I hav $800 for a new computer, what computer should I get? I am thinking a refurbished eMac. If you shop long enough you can find them at $850. I could also get a 700 Mhz classic iMac, and have money to spare. What computer should I get?
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I hav $800 for a new computer, what computer should I get?
- Thread starter scem0
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Get something when you have a little more money. There's no law that says you have to buy something right now.
What you would do with $800! 
Seriously, though, you really can't get too much for $800. Even if you found an eMac for $800 you probably will have to buy extra software/hardware, unless you have all the stuff already for use.
If you really need extra power for audio editing, movie editing, or lots of audio converting, get an eMac. If you are just looking for some basic photo work (possibly), text documents, net, etc., go with an older iMac.
Seriously, though, you really can't get too much for $800. Even if you found an eMac for $800 you probably will have to buy extra software/hardware, unless you have all the stuff already for use.
If you really need extra power for audio editing, movie editing, or lots of audio converting, get an eMac. If you are just looking for some basic photo work (possibly), text documents, net, etc., go with an older iMac.
You see, I would wait but I can't. My parents need a new computer for business, and they leave that up to me, because I can find the best deals. Well, I have a g4 450 MHz, and I am using this as a situation to get a better computer. I can give them my g4, and get the eMac instead. BTW I hate laptops. WAAAAAY to expensive.
go for the emac. the g4 and geforce card will make osx run much better than a classic imac (i know, my g3imac is a little on the pokey side).
That is what I was thinking. I guess I will have to wait till there is a really good deal on an eMac.
My old B/W G3 400 then upgrade the cpu.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11956
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11956
Try a reseller like www.powermax.com , www.smalldog.com , or any other site where you can find a good deal on used or refurbs, like www.pricewatch.com , etc. DON'T BUY FROM EBAY!!! There's another thread about that. I'm sure there are a couple of threads, actually, filled with horror stories. But, for $800 you won't find a very good Mac.
You could build a cheapy PC, but you wouldn't want to do that unless you had to.
Good luck (not meant to sound sarcastic).
You could build a cheapy PC, but you wouldn't want to do that unless you had to.
Good luck (not meant to sound sarcastic).
....
I bought a Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower from Mac of All trades (www.macofalltrades.com) It was only $399, it didn't have a monitor, but I already had one. Check out Mac of All Trades, they have great deals on refurbished macs.
I bought a Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower from Mac of All trades (www.macofalltrades.com) It was only $399, it didn't have a monitor, but I already had one. Check out Mac of All Trades, they have great deals on refurbished macs.
Don't buy a new machine.
If that's an AGP motherboard just spend the cash on a RADEON 8500, Dual Processor from Sonnet, some RAM and a dual ATA-133 RAID card. That box can last you quite a while if you get Jag and since you're a student you can get it cheap.
Don't underestimate how upgrade-friendly that machine is.
If that's an AGP motherboard just spend the cash on a RADEON 8500, Dual Processor from Sonnet, some RAM and a dual ATA-133 RAID card. That box can last you quite a while if you get Jag and since you're a student you can get it cheap.
Don't underestimate how upgrade-friendly that machine is.
i think all that stuff will be more than 800 bucks though, no?
also, it sounds like he has to give his computer to his parents to get their cash for a new one, so just upgrading that one wouldn't work....
i think the emac is the best option... what type of stuff will you be doing on it?
also, it sounds like he has to give his computer to his parents to get their cash for a new one, so just upgrading that one wouldn't work....
i think the emac is the best option... what type of stuff will you be doing on it?
Re: I hav $800 for a new computer, what computer should I get?
Could you cut a deal with your parents where you make payments on the computer over time. Then you could get a better computer and both parties are happy.
I was pretty close:
Not by much:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/pricelist.html#duet
Dual 500 G4: $300.00
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/pricelist.html#tempor133
Tempo RAID 133: $200.00
http://www.clubmac.com/clubmac/shop/detail.asp?dpno=967178
ATI RADEON 8500 AGP: $180.00
http://www.clubmac.com/clubmac/shop/cart/shopping_cart.asp?action=add&dpno=964633
512MB of RAM: $90.00
Shipping costs will take it over 800 but that's the case with anything. Personally I'd rather have the tower chassis to play with.
