How useful an iMac G4 in current time

[asifnaz]

I am new to Mac . I have seen seen a used iMac G4 800 Mhz 256 ram 40 GB HD .

I am really tempted to buy it . Is it worth US $ 100 ...?

to waht Mac OS X it can be upgraded..?

what about apps ...upgrades ...etc

I cant buy any other Mac because I am out of job

 

[alust2013]

It would be useful for light web browsing (no flash), music, and word processing. That's really about it anymore. The highest it can go is Leopard, which is now twice outdated.

 

[asifnaz]

It would be useful for light web browsing (no flash), music, and word processing. That's really about it anymore. The highest it can go is Leopard, which is now twice outdated.

No Flash at all or slow streaming..? I am fine with Leopard as I am new to Mac .

Is that Mac worth 100$..?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I have seen seen a used iMac G4 800 Mhz 256 ram 40 GB HD .
I am really tempted to buy it . Is it worth US $ 100 ...?
to waht Mac OS X it can be upgraded..?
what about apps ...upgrades ...etc
I cant buy any other Mac because I am out of job"

Offer the seller $80 and I'll bet he takes it.

I'm still using a PowerMac g4/1.25ghz as my "main" computer (bought new in April 2004). Still running 10.4.11 on it because I need "Classic".

It works "well enough" for most day-to-day things that I need to do. 10.4.x is no longer "current", and isn't being updated, but still works. I suppose I _could_ go to 10.5.8 if I needed to. But I have an Intel iMac for such things.

If about $100 is all you've got to spend at the moment, and you want to start using a Mac, learn about the software, etc. -- the g4 iMac will "do well enough for you" to get started on. When the time comes later on to "move up", do so. By then you'll be ready for more.

Have you seen any iMac g5's close to that in price?

 

[fhall1]

You don't say what size the LCD is.....I bought a 17" 800MHz w/512M RAM and 80 GB HD for $100 last October. The guy started at $150, then $120, and had no takers until my offer.

Just something to give you a data point.

 

[eljanitor]

It's not totally useless, the price isn't too bad if it's in really good working condition. It will browse the web, and do some basic stuff, like word processing. It can't play any of the latest games or anything so your kids might not be too happy.

256 MB RAM? It can run panther OSX 10.3 If you want to use Tiger 10.4, and you could with 256 MB RAM you will need to upgrade the RAM or it will be really slow. There's not much you can do do upgrade it besides OS, RAM, and a hard drive. You may be better off finding a G5 iMac out there somewhere for a similar price. You may be able to get one of those for maybe $200.00 on Craigslist.

I wouldn't pay more then $100.00 for the G4 period.

 

[macmastersam]

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I am new to Mac . I have seen seen a used iMac G4 800 Mhz 256 ram 40 GB HD .

I am really tempted to buy it . Is it worth US $ 100 ...?

to waht Mac OS X it can be upgraded..?

what about apps ...upgrades ...etc

I cant buy any other Mac because I am out of job

Apply for another job! Then go on eBay and search for an iMac no earlier than the early 2009 model.

 

[velocityg4]

For that price you should be able to find easily enough an 800mhz+ Dual CPU Powermac G4 with 1GB+ RAM with Leopard already installed. As for a monitor you can go to any Goodwill or other used thrift store and find a CRT for next to nothing.

Heck pop by your local Goodwill. You might luck out and find a Powermac G4 with monitor for very little.

Steer clear of the iMac G5s. They have a faulty capacitor design that will eventually fail. Given how old they are the odds are really going up. The only way I would consider one of these is if the owner had the capacitors replaced by someone. Or bought a used motherboard that already had it's caps replaced.