this for my mom and want to max it out.

But my question is.... What size harddrive can I put in it? Sata right? 3.5" or 2.5"....and can it handle a 1TB HD in a older model like this?

Also how can I make it bluetooth compatible to work with my magic trackpad?

Any suggestions on what brand/size/etc.. HD I should put in it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bret

 

[FourCandles]

Max 2GB of RAM is correct.

It's a 3.5in drive, SATA.

Unfortunately it won't work with a Magic Trackpad, as they need Snow Leopard, hence they're Intel only.

 

[AppleZwei]

So I just got a used 2005 iMac ( M9248LL/A )

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac_g5_1.6_17.html

Unfortunetly it only supports 2GB of ram, but thats okay. It currently has 1GB. And a 80GB HD. I have a brand new MacBook Pro but I bought this for my mom and want to max it out.

But my question is.... What size harddrive can I put in it? Sata right? 3.5" or 2.5"....and can it handle a 1TB HD in a older model like this?

Also how can I make it bluetooth compatible to work with my magic trackpad?

Any suggestions on what brand/size/etc.. HD I should put in it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bret

Unfortunately you bought the iMac with the most problems. Apple covered the PSU, logic board, and LCD for years even out of warranty. Largest REP program to date. At the place I work ( premier specialist) we charge 300 minimum to open them up because of the issues with them. The capacitors on the logic board are the worse part - they pop and break way too easily.

Whoever if you did manage to get a good one, it will suport the larger drive. Upgrading the ram shouldn't be too bad, unless you have 2 512mb cards. then youll have to buy 2 1 GB cards. Try buying used ones, perhaps find a buddy who might have some. If you cant find any PM me, we have so much crap ram that we will never sell that we took out of macs to be recycled.

 

[Dj BW]

Unfortunately you bought the iMac with the most problems. Apple covered the PSU, logic board, and LCD for years even out of warranty. Largest REP program to date. At the place I work ( premier specialist) we charge 300 minimum to open them up because of the issues with them. The capacitors on the logic board are the worse part - they pop and break way too easily.

Whoever if you did manage to get a good one, it will suport the larger drive. Upgrading the ram shouldn't be too bad, unless you have 2 512mb cards. then youll have to buy 2 1 GB cards. Try buying used ones, perhaps find a buddy who might have some. If you cant find any PM me, we have so much crap ram that we will never sell that we took out of macs to be recycled.

well this is the drive I want to buy....

Will it work?

The ad reads....

"Seagate brand 3.5" Hard drive with 1.5tb storage. It is SATA 300 and 7200rpm's (not the slower 5900 or 5400 rpm model). It is an internal drive (not external USB)."

Does the iMac take a 3.5"????

Or 2.5"

And can it handle 1.5TB?

He is selling it for $80

 

[AppleZwei]

well this is the drive I want to buy....

Will it work?

The ad reads....

"Seagate brand 3.5" Hard drive with 1.5tb storage. It is SATA 300 and 7200rpm's (not the slower 5900 or 5400 rpm model). It is an internal drive (not external USB)."

Does the iMac take a 3.5"????

Or 2.5"

And can it handle 1.5TB?

He is selling it for $80

Oh you haven't bought it yet? Good. Don't. Those iMacs are the most unreliable computers Apple has made. Get something else. Anything else.

Edit: It takes 3.5" drives. However it won't support any speeds over 1.5gbps, so that drive would be so incredibly slow because of the size.

 

[OGDaniel]

Get rid of it dude. Those are wayyy too problematic as AppleZwei said. You should shoot for a Mini.

 

[FourCandles]

Unless your mom is going to be needing lots of storage (and you can always add an external hard drive or two), then you should be able to pick up a 500GB for much less.

 

[Dj BW]

Oh you haven't bought it yet? Good. Don't. Those iMacs are the most unreliable computers Apple has made. Get something else. Anything else.

Edit: It takes 3.5" drives. However it won't support any speeds over 1.5gbps, so that drive would be so incredibly slow because of the size.[/QUOTE


Heres the deal. I just bought a brand new mac mini aluminum (I love it) for my 46" Samsung LED..... Basically my media computer....


So I traded a Apple TV that I got for $50 for this iMac

So basically I got this iMac for $50

You guys are making start to think it was a bad trade, but didnt need the Apple TV anymore

 

[Prozac]

my experience

Brett

I have a day 1 imac G5 from Sep 2004. It had logic board failure in year 1 and PSU failure in year 5. Apart from that it worked well- except it is old and slow. However it worked very well for 95% of my needs-email, net, music, photos. So I do not agree with some of the stick it is getting.

I upgraded hard drive twice. In the earlier models this is easy and can be done in 5 minutes. I dont think later models are that easy. It alo has pleasing classic design and matte display. Last upgrade was 640 GB Western digital.

check the website http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/. It will give info about HDs and ease of upgrade.

To be honest, this comuter has served and serving well. I have upgraded now to i7 27", mainly because of greed, not that I need.

 

[Thermonuclear]

But what about the iSgiht iMac G5 model?

But what about the iSight 2.1 GHz iMac G5 model that was introduced in October 2005? This was the model with the shortest lifespan as it was withdrawn three months later with the Intel switchover. I believe that by the time the iSight G5 model was produced that most of the problems associated with the earlier G5 iMacs were resolved. In particular, the defective capacitor problem had been fixed.

 

[CubeHacker]

But what about the iSight 2.1 GHz iMac G5 model that was introduced in October 2005? This was the model with the shortest lifespan as it was withdrawn three months later with the Intel switchover. I believe that by the time the iSight G5 model was produced that most of the problems associated with the earlier G5 iMacs were resolved. In particular, the defective capacitor problem had been fixed.

Think again! There are tons of iSight models out there with capacitor issues.

 

[Thermonuclear]

Think again! There are tons of iSight models out there with capacitor issues.

You may be right although I had heard differently. Perhaps some reports were conflated with earlier models as they do look much alike and the iSight models had only a short production run.

My interest in getting a G5 iMac is to obtain an inexpensive 64 bit PowerPC platform for application portability testing. One source is offering a tested unit with a 90 day warranty; the same length warranty that Apple offered back in 1986 when I bought a Mac Plus.

I was burnt once by Apple with bad capacitors when a snow AirPort Base Station crapped out with the bad cap problem a month after the warranty expired. But I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and can fix blown caps without too much difficulty.