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Sell or keep? 20" iMac G4

S

superman23

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
125
3
I have a 20" iMac G4 (the cool one with the robot arm). I bought this used in 2011, in complete lack of forward thinking, so that guests would have a computer in my home to use the internet. LOL. Also it looked cool.

It sits totally unused. spec wise i think its 1.25ghz, 2gb ram, and someone put in a 500gb HD. disc drive works. It has 1 stuck green pixel near the middle of the screen sadly.

Is there something cool I can do with this or am i better off donating it or trying to throw it up on ebay for $200 or so?
 
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superman23 said:
I have a 20" iMac G4 (the cool one with the robot arm). I bought this used in 2011, in complete lack of forward thinking, so that guests would have a computer in my home to use the internet. LOL. Also it looked cool.

It sits totally unused. spec wise i think its 1.25ghz, 2gb ram, and someone put in a 500gb HD. disc drive works. It has 1 stuck green pixel near the middle of the screen sadly.

Is there something cool I can do with this or am i better off donating it or trying to throw it up on ebay for $200 or so?
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You have the most sought after model - I'd say sell it on eBay, you'll get a good price and it will go to an enthusiast who will make the most of it...conversely it might go to a collector who'll just put it in storage and rub his hands thinking of the future return on his investment :/
 
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superman23 said:
Is there something cool I can do with this or am i better off donating it or trying to throw it up on ebay for $200 or so?
Click to expand...

Rig it up with a raspberry Pi in the base and a cam on top, find some small actuator motors to control the robot-arm. Write a program which will detect motion and cause the motors to move the display to watch and follow your guests around the room ;)
 
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This is coming to you from a G4 iMac with identical specs - less the dead pixel........:rolleyes:
A machine that I personally would never part with, unless I was desperate for some ready cash. It gets more use than some of my higher (Intel-based) Macs, and in use several times a week still gives enormous amount of pleasure. In fact only last week I updated the (already highly 'eyoungren' tweaked T4Fox) to the feature parity release 3 version, and it's still running as sweet as ever.
Located in the guest bedroom and loaded with over a hundred HD musical videos, and even more mp3's in the iTunes library, it's available whenever required as a general media player and for wifi internet use.
As regards your own iMac, only you can decide. As you don't seem too attached to it, like an unloved pet I'm sure it would be better off with someone who can appreciate, look after and have fun with it. Fortunately like pups, you don't have to clean up after them. ;)
 
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AphoticD said:
Rig it up with a raspberry Pi in the base and a cam on top, find some small actuator motors to control the robot-arm. Write a program which will detect motion and cause the motors to move the display to watch and follow your guests around the room ;)
Click to expand...
I'm not fond of iMacs, but I always get this whenever it's suggested that a completely working and fine PowerPC Mac should be gutted and new internals installed…

Computer-Guy-Facepalm.jpg


I can see it with a dead Mac, but a working one?

Just my opinion, I know what you have suggested is one valid solution to OP's problem.
[doublepost=1508079966][/doublepost]
superman23 said:
…or trying to throw it up on ebay for $200 or so?
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You're not going to get $200 for it on eBay, unless you are counting shipping as part of what you are paid.

There are Intel Macs that go for less than $200. @Dronecatcher has mentioned that this is one of the more sought out iMacs and so you can expect a slightly higher price, but I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it including shipping and that's probably around the price you'd get on eBay.

Now if you had the original shipping box, the install discs, the paperwork (manuals, reciept, etc) then you probably could get that, especially to the right collector.

Sorry, not trying to put a downer on this. Just trying to be realistic. This is not an Intel iMac, collectible or not.
 
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Install TFFx, follow Eyoungren's tweak thread & enjoy it.

Me, my version of enjoyment is to sit one on top of a Rumba & let it vacuum my house ... have it tote around a drink tray for Halloween.
 
