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i-Skype with Mum!

G

Gosh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 14, 2006
349
0
To cut a long story short my Mum is very special (you'd love her) and disabled.

It would be great to video chat when I can't be there.

I have iMac/MacBook and I thought about getting hold of an iMac G4 which has an ideal footprint and angle-poise function for her.

Basically in conjunction with a video-cam (plus Skype 2.0 as Apple require mutual dotMac membership for iChat), wireless dongle (which I have spare), a robust ergonomic wireless mouse and maybe Miglia TV mini - she can use it for video chat, music, and TV.

G4 is before my time - any advice please on spec to cater for the above?
 
Skype is very nice, even though iChat is also free. It seems Skype doesn't post any specific requirements above and beyond a G4/800 to run its software. This should put most iMac G4's in your target range. Any computer at or above that speed level will also do video chat on iChatAV. So you can play around with two options, at least (a third is Yahoo Messenger). I'd basically recommend trying to get as much RAM in it as possible. Also it needs to run Panther or Tiger (and, really, you might as well...).
 
iChat is completely free, and uses the AIM protocol. Video chatting is completely free, between Macs and between Macs and PCs. .Mac has nothing to do with it. Hell, even if you want a name@mac.com account, it's free as well (just get a trial. The username won't expire when the other stuff does).
 
G4 spec

So a few options on free video chat then is good news!

So G4 spec what else should I look for? Will USB wireless dongle be ok? Does it have bluetooth for wireless mouse? I believe it would cope with TV Mini! Any recommended webcam? :apple:
 
I found Skype (latest beta) would not work on anything below 10.3.9 (for me)

I use skype to video chat with my fam and friends all the time. MSN sucks, iChat is very good too...
 
Skype is extremely reliable when it comes to video conferencing but it can't do three/four way conferences like iChat can do. I've found that iChat frequently gives me errors with certain friends... I've found that it's been their routers and other networking items. I've also found that Skype can be a little more clear with less bandwidth than iChat is.
 
Thanks!

Thought this had died a death! Skype it is - now just need to find a decent G4!

Bid for a nice condition one on eBay but glad I didn't win - only later models have USB 2.0.
 
To make it easier on your mum, maybe a refurbished macbook? Mine was about $800, and has the mic and camera already built in....
 
You know that you only need to sign up for the free trial of .Mac to get a .Mac username for iChat.
 
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