Powermac G3

[nater.]

I know some guy selling a G3 B&W 300mhz with 128 ram, ati video capture card, and 6gig harddrive for 65 bucks.

Would this machine upgraded some be able to run decent with OS X and maybe even a little photoshop/illustrator work? My girlfriend has been wanting a mac but of course, Im currently unemployed and don;t have the cash to buy a new one.

Just want something for her to play on really, to learn the OS then Ill buy a new one for her when i get a good job.

 

[Dane D.]

I know some guy selling a G3 B&W 300mhz with 128 ram, ati video capture card, and 6gig harddrive for 65 bucks.

Would this machine upgraded some be able to run decent with OS X and maybe even a little photoshop/illustrator work? My girlfriend has been wanting a mac but of course, Im currently unemployed and don;t have the cash to buy a new one.

Just want something for her to play on really, to learn the OS then Ill buy a new one for her when i get a good job.

That is an 1999 Mac, way too old an computer to appreciate the Mac OS of today. It will run OS 9.2.2 great and OS 10.2.8, both old systems. But you need RAM, at least 512MB or more. 1GB is the max on this unit. The 6GB HD is the original size for that unit, small by todays standards. Also this unit is probably Rev A. meaning only one HD on ribbon. Rev B had capability of two HDs on the ribbon and better support for larger HDs. Hope this doesn't discourage you, but unless you are a collector or long time Mac user this unit is not really what you want. I've had my B/W G3 since Jan. 1999, never had a problem with it. With some money it will upgrade, but the speed just isn't there. I put an SCSI PCI card in connected to, two internal SCSI 9GB HDs. One of the SCSI drives is my OS 10.2.8 boot drive. Filled the empty bay under the CD drive with an ATA 12GB HD. It took some work but I got the HDs laying on the bottom of the case, since there are no drive holders. Filled the RAM slots with 3-256MB and 1-128MB, 896MB total. She runs great.

 

[jTreu]

tiger wouldnt run very well at all, i dont think it would be sufficient for PS but i dont have much experience with them.

 

[FF_productions]

I've had experience with the PowerMac G3, I'd run 10.2.8, Panther would be pushing it, and Tiger just wouldn't be that fun.

Load it up with ram, and it won't be too painful.

I tried some editing in Final Cut Pro, and had 0 real time. It didn't exist.

I didn't do much Photoshop but it wasn't that bad for the little amount I used.


Try to find a SUPER cheap PowerMac G4, I'd try avoiding the G3.

Ouch, just realized it's a 300 MHZ G3, I don't think you even run Tiger on that!

I had a 400 mhz G3, and it was bad..

 

[Me1000]

$65 is a rip off...

I got my 400 MHz B&W (128 MB RAM, 10 GB HDD) for $30

 

[kondspi]

Yeah. My 350/64/15 cost $20.

 

[frankblundt]

Load it with 4x256 RAM and Panther will be fine, PS will be fine, just not fast. For most work it'll do ok. You can overclock it to 350 which might help a little too.

 

[nater.]

Alright, thanks for all the replies.

How much do most G4's sell for? I dont have enough to put out for a brand new anything so.

 

[FF_productions]

Whats ur price range?

In the 100-200 price range, I'm seeing 400-500 mhz PowerMac G4's.

Check out eBay, there are all different kinds of Macs to choose from, just watch who you buy from and carefully read the description.