Not by much:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/pricelist.html#duet
Dual 500 G4: $300.00
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/pricelist.html#tempor133
Tempo RAID 133: $200.00
http://www.clubmac.com/clubmac/shop/detail.asp?dpno=967178
ATI RADEON 8500 AGP: $180.00
http://www.clubmac.com/clubmac/shop/cart/shopping_cart.asp?action=add&dpno=964633
512MB of RAM: $90.00
Shipping costs will take it over 800 but that's the case with anything. Personally I'd rather have the tower chassis to play with.
Re: I was pretty close:
i'm looking to inject some new life into my g4. i've got a dual 500 w/ 1 gig RAM, 40 gig HD. OEM video card (ati rage), OEM HD controller (ata/66).
so i may get the following:
- sonnet ATA/133 pci controller ($100)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=538430
- ati 8500 video card ($180)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=967178
- 2x 80 gig drives (2x $110)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=981142
- extra HD chassis (i've got 1 in there) so i can still use my 40 gig drive (price??)
so i'm looking at $500, plus the chassis, tax, shipping. should be <$600.
that should speed it up, eh? anything i've misthought?
i'm looking to inject some new life into my g4. i've got a dual 500 w/ 1 gig RAM, 40 gig HD. OEM video card (ati rage), OEM HD controller (ata/66).
so i may get the following:
- sonnet ATA/133 pci controller ($100)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=538430
- ati 8500 video card ($180)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=967178
- 2x 80 gig drives (2x $110)
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=981142
- extra HD chassis (i've got 1 in there) so i can still use my 40 gig drive (price??)
so i'm looking at $500, plus the chassis, tax, shipping. should be <$600.
that should speed it up, eh? anything i've misthought?
Re: Re: I was pretty close:
U can still use your 40 either through the mobo or through the card. I'd advise running it off the mobo so you can minimize potential boot issues. By chassis I assume you mean the dual-drive frames in the bottom. Each one will hold 2 drives.
Yes, with that config you can host 4 drives on the Tempo ATA-133 and 2 on the internal mobo bus.
If you don't care about the Zip Bay you can file down the framing at the back a bit and get a drive in there as well. If you put in more than 4 HD's I'd reccomend a burlier fan. Space-wise, without thinking about heat, you can put 6 across the bottom and another in the zip bay with minor mods.
Getting Jag will make that machine look a whole lot better, particularly with that tastey RADEON.
U can still use your 40 either through the mobo or through the card. I'd advise running it off the mobo so you can minimize potential boot issues. By chassis I assume you mean the dual-drive frames in the bottom. Each one will hold 2 drives.
Yes, with that config you can host 4 drives on the Tempo ATA-133 and 2 on the internal mobo bus.
If you don't care about the Zip Bay you can file down the framing at the back a bit and get a drive in there as well. If you put in more than 4 HD's I'd reccomend a burlier fan. Space-wise, without thinking about heat, you can put 6 across the bottom and another in the zip bay with minor mods.
Getting Jag will make that machine look a whole lot better, particularly with that tastey RADEON.
Howabout a lease?
$800 should be enough to rent a pretty healthy machine for ~2 years ... possibly enough time for the G5's to finally arrive
I (still) have the money and I'm (still) waiting for what I personally consider to be a good price-performance-value winner from Apple. If my Mac tanked tomorrow, I'd consider a 6-12 month lease.
For $800 I'd offer my upgunned 8500 in an instant (with all the extra internal goodies its accumulated in the past 6 years), but its been having stability problems - probably needs a new power supply.
-hh
$800 should be enough to rent a pretty healthy machine for ~2 years ... possibly enough time for the G5's to finally arrive
I (still) have the money and I'm (still) waiting for what I personally consider to be a good price-performance-value winner from Apple. If my Mac tanked tomorrow, I'd consider a 6-12 month lease.
