Just got a free eMac

[Davy.Shalom]

So I just picked up a free eMac off the street, complete with apple wired mighty mouse and the old style pro keyboard. It also came with the Apple eMac swivel stand. I'm planning on taking that off, though. It has no scratches, but there are a couple of scuffs. I'll post pics tomorrow after I open it up and blow out the case.

Specs:
1.25 GHz G4
160 GB HD
Superdrive
1 GB RAM
Airport Extreme
10.5.8

The badge on the optical drive inner door reveals this is from 2006.


A quick search on craigslist reveals that the eMac appears to be the 21st century mac with the lowest resale value ever produced..

 

[rick3000]

Pretty much, I have my 2004 1Ghz eMac in mint condition in the box in storage, $1200 new, worth maybe $20-40 now. But got a fantastic 5 years of use out of her. I actually thought I would have to make a recording of the ridiculously loud fans when I upgraded, because I wasn't sure I could accomplish anything without them.

She was my first, so I keep her around! Enjoy!

 

[Davy.Shalom]

Pretty much, I have my 2004 1Ghz eMac in mint condition in the box in storage, $1200 new, worth maybe $20-40 now. But got a fantastic 5 years of use out of her. I actually thought I would have to make a recording of the ridiculously loud fans when I upgraded, because I wasn't sure I could accomplish anything without them.

She was my first, so I keep her around! Enjoy!

For some reason the design doesn't appeal to me as much as the last revision of iMac G3s did. I have a snow G3, and I think the proportions are much better.

My first was the 12" PowerBook in my description. Got it in 2002 at age 7 and still use it today for note-taking and recording lectures. Gotta love these old machines!

 

[rick3000]

But the eMac went from 15" to a MASSIVE 17"!!! Bad design, but they still work 8+ years later, my dad still has and uses a 13 year old iMac. This is why people love Apple!

 

[Davy.Shalom]

I think the e in eMac should stand for egg, or enormous. This thing looks like an egg and it weighs a ton. Damn flat panel crt!

 

[zackkmac]

Nice! Do you have any plans for it? I bought a 1GHz eMac for $50 and swapped the logic board for 1.42GHz, upped the RAM to 2GB and installed Airport Extreme and Bluetooth. Great little machines. Pretty cool that you got it for free.

 

[Lil Chillbil]

I love emacs, but I have never owned one, I once had a chance to get a 1.42ghz for free but didn't take it. I still regret not taking the deal

 

[Davy.Shalom]

Nice! Do you have any plans for it? I bought a 1GHz eMac for $50 and swapped the logic board for 1.42GHz, upped the RAM to 2GB and installed Airport Extreme and Bluetooth. Great little machines. Pretty cool that you got it for free.

Well I dismantled it, dusted out the inside, studied the internal design (they really crammed a lot in there), and then put in in the corner of my room.

I really have no use for it. However, after I took the stand off I realized how much better it looks. It really looks just fine without the stand.

Still looks like an egg...

 

[joepunk]

I wish that the eMacs had a carrying handle like the G3 iMacs.

I saw an eMac a few months ago at a thrift store. Looked a the specs and decided against getting it. I think it was 700MHz. Also, it was a few bucks more than I was willing to pay.

 

[Liquinn]

Nice I'd love to get my hands on one with the box. That would be cool. What do you intend to do with it? what's your current setup?

 

[Intell]

Very nice find. Keep the stand around. Apple didn't sell to many of those. If you truly don't want it, sell it on eBay for $30. You can overclock the CPU in there to a stable 1.5Ghz. I did that to mine and it made a good improvement.

 

[MaxHeap]

You can overclock the CPU in there to a stable 1.5Ghz. I did that to mine and it made a good improvement.

I have a 1.42. How stable are those up to?

 

[Intell]

I'm not sure. I've never really looked into overclocking a 1.42Ghz eMac. If its anything like the 1.42Ghz PowerMac G4 it won't react well to being sped up.

 

[Davy.Shalom]

Nice I'd love to get my hands on one with the box. That would be cool. What do you intend to do with it? what's your current setup?

I intend to let it sit in the corner of my room so I can look at it.. hahaha.
My current setup is the Mac Pro in my description. I have it hooked up to that crappy AOC 22" monitor and the brick of a Planar 19" in the background of one of the pictures. I love that machine, but I've always wanted a G5 quad!

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I'm not sure. I've never really looked into overclocking a 1.42Ghz eMac. If its anything like the 1.42Ghz PowerMac G4 it won't react well to being sped up.

What I am about to say is pure speculation and assumption.. but wasn't the 1.42 GHz just an overclocked 1.25 anyway? Or did it use a separate updated G4 module?

 

[Liquinn]

I intend to let it sit in the corner of my room so I can look at it.. hahaha.
My current setup is the Mac Pro in my description. I have it hooked up to that crappy AOC 22" monitor and the brick of a Planar 19" in the background of one of the pictures. I love that machine, but I've always wanted a G5 quad!

Yeah I see. I bought a G5 the other day (expecting it today).

Do you prefer the Mac Pro or the Powermac G5?

 

[Intell]

What I am about to say is pure speculation and assumption.. but wasn't the 1.42 GHz just an overclocked 1.25 anyway? Or did it use a separate updated G4 module?

The PowerMac G4 1.42Ghz? I think it is simply an overclocked 1.25Ghz G4. That's why they don't react well to being overclocked. I don't know if the 1.42Ghz eMac is the same or not.

 

[Davy.Shalom]

The PowerMac G4 1.42Ghz? I think it is simply an overclocked 1.25Ghz G4. That's why they don't react well to being overclocked. I don't know if the 1.42Ghz eMac is the same or not.

I would assume it is the same, considering in system profiler it appears as a powermac chipset.

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Yeah I see. I bought a G5 the other day (expecting it today).

Do you prefer the Mac Pro or the Powermac G5?

I prefer the G5 because it feels like I am using something unique, not just an aluminum box with PC innards and a fancy operating system. I like the feeling of nostalgia associated with the use of PPC..

 

[Liquinn]

I prefer the G5 because it feels like I am using something unique, not just an aluminum box with PC innards and a fancy operating system. I like the feeling of nostalgia associated with the use of PPC..

Yeah that's what I felt when using my G5. What other PPC Macs would be best to buy next?

 

[Davy.Shalom]

Yeah that's what I felt when using my G5. What other PPC Macs would be best to buy next?

To be honest, all of the pre-intel Macs I own except for the G4 cube and the PowerMac G5 are hand-me-downs.

I have the following Apple computers:

PowerBook 170 (1991)
iMac G3 Snow 600 MHz
iMac G4 700 MHz
PowerBook G4 Titanium 667 MHz
iBook G4 12" 1 GHz
PowerBook G4 12" 1.33 GHz
PowerMac G4 Cube 450 MHz
eMac G4 1.25 GHz
PowerMac G5 2.3 DC
Mac Pro 8 core 3 GHz

My aunt works at Apple so I get the hand-me-downs...

My favorites are the iMac G3, G4 cube, Titanium PowerBook, and the PowerBook G4 12". I think it's the best portable apple ever made. If you like iconic designs go get an iMac G4.