Lucky me! But still want a bit of advice...

[Borjan]

Hi there!

Today, a kind soul gave me two Powermac G4s. MDD, 1.25Ghz models. 768MB of RAM. Only thing missing from them is the HD's (I removed them for him because of sensitive data) and packaging.

That's right, for free. Two of them. Surplus from his office.

Needless to say, I'm delighted and extremely grateful (and slightly confused, how did no one else spot this ad on the internet and get to them first?!?) This will get me though university no problem. This will be my first (prolonged) MAc experience.

I've just got one question on the first machine, the one I'm keeping. Its a good idea to set up another, 'non-admin' user for everyday tasks correct? I think this means that the other user wont have root permission, and I gather that is a good thing, since I can't accidentally screw thigns up majorly. Will that mean that I have to log into admin everytime I want to install something?

Once I know this, I'll get around to tinkering as much as I can!

Now onto the second Mac. I want to sell this (perhaps to another forum member, but maybe more likely on eBay, since I'll get more from it I reckon). Do you think its worth the small amount of time and money to invest in this and pull it up a bit. Pop in say a 80gig hard drive, install OSX, maybe bump up the memory a tiny bit....

Do you think these additions will increase the value upon me putting it up for auction/on the Marketplace? My intial answer is yes, but then again, they are such small upgrades, I can imagine buyers almost not caring....

 

[Eidorian]

I've just got one question on the first machine, the one I'm keeping. Its a good idea to set up another, 'non-admin' user for everyday tasks correct? I think this means that the other user wont have root permission, and I gather that is a good thing, since I can't accidentally screw thigns up majorly. Will that mean that I have to log into admin everytime I want to install something?

It's a good idea to have a non-admin user for normal everyday tasks for security sake. Things won't just authenticate since you're just in the admin group. If you want to install something just type in the administrator's username and password. You won't need to log out or faster user switch.

Now onto the second Mac. I want to sell this (perhaps to another forum member, but maybe more likely on eBay, since I'll get more from it I reckon). Do you think its worth the small amount of time and money to invest in this and pull it up a bit. Pop in say a 80gig hard drive, install OSX, maybe bump up the memory a tiny bit....

Get as much drive space as you can for the money you want to spend. Install OS X and don't fill out the first time set up forms. It'll be ready to sell then.

 

[termina3]

An HD is a must. 2GB of RAM would be nice--basically make it ready to use straight out of the box.

 

[Borjan]

Thanks for the quick response guys!

Looks like I'll be shelling out a few quid, but I know I'll be getting it back and more, so that's not a problem!

Also, I'm thinking about how to set up my drives in my Mac.

At the moment, I'm running things off a slow 40gig HD that was just lying around the place. But this will all change!

(eventually)

Ideally, I'd want a quick, smallish HD to install OSX on. Then, a nice large and quick HD for my media files. (External most likely) And finally, probably another large and quick HD for when I capture video of my camcorder.

Only thing is though, since I do a bit of photoshop every now often (files aren't huge, but hey, performance is performance right?) I'm thinking, what about a HD for Photoshops (or indeed, other programs) scratch use? Also, won't OSX want a scratch? Will that automatically go onto the drive the OS is installed, or can I tell it to go to another one? Probably not a good idea to put it as the same one as PS though, won't it be seeking practically ALL of the time then?

Apologies, just want my set up to be... 'right'...

 

[Eidorian]

Thanks for the quick response guys!

Looks like I'll be shelling out a few quid, but I know I'll be getting it back and more, so that's not a problem!

Also, I'm thinking about how to set up my drives in my Mac.

At the moment, I'm running things off a slow 40gig HD that was just lying around the place. But this will all change!

(eventually)

Ideally, I'd want a quick, smallish HD to install OSX on. Then, a nice large and quick HD for my media files. (External most likely) And finally, probably another large and quick HD for when I capture video of my camcorder.

Only thing is though, since I do a bit of photoshop every now often (files aren't huge, but hey, performance is performance right?) I'm thinking, what about a HD for Photoshops (or indeed, other programs) scratch use? Also, won't OSX want a scratch? Will that automatically go onto the drive the OS is installed, or can I tell it to go to another one? Probably not a good idea to put it as the same one as PS though, won't it be seeking practically ALL of the time then?

Apologies, just want my set up to be... 'right'...

You should be able tell Photoshop which volume to use as a scratch disk. (Note: I've never used Photoshop myself.)

Just pick what fits your budget off of an online retailer.

 

[techlover828]

you're so lucky!! I would upgrade everything and then you will be able to say that all of that stuff is brand new. Good luck!