Semi-decent mac for 500 dollars?

[SkyBell]

get a 1200 dollar imac..its worth it..no point buying a cheap 500 dollar one...there is no point..it will be slow

I don't know anything about him, but perhaps he can't afford a new iMac? Despite popular opinion (At least on this forum) PPC is not really slow. (Unless you buy a G3, yeah, those are slow.) A 1.42 GHz PowerMac is more then enough to run Leopard and some pro apps.

 

[Alacres]

To be honest, if you're looking at Macs, they're not very upgradeable anyway...apart from hard drives and ram, etc.

I'm a bit confused by your statement above saying you're tempted by the ibook but what to stick with a desktop so you can use your 19" monitor, but then say you're considering an emac (which is all built inside a CRT monitor???)

I would definately go for either a Mac Mini or a Powermac if you're looking to use an external display (although, you can use external displays with the ibook too). But don't go by the deception that macs are upgradeable because they're generally not...especially with PC components as you mentioned earlier in the thread. The main upgrades will be in the form of Hard Drives and Ram I'm afraid.

Ah ok,I wasn't aware that the emac came with a built in monitor. I guess I'll rule that out.

Since they're hard to upgrade anyway, I'll take a look at the mac mini's also. I guess since I'm only getting it for EQ, and since EQmac is stuck at the older expansions of the game, even intergrated graphics should work fine. I just want to make sure I can get as much power as possible for the price. Some parts of the game (mostly in the last expansion) actually gave my old computer a run for it's money, and it had better specs than most of the cheap macs I've seen.

I didn't even think of the possibility of using an external monitor with an ibook . In that case, I think I'll check around for decent ibooks too. Thanks Cassie .

Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Ah ok,I wasn't aware that the emac came with a built in monitor. I guess I'll rule that out.

Since they're hard to upgrade anyway, I'll take a look at the mac mini's also. I guess since I'm only getting it for EQ, and since EQmac is stuck at the older expansions of the game, even intergrated graphics should work fine. I just want to make sure I can get as much power as possible for the price. Some parts of the game (mostly in the last expansion) actually gave my old computer a run for it's money, and it had better specs than most of the cheap macs I've seen.

I didn't even think of the possibility of using an external monitor with an ibook . In that case, I think I'll check around for decent ibooks too. Thanks Cassie .

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Uh, really? eMacs are those giant clunky CRT all in ones that came in stupid colors. They haven't been relevant in like 10 years.

Just buy an intel mini used. Best bang/buck at $500.

 

[Alacres]

I don't know anything about him, but perhaps he can't afford a new iMac? Despite popular opinion (At least on this forum) PPC is not really slow. (Unless you buy a G3, yeah, those are slow.) A 1.42 GHz PowerMac is more then enough to run Leopard and some pro apps.

Yeah, I really can't afford to spend anything over around 500, in fact, I really shouldn't be spending that either, but I can get by. I'm going to college, and since I'm living on my own, I don't have much extra money to throw around.

Speaking of ppc, I was under the impression that powermac and ppc were two different things. I noticed a link for each of them on "everymac.com" so I assumed they weren't related.

Are they actually the same, or is there some difference?

 

[flopticalcube]

PowerMac is the name of the top end Mac. Since the switch to Intel, they changed the name to Mac Pro. So, in essence, they are PowerPC Mac Pro's.

 

[Alacres]

never mind that last question; I just checked again.

I thought powerpc was actually another series of macs, heh.

 

[astudentis]

y not just go for a new pc?

 

[teflon]

I don't know anything about him, but perhaps he can't afford a new iMac? Despite popular opinion (At least on this forum) PPC is not really slow. (Unless you buy a G3, yeah, those are slow.) A 1.42 GHz PowerMac is more then enough to run Leopard and some pro apps.

And a 1.83 C2D mini is bound to be faster than a 1.42 PowerMac on most applications. Especially since most pro apps don't actually use the graphic card.

 

[aross99]

And a 1.83 C2D mini is bound to be faster than a 1.42 PowerMac on most applications. Especially since most pro apps don't actually use the graphic card.

I agree - with the conditions the OP listed, the Refurb Intel Mac Mini is the way to go.

For the price, it is faster than all of the alternatives (ie old used PPC macs), it doesn't have a monitor he doesn't need, and it will play the game he wants.

