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Mac for $300.

N

neoelectronaut

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 3, 2003
3,417
2,093
My dad want's a new computer "just for internet" for $300. What's the best Mac I can get for this amount of money?
 
Used CRT iMacs will do that job very nicely for around $300.

There are no "new PCs for $300" that will include everything you need. Never consider mail-in rebates, either.
 
dopefiend said:
edit:Just to prove you wrong :rolleyes: :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51136&item=5100150826&rd=1

+ Linux(I recommend Fedora)
---------
Good
Click to expand...

You've proved me right. By the time you add a new keyboard, new mouse and new monitor you will be close to, if not over, $400... not to mention shipping. And do you really want to buy a computer over eBay? Who's providing technical support? (BTW I recommend Fedora also, if you have a PC that can run it.)

But anyway, enough of the PC troll price garbage. The original question was "what's the best Mac I can get for $300?" Your response has nothing to do with that question.

If the monitor can be excluded, you could get a used B&W G3 for around $300, which would be better than the iMac. I'd suggest looking for an iMac DV so you would have FireWire.
 
cubist said:
But anyway, enough of the PC troll price garbage. The original question was "what's the best Mac I can get for $300?" Your response has nothing to do with that question.
Click to expand...

.....When looking for a PC for internet use only, a PC is the best bet for a cheap price. I was just offering another solution for the person since I already gave him a link to a used Mac.

You've proved me right. By the time you add a new keyboard, new mouse and new monitor you will be close to, if not over, $400... not to mention shipping. And do you really want to buy a computer over eBay? Who's providing technical support? (BTW I recommend Fedora also, if you have a PC that can run it.)
Click to expand...

You have no idea if he needs a monitor or not yet! Damn man, read my posts!

It was just an example I found in the 30 seconds or so I looked.

Many people buy computers over ebay :rolleyes: Where the hell do you think he is going to get it?

No one will be providing technical support on that used emac either...so throw that out in the reasoning...
 
Yeah...I would get a used or new eMac if I were you, even if the cost is a higher than $300. All I can say is that on my Pismo (G3, 500 MHz), internet browsing is noticeably slow. This could be because I am used to high-end computers, but I do not think that is the case.

You could also check out the Apple refurbished section, but the lowest price I saw was $649 (a refurbished 800 MHz iBook).

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...SajJ/0.0.7.1.0.5.13.0.5.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?75,30
 
Price is simply not an option. It's either $300 or nothing. He's expecting a PC, but if I can, I'd rather him get a Mac, it'd be free of so many headaches.
 
neoelectronaut said:
it'd be free of so many headaches.
Click to expand...

Maybe a new mac, but your going to get an old, used peice of hardware. I would consider staying with the PC if I were you.
 
Unfortunately, for $300, a PC is your only real option. The Mac you get for that much is going to be a true piece of junk! The PC will probably be a 1-2 GHz Celeron with 128MB of RAM.
 
i've got an old imac i may be willing to let go of for around that price range.


contact me via email (mjohn058@uwsp.edu) or AIM (mjohn058)
 
Look at the Apple Store "deals" area. You won't find $300, but some great deals any ways:

eMac 1.25GHz/256MB/40GB/Combo/E/56K-Refurbished for $699
iBook 800MHz/128MB/30GB/CD-ROM/E/56K/12"TFT - Refurbished for $649
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Look at the Apple Store "deals" area. You won't find $300, but some great deals any ways:

eMac 1.25GHz/256MB/40GB/Combo/E/56K-Refurbished for $699
iBook 800MHz/128MB/30GB/CD-ROM/E/56K/12"TFT - Refurbished for $649
Click to expand...

But he/she told us that the price was not flexible.
 
the above mentioned iMac CRT on eBay for $299 is a damn good deal if you ask me. 400mhz G3, 512MB, 40GB and running panther, whats wrong with that if all he wants to do is browse the internet. Keep in mind, that if all he wants to do is internet - he'd have to look out for spyware, adware, and virus attacks on the PC... and (at least for right now) this would hardly be an issue on the Mac.

grab that iMac on eBay while you still can.
 
look around and try to grab a CRT iMac DV (a.k.a. rev. D iMac)... it might take you a while but you should be able to get one for $300 if you are lucky...

that is a fine machine and should fit your needs perfectly...

IF you already have a screen, go for a blue & white G3... more or less the same performance, but you'll be able to upgrade later :)

you won't need a G4 just for internet and word processing...

vSpacken
 
here....

i have a p4 1.3 ghz compaq presario desktop and would be willing to sell it... make an offer...(it blows those macs for 300 out of the water...) it has 128mb pc 800 rdram (probibly not expandable due to rdram being really expensive and hard to find, but its just a tad slower than ddr266)... it has a 40 gig hard drive... dvdrom and cdrw... it has windows xp pro installed and everything seems to be working fine... 3 years and 2 months old
 
sorry...

that thread was out of place... considering that you were looking for a mac... i just wanted to be an a$$ and post it anyway... im sorry about that...
 
vollspacken said:
look around and try to grab a CRT iMac DV (a.k.a. rev. D iMac)... it might take you a while but you should be able to get one for $300 if you are lucky...
Click to expand...


Just a Friendly correction here... The Rev. D iMac was actually not the iMac DV. The Rev. D was before the DV, and featured a 333mhz G3; slower bus speed, no firewire, and a little less Video Ram. The iMac DV, on the other hand, was 400mhz G3, with 2 firewire ports.

check out apple-history.com , its real handy.

and also, the first eBay link posted on this thread, is in fact a 400mhz iMac DV for $299. i'd grab it if i were the original poster.
 
Options...

You have a lot of options for $300. An iMac DV would do you fine, as would a B&W PowerMac. You can find the B&W PowerMac on eBay for around $200 so you would still have some money for a cheap 17" monitor. You can also find a 233 iMac for around $100 and add an upgrade card for $200 that would get you up to a G3 500 or so but I can't remember the site I saw the upgrade on, try googling for it.

Unfortunately the real issue here is the video chipset in older iMacs (233-333)and B&W PowerMacs. They are PCI based (iMac DV is AGP but the older ones are not) and really hinder the performance of OS X. You could upgrade the heck out of the processor and video card in a B&W but then you just spent as much as a refurb eMac and you still won't have Quartz extreme (not supported on PCI video) so it doesn't make sense. If you are planning on using OS 9, you could go with a very cheap beige G3 (either all-in-one or desktop/tower) and spend less than $100. I have both an all-in-one and a desktop that work great for the internet in OS 9 (and OS X 10.2.8 albeit somewhat choppy video).

My real recommendation is to move up to a G4 Sawtooth PowerMac. I picked one up on eBay for $370 shipped (G4 450) and it is perfect for what your Dad is looking for. I've seen some of the G4 400 and G4 350 models go for under $300 but you have to keep an eye on it. This machine is fully upgradeable from the video standpoint because of the AGP graphics. From a CPU standpoint, you can drop a 1.4 Ghz G4 in it and have a (nearly) top of the line Mac. My other recommendation is the iMac DV because of the firewire connections. The older iMacs have no way of getting data in them at a high speed (even the network port isn't going to handle video).

Hope this helps. ;)

edit: found the upgrade site: iMac upgrade
 
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