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eyoungren said:
You're not going to get $200 for it on eBay, unless you are counting shipping as part of what you are paid.

There are Intel Macs that go for less than $200. @Dronecatcher has mentioned that this is one of the more sought out iMacs and so you can expect a slightly higher price, but I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it including shipping and that's probably around the price you'd get on eBay.

Now if you had the original shipping box, the install discs, the paperwork (manuals, reciept, etc) then you probably could get that, especially to the right collector.

Sorry, not trying to put a downer on this. Just trying to be realistic. This is not an Intel iMac, collectible or not.
Click to expand...

I think it must depend on where SuperMan23 is located. Assuming he's not a real Kryptonean:rolleyes: and that he resides in US, you may well be correct that $200 is not realistic.
However this side of the pond it's often very different. Even 15" and 17" G4's iMacs frequently sell for €300 (US$350) without original packing, and the 20" which when new sold in relatively small numbers and thus scarce, sees premium prices. Just checked on a local site here (not Ebay) and there's only one 20" currently listed - less accessories, listed at 350€ (US$413) in the Paris area. And I have no doubt at all that it will sell at that price. To put this into some real perspective, also locally there is a 'brand new' G4 iMac 20" logic board listed at 390€ (US$460).
Only earlier this year I sold my other 20" G4 iMac in perfect condition (with a fitted blutooth card) for what I figure was a 'steal' at 320€ (US$380) with accessories. All the above prices of course are without shipping, those costs are always down to the buyer.
Obviously away from mainland Europe, more remote countries would surely fetch a higher premium.
Perhaps I should fill the boot (trunk) of my car with iMacs and take a touring holiday to Sardinia, Cyprus, Malta etc. ;)
 
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CooperBox said:
I think it must depend on where SuperMan23 is located. Assuming he's not a real Kryptonean:rolleyes: and that he resides in US, you may well be correct that $200 is not realistic.
However this side of the pond it's often very different. Even 15" and 17" G4's iMacs frequently sell for €300 (US$350) without original packing, and the 20" which when new sold in relatively small numbers and thus scarce, sees premium prices. Just checked on a local site here (not Ebay) and there's only one 20" currently listed - less accessories, listed at 350€ (US$413) in the Paris area. And I have no doubt at all that it will sell at that price. To put this into some real perspective, also locally there is a 'brand new' G4 iMac 20" logic board listed at 390€ (US$460).
Only earlier this year I sold my other 20" G4 iMac in perfect condition (with a fitted blutooth card) for what I figure was a 'steal' at 320€ (US$380) with accessories. All the above prices of course are without shipping, those costs are always down to the buyer.
Obviously away from mainland Europe, more remote countries would surely fetch a higher premium.
Perhaps I should fill the boot (trunk) of my car with iMacs and take a touring holiday to Sardinia, Cyprus, Malta etc. ;)
Click to expand...
You're right.

I make the frequent assumption whenever someone does not include their location that they are from the US. My ugly American is showing I guess. ;)
 
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thanks for the replies..i'm probably just going to keep it and maybe set it up as a music player. but will it be able to work with modern USB sound devices that might support 24/192 or DSD? could it keep up with pulling lossless files remotely off a server?
 
superman23 said:
thanks for the replies..i'm probably just going to keep it and maybe set it up as a music player. but will it be able to work with modern USB sound devices that might support 24/192 or DSD? could it keep up with pulling lossless files remotely off a server?
Click to expand...
I've played all kinds of FLAC on PowerPC hardware, you really don't need much processing power for that. The iMac would keep up fine, but I'd recommend Ethernet for that, especially if the WiFi isn't the strongest in your house. As for USB sound devices, you'd have to check if the sound devices you're looking for support OS X 10.4 or 10.5. You also have the option of using FireWire audio interfaces and DACs of yesteryear, that might still do 24/192 in good quality, and most of these were made to support these Macs. Again, with those you still need to check that it will work on 10.4/10.5, and if it needs extra software, that that will run on PowerPC hardware. If you see an USB or FW device that might work, feel free to ask here if you're not completely certain.
 
