I just got an old iMac G3 and I have some questions.

[whoamygod]

Hello. I've lurked around these boards for a couple years now, but just decided to register today. Just wanted to introduce myself. Anyway, a friend of mine gave me his old iMac the other day. Here are the stats:

G3 500MHz, 128MB memory, 20GB HD, OSX 10.3.3 Panther

So, I want to use this computer pretty much just for GarageBand and iMovie. Being misinformed, I thought it maxed out at 512MB RAM, but after looking around here, I see that it is actually 1GB. I already ordered a 256MB piece off eBay, so that'll bump me to 384MB. Will that be enough to run these programs decently? I don't expect it to be spectacular, but will it be tolerable?

Also, I tried to install Tiger through an external DVD drive, but the setup starts to go and then says it couldn't be installed. Is that just because of the insufficient RAM, or could there be something else. I see there's a 256MB minimum. And if I get it installed, will it run alright?

Finally, I'm having some internet connection trouble. I'm using a Zonet ZEW2501 USB adapter. I downloaded the proper driver on my other computer and installed it on the iMac, and it will work for pretty swiftly a brief amount of time and then quit. For example, I've tried to do the software update, and it will download to about 1.1MB and then just stop and timeout. In Safari, I can click through 2 or 3 pages and then it will stop working as well.

Any help on these topics would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[joepunk]

Depending on which versions of Garageband and iMovie you are going to use

iLife System Requirements from Apple

Basically, from Apples standpoint, no you won't beable to use garageband on the 500MHz iMac. You might beable to use the 2004 editions as Apple gives a 600MHz G3 as a minimum.

Tiger should beable to install but most people think that Panther is the better OSX for such a G3. And I agree.

iLife 2004 Applications
Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 processor.
600 MHz G3 or faster required for GarageBand.
G4 or faster required for GarageBand software instruments.
733 MHz G4 or faster required for iDVD.

 

[mgguy]

Tiger will work fine on the 500 mhz imac G3. I have a 400 mhz imac with Tiger and it performs outstandingly. I don't use Garageband, but I do use it for a lot of other of the most common applications. I replaced the RAM with two 512 chips and had already added an 80G hard drive. I really love the new MBPs, but can't justify getting one right now since my G3, with the upgrades I have made, more than meets all of my needs.

 

[steamboat26]

If you don't NEED to run tiger, then stick with panther. I have an imac G3, it runs panther well. If you wanna run tiger decently, i would suggest at least 512 MB of RAM, if not 1 GB.
With regard to installing tiger via an external drive, some drives don't support booting on macs, and i think some macs can't boot off external drives (not sure if it includes G3 imacs).