Looking into a G4 iMac on Cragislist...some questions

[pulawman]

Hey, looking at getting a PPC mac as I'm completely through with my Windows laptops and all the driver issues I've had with Vista.

I'm looking at this current listing on CL:

"the computer is broken . when you turn it on you can hear the sound and then goes to a gray screen. you can open and close the dvd drive from the keyboard

specifications:
The Apple iMac G4/700 (Flat Panel) features a 700 MHz PowerPC 7441 (G4) processor with the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit and a 256k on-chip level 2 cache, 756 MB of RAM (PC133 SDRAM), a 40.0 GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive (5400 RPM), dvd drive

the computer is sold as is.

i really dont know nothing about apple products

50 dlls cash or trade for lcd monitor

mouse, speakers and keyboard are incluided


i have the restore cd's"

Could this be an easy fix? He's asking $50.

Possibilities on the problem? Logic board, hdd failure?

I would like an apple desktop, but don't need what a new iMac offers and can't afford a new mini after our recent iPad purchase.

I simply need something for web browsing and music (in which I have a usb hdd).

 

[drewdle]

Could be a number of things. I don't suspect it's a logic board if it chimes when it turns on. Ask to see it and when you get over there, try launching the installer from the restore CDs. Even if the hard drive has packed it in, you should be able to boot into the installer program.

If the installer boots, go to the Utilities menu, select Disk Utility, and see if the hard drive shows up on the list. If you get that far, and can't see the HD, that's probably all it is. I wouldn't buy it if the seller doesn't allow for you to try this before laying down fifty bucks. Also, to boot the computer, put the restore disk in the drive, restart it, and hold down the C key on the keyboard. You'll know you did it right if you get the grey Apple logo.

If it's a simple fix, could be worth it. You'll need to kit it out to get decent performance out of it though; don't be expecting speed from it. I have the same machine, and they're great, so long as you're patient. Mine does everything I need, and with the upgrades, it's plenty quick, but any Intel Mac thoroughly pounces it.

 

[Hrududu]

If its something simple like software, then its probably worth $50. Unfortunately those early 700 and 800MHz models are still pretty "old world" in terms of hardware capabilites. By that I mean USB 1.1, PC133 RAM instead of DDR giving it a 1GB cap, 802.11b wireless, and a 2x AGP GeForce2 MX graphics card. If you go with a model thats just a little newer you can get USB 2, much faster system bus & graphics card. AirPort Extreme and 2GB of DDR RAM.