I recently won an ebay auction for a mac mini G4, January 2005, 1.42 GHz, 256MB ram, 80GB hard drive. I have been interested in the mac mini for a while and I kind of thought it would be cool to have a Power PC mac just for fun and nostalgia. I set my bid at $61 thinking that I probably wouldn't win because there were several others bidding on it but i guess i won. I don't know if thats even a good deal? I guess now I'm wondering what I'm going to do with it. Is it worth upgrading the ram at all? what are my options for more storage? And what should I do with it? iTunes server? Just a fun toy? Any must-have Power PC software? What do ya'll do with your Power PC Macs?
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Mac Mini G4, What can i do with it?
- Thread starter adam808
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$61 seems like a good deal to me in today's market, though I haven't priced out Mac Minis recently. I'd upgrade the RAM; 256 MB will limit your uses somewhat.
Use TenFourFox for web browsing. It's heavily optimized for PowerPC CPUs and is a patched, modern browser. I have no experience with OS X, but someone should be along to recommend more software.
You can do quite a lot with it. My PowerBook serves as my main computer and also acts as an SSH server for my other devices. I use it for word processing, web browsing, email, Gimp (not very well), presentations, music, and many other day to day tasks. The only thing I don't do with it is YouTube.
You could also try try Linux on it if you wanted to try something different, or if you found that you wanted applications that were not supported for OS X on a PPC.
Use TenFourFox for web browsing. It's heavily optimized for PowerPC CPUs and is a patched, modern browser. I have no experience with OS X, but someone should be along to recommend more software.
You can do quite a lot with it. My PowerBook serves as my main computer and also acts as an SSH server for my other devices. I use it for word processing, web browsing, email, Gimp (not very well), presentations, music, and many other day to day tasks. The only thing I don't do with it is YouTube.
You could also try try Linux on it if you wanted to try something different, or if you found that you wanted applications that were not supported for OS X on a PPC.
it's a fun little device with which one can stil do a lot. I for one use it for word processing. I would seriously, however, advice you to upgrade the RAM, which you'd have to do anyway, if you'd like to run Leopard. It would massively increase performance.
You wouldn't run non-PPC Linux apps on a PPC Linux so that doesn't work. You can run the windows Rebirth RB-338 and FL Studio 11 via WINE under Ubuntu on an Intel Mac. A PPC one wouldn't work.
Things it would be good for is a file server with the addition of an external Firewire enclosure or for hosting an iTunes library for syncing with other devices or sharing via WiFi. There's also emulators that could turn it into a retro-gaming system through an LCD TV.
Well. First of all get that RAM upgraded. Your Mac will take 1 GB. You can run Leopard, but follow our Leopard Speed Improvements guide in this forum for tips.
Thta's not what I'm saying. There is software available for PPC Linux and BSD that was never made available for OS X 10.4, 10.5 or anything earlier. For example, you can get modern versions of Firefox that didn't exist when Macs had PPCs.
We use a G4 PowerMac to send iTunes and Pandora to wireless speakers around the house. That's all we use it for, and it's been working great for a couple years. However, we can't run Spotify on it.
These old machines can still be incredibly useful in the right circumstances. I had a room full of them running listserve software back in the nineties serving a couple million readers, and it turned in to a great little business. You could still do it today with the same machines, as speed it not critical with such a purpose.
The price you paid seems in the ballpark. I paid $100 for my G4 a couple years ago.
These old machines can still be incredibly useful in the right circumstances. I had a room full of them running listserve software back in the nineties serving a couple million readers, and it turned in to a great little business. You could still do it today with the same machines, as speed it not critical with such a purpose.
The price you paid seems in the ballpark. I paid $100 for my G4 a couple years ago.
http://www.powerpcsoftware.com/
You can download Spotify from here. It is not piracy as it is a free program. It still works just fine!
Whoa, cool! Now that's a useful resource, thanks much for sharing the link. I hereby award you the coveted Super Hero Poster Of The Day Award. Congrats!
Whoa, cool! Now that's a useful resource, thanks much for sharing the link. I hereby award you the coveted Super Hero Poster Of The Day Award. Congrats!
No problem. If you type into Google "PowerPC software" there are many archives. In fact, a number of forum members put together one if I recall correctly.
Ok, I ordered a 1Gb ram module (for only $20 I figured I couldn't go wrong). Will it be fairly easy to install? And are there any good simple options for upgrading the storage? Should I just plan on plugging in an external drive for more storage? Can I have my iTunes library on an external drive? Thanks guys
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+(PowerPC)+RAM+Replacement/273
These machines are far easier to work on for upgrades than some of the other Minis.