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Repair G3 or buy new iMac?

mgguy

mgguy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 26, 2006
484
1,357
My G3 just went haywire. I've already spent $180 debugging it, and now it looks like I might need a new hard drive. That would add another $180 for drive cost and installation labor. I've been wanting to buy a new iMac but thought I would wait a little while because it cost so much. I'm not sure whether to cut my losses now and buy a new machine, or pay the additional cost and get my old one running again. I'm also thinking that if I wait longer an upgrade of the iMac will come out. But then again I may be wasting money on a computer I don't plan on using much longer. Is this a no brainer? I can't make up my mind. Oh, BTW, in the meantime I am using a PC laptop from work temporarily. Its not bad, but can't wait to get back to using a Mac.
 
just bite bullet and get a new or refurb iMac. The new ones will blow you away. Your G3 won't run leopard. Bigger display smaller footprint. SATA hard drives are bigger and faster. I could go on and on.
 
Time to bid farewell to the beige box. It's served it's purpose, and deserves a rest. A moment of silence...


Plus, a new machine compared to the G3 will blow your socks off. If you've got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, get a refurb Mini. That would be the cheapest way to get into a "new" Mac. Next best approach is a refurb iMac, about twice the cost, give or take.
 
mgguy said:
My G3 just went haywire. I've already spent $180 debugging it, and now it looks like I might need a new hard drive. That would add another $180 for drive cost and installation labor. I've been wanting to buy a new iMac but thought I would wait a little while because it cost so much. I'm not sure whether to cut my losses now and buy a new machine, or pay the additional cost and get my old one running again. I'm also thinking that if I wait longer an upgrade of the iMac will come out. But then again I may be wasting money on a computer I don't plan on using much longer. Is this a no brainer? I can't make up my mind. Oh, BTW, in the meantime I am using a PC laptop from work temporarily. Its not bad, but can't wait to get back to using a Mac.
Click to expand...

Why can't you install it yourself? Have a young family member or parent that could use the thing? They won't know the difference and they'll enjoy it for checking their email and doing various things that a G3 will do fine enough. If you have 10.4, at least 500 MB of RAM, and a larger and quieter HDD the computer will be fine as long as the HDD is the only problem.

I'd recommend a Seagate, but it doesn't seem like Newegg has any of them in stock unfortunately. So go with a Western Digital. This 80GB WD one is 36.99. This other 80 GB WD is 41.99 with 1442 reviews. Can you really argue with that? You already threw your money into this computer so get something out of it if you have someone that can buy it. And I know you can put it in yourself with a little patience and skill (and an anti static wrist band).
 
Thank you for your insightful replies. I'm leaning towards buying a new iMac. I am using a laptop from work that will get me by for the time being until I decide what to do. I am also considering prop52's suggestion to install the hard drive myself if it turns out I need it. The only problem there is that I will then have to load all the software myself, which I would probably screw up due to lack of experience. But on the other hand, this would be a good opportunity for me to dig in and learn a lot about the Mac and how it operates. Thanks again for your helpful suggestions.
 
mgguy said:
Thank you for your insightful replies. I'm leaning towards buying a new iMac. I am using a laptop from work that will get me by for the time being until I decide what to do. I am also considering prop52's suggestion to install the hard drive myself if it turns out I need it. The only problem there is that I will then have to load all the software myself, which I would probably screw up due to lack of experience. But on the other hand, this would be a good opportunity for me to dig in and learn a lot about the Mac and how it operates. Thanks again for your helpful suggestions.
Click to expand...

Also a good experience and insight to get an external hard drive to make the transition seamless plus to get ready for Leopard and Time Machine backups.
 
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