Well, you can do what I did with the 17" version of the same iMac release. Clean it out, put in a Samsung SSD connected with a PATA/SATA adapter, put in a higher speed DVDRW, and use it for the fantastic PPC apps we already have. Mine is installing Adobe CS2 right now, while listening to my iTunes collection (72 GB worth of music) and posting this!
 
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torvan said:
Well, you can do what I did with the 17" version of the same iMac release. Clean it out, put in a Samsung SSD connected with a PATA/SATA adapter, put in a higher speed DVDRW, and use it for the fantastic PPC apps we already have. Mine is installing Adobe CS2 right now, while listening to my iTunes collection (72 GB worth of music) and posting this!
Click to expand...

Do you think the 2002 model could still be usable with the same upgrades, but on 800mhz, 1GB, + a GeForce 4 MX?
 
z970mp said:
Do you think the 2002 model could still be usable with the same upgrades, but on 800mhz, 1GB, + a GeForce 4 MX?
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Yes, because the same iMac you are mentioning is what I used to have. This drive was pulled from it when its died, so I just popped it in the new to me one I mentioned above. The DVDRW was an IDE one already--having been pulled from a friend's G4 MDD that he did not want anymore (he was replacing it with a FIFTH hard drive--he is a storage junkie).

Just make sure the PATA/SATA adapter you buy has jumper settings on it, because it will need to be set. Some do not have any, so stay away from those. The one I bought was a Startech one. The Amazon link is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EOJNGC2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The end result will be a much faster iMac because you are saturating the IDE bus at its full capacity whereas the older PATA drives never really ever did.
 
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Unfortunately, as of a couple years ago, this iMac G4 20” doesn’t turn on anymore. one theory is that the seller i originally got it from on ebay, who had upgraded the ram/HD, didn’t put it back together properly. could it be a dead battery? or would it still turn on?

or will it be cheaper to just pick up another one?
 
superman23 said:
Unfortunately, as of a couple years ago, this iMac G4 20” doesn’t turn on anymore. one theory is that the seller i originally got it from on ebay, who had upgraded the ram/HD, didn’t put it back together properly. could it be a dead battery? or would it still turn on?

or will it be cheaper to just pick up another one?
Click to expand...
I am a collector,I will use it for decoration. can you sell it to me?
 
superman23 said:
Unfortunately, as of a couple years ago, this iMac G4 20” doesn’t turn on anymore. one theory is that the seller i originally got it from on ebay, who had upgraded the ram/HD, didn’t put it back together properly. could it be a dead battery? or would it still turn on?

or will it be cheaper to just pick up another one?
Click to expand...

Thats unfortunate... Ive wated a 20" model for a while, btu I can never find them forsale... so it always makes me sad when I seem them dead for whatever reason.
 
i paid $300 in 2011..saw prices similar or lower for many years and easily available. has that changed? i’m sure this is fixable, but it may not be worth it if it’s not simple

the 20” display also had a single cyan stuck pixel right near the middle of the display so it was never going to be a collector’s piece
 
superman23 said:
i paid $300 in 2011..saw prices similar or lower for many years and easily available. has that changed? i’m sure this is fixable, but it may not be worth it if it’s not simple

the 20” display also had a single cyan stuck pixel right near the middle of the display so it was never going to be a collector’s piece
Click to expand...
Well, a quick search of ebay says that most similar 20" models are selling for under $100, and it looks like they don't have stuck pixels, or any other significant defects.
 
If you’re still considering selling/still have the Mac in question I would love to see a price and try to get ahold of it, the dead pixel is no problem as I plan on attempting to Frankenstein the G4 to a modern computer in an attempt to have an awesome way of bringing back an all time favorite of mine, just let me know if you’d consider letting it go!
 
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