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Imac G4 is my first ever Apple Computer how do you compare it to modern Imacs

A

asifnaz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 3, 2010
129
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Apple computers (or anything Apple related ) is rare and expensive in my part of the world . I could not afford an Imac .I got lucky and find one Imac G4 for low price .Its 1 Ghz with 512 Mb of Ram running Tiger 10.4.11.

I find this computer to be sleek , fast , responsive and secure .

But it feels very dated (as expected) when it comes to modern internet usage and even watching videos etc .

I wonder if Imacs were that good in 2004 what a modern Imac may seem like .How Imacs of 2020 are compared to mentioned Imac both Hardware wise and software wise .

Please reply as I am looking to save some money and buying modern Imac .

Thank you
 
The iMac G4 is my favorite Apple product design ever.

I wish Apple would come out with a retro iMac based on the design of the iMac G4, but with modern materials and HW.

I have one that I got for really cheap back in 2004 (I think). It was from a police auction and wasn't working. I was hoping that wasn't working because the HDD was pulled from it for evidence, which I ended up being right.

It was perfect other than the missing HDD and an evidence sticker on the back of the display.

Many people say that the G4 iMacs were underpowered compared to other G4 Macs like the eMacs. I was coming from a 2001 iBook G3, so it was a nice upgrade for me.

There are a few people on here that daily drive their Power PC Macs, so browsing the sub-forum might give you some ideas for a more modern web browser.

Maybe they might see this thread and let you know what they use.
 
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asifnaz said:
Please reply as I am looking to save some money and buying modern Imac .
Click to expand...
I wouldn't spend a fortune on a "brandnew" Mac. Better take an early or later Core2Duo intel, throw in an SSD and max out RAM.
iMac: the 2008 models (aluminum with black backside) are the cheapest and can be upgraded up to Mojave or Catalina through @dosdude1 's patches. But Display is a bit dimm as a common problem. My two 24" iMacs of that generation came at 100€ (without keyboard) and 150€ (with keyboard, mouse and SSD).
MacBookPro 15": 15" books are the most common (having spare parts and replacement batteries in mind). The early-2008 15" MBP is a great machine with a great&bright non-glossy display (my personal favorite and daily driver), but they have a faulty GPU and you better avoid those early-intel MBP (those ones with the silver keyboard) to avoid disappointment 'cause of sudden GPU-failure. My next-in-line personal favorites are the late-2008 MacbookPro (those one with the big battery-door on the bottom-side). The 13" version is also great and is simply called MacBook (but it lacks a FireWire-port unfortunately). Those late-2008 with the big battery-door give way to easy battery- AND harddrive replacement. If you're lucky, you may find one for about 100-150 bucks.
DO NOT GO FOR A 15" i5/i7 non-retina MacBookPro unless it's the latest mid-2012 15" non-retina MBP-version. All the other i5/i7 15/17"models from 2010-2011 may also suffer from a faulty GPU.
Enjoy ...
 
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@bobesch

Thank you for the in-depth reply . Those core 2 duo are available at very affordable price here . I will defiantly consider you suggestions when buying a new imac
 
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asifnaz said:
@bobesch

Thank you for the in-depth reply . Those core 2 duo are available at very affordable price here . I will defiantly consider you suggestions when buying a new imac
Click to expand...

Are you settled on an iMac? Not sure what prices are like where you are, but a 2012 Mac Mini if you can find it (i7 quadcore is best but usually expensive, i5 dualcore still very good and should be cheaper) would be excellent if its not too much of a stretch. 2011 version would even be good, though it only has USB 2.

If you want an iMac, a 2010-11 21.5 model (or 2009-11 27 inch) can be fairly easily upgraded to be quite snappy. These may be expensive still for you though.

Basically, in my mind most consumer Macs with an early i3/i5/i7 CPU (2009-2012) are the sweet spot balance between price, performance, and upgradability (more RAM, SSD, and even GPU and CPU for iMacs).
 
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