So we have about $300 (Definitely no more) to get her a Mac, she's not going to be using it for many processor intensive tasks. The most would probably be 3 way video chatting(which i know requires a 1GHz G4). what would be the best computer for her needs? she has a monitor and keyboard if she were to get a mac mini...anyone have any suggestions? (or even feel like selling me something good?)
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Mac for my girlfriend.
- Thread starter kgarchar
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kgarchar said:
I think you're really going to have a hard time finding anything for that cheap other than a used first-gen Mac mini. Check eBay as well as the Marketplace section of these forums.
EDIT: Beaten to it...
QCassidy352 said:
This is gonna be you're only option, most likely. And with shipping and tax, you still won't be able to keep it under $300. Just save up a little longer and you'll find something. Good luck.
If the need is not urgent I will snowball the money to get something better.
I always believe in the mantra "The poor cannot afford to buy poor", if you buy crap now you will end up having to buy crap again to replace said crap (ie: throwing good money after bad), it'd be a vicious cycle.
That said you can get a refurbished Dell laptop with a Pentium-M 1.7Ghz processor for $270. That is actually a somewhat modern processor, and beats the hell out of the G3/G4 machines that you'd otherwise get for your $300.
You might want to dig out the "Dells are so insanely cheap" thread to glean the link another poster pointed to.
I always believe in the mantra "The poor cannot afford to buy poor", if you buy crap now you will end up having to buy crap again to replace said crap (ie: throwing good money after bad), it'd be a vicious cycle.
That said you can get a refurbished Dell laptop with a Pentium-M 1.7Ghz processor for $270. That is actually a somewhat modern processor, and beats the hell out of the G3/G4 machines that you'd otherwise get for your $300.
You might want to dig out the "Dells are so insanely cheap" thread to glean the link another poster pointed to.
do you have an isight camera? to do three way video you need one and only the imacs and macbook /pro have them built in. If you dont have one you have to keep in account those are 150 new. id say get the computer on ebay. good luck
If she has an LCD or something, I'd get a used Mac Mini of some sort. If she doesn't have a monitor, get an eMac. They're still nice computers. 
I saw this on ebay. Put in a bid. They upgraded the processor. I don't know how they did it, but I guess it is possible, and it has a good amount of RAM. It is older, so you might not get a lot of competition for it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-PowerMac-...035QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150041609642
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-PowerMac-...035QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150041609642
Come on it can't be that bad. Using your Mac as your girlfriend - Really - you could get electrocuted that way "Mac for my girlfriend" - I could not resist
To the original point - $300 may not get any mac - with video chat capabilities - sure you have keyboard and mouse, but you would need acamera too - the budget would be busted.
"Mac for my girlfriend" - I could not resist To the original point - $300 may not get any mac - with video chat capabilities - sure you have keyboard and mouse, but you would need acamera too - the budget would be busted.
ziwi said:
the OP already specified he has a camera to use.
if you can wait, wait until you have more to spend (perhaps sell the Dell first and use that money for the new Mac). if you can afford it, MacBooks are great because they are the newest thing out there and are all-inclusive (camera, screen, computer, keyboard, mouse - the whole point of a notebook). if not, an eMac is a good all-in-one and is definitely in the $300 range.
Another option is:
You could buy a refurbished Mac Mini from Apple store on a financing scheme where you would pay around $15 a month.
You could buy a refurbished Mac Mini from Apple store on a financing scheme where you would pay around $15 a month.
I would personally not buy any Mac that does not have intel in them. Just from personal experience they are way to slow!!!! Just my opinion!!!
We all need different things...Jiddick ExRex said:Btw, how's that Photoshop going for ya??
The original poster needs a low price, so Intel is out of the question... Why even debate?
A Mac Mini, considering that she already has all the other components (who doesn't have extras?) would probably give you the most bang for the buck. I would search ebay and the marketplace and first get a feel of what they're going for. Don't hop on the first one you see that seems to be a "good price." Wait it out until one actually is a good price. If you do this well, that could be in a week, two weeks, or whatever...