For $800 I'd offer my upgunned 8500 in an instant (with all the extra internal goodies its accumulated in the past 6 years), but its been having stability problems - probably needs a new power supply.
-hh
Re: Re: Re: I was pretty close:
the 40 will remain my os9 boot drive (the only OS on the machine right now).
one 80 will be the jaguar boot drive, the other for recording audio (pro tools LE, emagic logic).
perhaps i'll run the 80s off the two channels of the sonnet card and run the 40 and DVD-RAM drive (optical drive first) off the mobo.
yep. you alerted me to that on another thread.
i'm good w/ 3 drives, plus the optical.
yeeha. i'll probably stick jag on there now to run some benchmarks, then compare to the upgraded machine once i'm all done. i'll post the results.
EDIT: fixed grammar
the 40 will remain my os9 boot drive (the only OS on the machine right now).
one 80 will be the jaguar boot drive, the other for recording audio (pro tools LE, emagic logic).
perhaps i'll run the 80s off the two channels of the sonnet card and run the 40 and DVD-RAM drive (optical drive first) off the mobo.
yep. you alerted me to that on another thread.
i'm good w/ 3 drives, plus the optical.
Getting Jag will make that machine look a whole lot better, particularly with that tastey RADEON.
yeeha. i'll probably stick jag on there now to run some benchmarks, then compare to the upgraded machine once i'm all done. i'll post the results.
EDIT: fixed grammar
That sounds good.
Though I'd partition the 40 and put Jag on one and 9.2.2 on the other, potentially with a 1GB swap-partition to keep fragmentation down. That way you have ZERO chance of basic ROM-induced boot conflicts that could arise from having a boot volume running from the Sonnet host-card. It's usually not an issue but Murphy's always waiting......
I highly reccomend the round-cable style IDE cables as the ribbon-style ones really don't like some of the neccessary contortions involved in installing more than 2 drives. You can ignore this if you have fairly long ribbon style cables.
Don't forget to Optimize your HD and reboot from Jag's Disk 1 to fix permissions with the Disk Utility, there's a noticeable crispness in response afterward. That and Jag fragments the living **** outta drives when it installs.
Ooh! and don't forget to check the box for installing the OS 9 drivers!
Though I'd partition the 40 and put Jag on one and 9.2.2 on the other, potentially with a 1GB swap-partition to keep fragmentation down. That way you have ZERO chance of basic ROM-induced boot conflicts that could arise from having a boot volume running from the Sonnet host-card. It's usually not an issue but Murphy's always waiting......
I highly reccomend the round-cable style IDE cables as the ribbon-style ones really don't like some of the neccessary contortions involved in installing more than 2 drives. You can ignore this if you have fairly long ribbon style cables.
Don't forget to Optimize your HD and reboot from Jag's Disk 1 to fix permissions with the Disk Utility, there's a noticeable crispness in response afterward.
That and Jag fragments the living **** outta drives when it installs.Ooh! and don't forget to check the box for installing the OS 9 drivers!
Dont get and eMac or iMac, too slow and already out of date. Get a second hand G4 PowerMac from ebay or something. Make sure it is the one with 4x AGP so all new Graphics cards work with it.
Or spend $800 on a fast PC and hack into the Apple servers and download the version of Mac OS X that runs on Intel hardware. If Apple released it now I would not mind paying $200 for it.
Or spend $800 on a fast PC and hack into the Apple servers and download the version of Mac OS X that runs on Intel hardware. If Apple released it now I would not mind paying $200 for it.
Re: That sounds good.
all right -- i'm groovy on all the other stuff, including the post-install jaguar cleanup, but i don't think i get why i'd want to do the above.
i'd prefer to keep osx and os9 on separate drives -- i'd certainly have the space.
that way i don't have to do anything to the existing 40 gig drive. it'd still be hooked to the mobo controller.
all right -- i'm groovy on all the other stuff, including the post-install jaguar cleanup, but i don't think i get why i'd want to do the above.
i'd prefer to keep osx and os9 on separate drives -- i'd certainly have the space.
that way i don't have to do anything to the existing 40 gig drive. it'd still be hooked to the mobo controller.