Best of all, he will have a very workable Mac as well...

 

[Alacres]

I agree - with the conditions the OP listed, the Refurb Intel Mac Mini is the way to go.

For the price, it is faster than all of the alternatives (ie old used PPC macs), it doesn't have a monitor he doesn't need, and it will play the game he wants.

Best of all, he will have a very workable Mac as well...

Yeah, given all the great information, I think I'm definitely going with a Mac mini. I'll probably link a few I'm considering so I can get some opinions on whether it's a good deal or not; I'm not really the wisest with those types of decisions .

Thanks again for the help everyone.

 

[Alacres]

I did have one other question; I know the mac mini's aren't really upgradeable, but is it at least possible to add an extra stick of ram to them?

 

[hilld]

yes.

 

[Consultant]

Some models of the iMac G5 20" can probably be found for $500 if you get lucky.

Not sure if EverQuest runs under Rosetta, so maybe Intel Mac would work, but maybe it won't.

Even No One Lives Forever which runs Rosetta doesn't work that great on MBP 2.4 ghz.

Why would the bidding ever go past the Buy it Now price? Most of those have Buy it Now prices of about $600.

Buy it now price disappears once the bids have reach a certain % of the buy it now price.

 

[gazfocus]

Uh, really? eMacs are those giant clunky CRT all in ones that came in stupid colors. They haven't been relevant in like 10 years.

??? No, the 'stupid colors' ones were the G3 iMacs in 15" CRT screens. eMacs were G4 and were always white and were 17" (They were out around the same time as the first Mac Mini's, which were about 3 years ago).

 

[akm3]

I recommend you don't invest into PowerPC technology. It has already been obsoleted, why bother now?

I'd buy a Mac Mini or a Hackintosh if I was in your situation

 

[Alacres]

I recommend you don't invest into PowerPC technology. It has already been obsoleted, why bother now?

I'd buy a Mac Mini or a Hackintosh if I was in your situation

Well, the game I'm getting it for is from around the late 2002 era so I figured most of the older macs would work fine.

It's funny you should mention Hackintosh because that's exactly what I've been trying to do for the last week or so. I finally got to where I can boot up the Leopard OS, but then It doesn't detect my HDD for some reason, only my DVD drive. I'm not really sure what to do to make the HDD visible to it.

 

[jodelli]

Well, the game I'm getting it for is from around the late 2002 era so I figured most of the older macs would work fine.

It's funny you should mention Hackintosh because that's exactly what I've been trying to do for the last week or so. I finally got to where I can boot up the Leopard OS, but then It doesn't detect my HDD for some reason, only my DVD drive. I'm not really sure what to do to make the HDD visible to it.

You need a partition or HDD formated in HFS+ for OS X. Maybe that's it?

 

[Alacres]

You need a partition or HDD formated in HFS+ for OS X. Maybe that's it?

Ahh that might be it! Is there a free program around anywhere that would allow you to do that?

On another note, I tried booting Leopard with my SATA drive (my HDD in my new computer) and mac actually detected it! The thing is, I really didn't want to use it for this project so I'm hoping there's a way to get the other HDD working. That HFS+ thing might be exactly why it wasn't working.

 

[stainlessliquid]

People under estimate core2duo's, just because a G5 used to be an overpriced pro machine doesnt mean its faster than Apple's new bottom of the line computer with a core2duo. The PPC processors are all very slow, especially the old ones. The fastest mac you can get for $500 would be a mac mini with a core 2 duo. Also, integrated graphics are only slow compared to todays normal video cards, a modern intel gpu should provide just as much performance if not more than a 3 generation old "gaming" video card that can be found in a G5. The G5 may be fast enough to use, but it is not fast and has an extremely bad performancerice ratio on ebay.

On another note, I tried booting Leopard with my SATA drive (my HDD in my new computer) and mac actually detected it! The thing is, I really didn't want to use it for this project so I'm hoping there's a way to get the other HDD working. That HFS+ thing might be exactly why it wasn't working.

IDE is not supported very well with hackintosh discs, you probably need a SATA hdd or another release that says they support jmicron and other IDE stuff.

 

[CubeHacker]

You do know that almost no one plays the Mac version of Everquest, right? The Mac client is very buggy, and the servers are nearly empty. Support is basically non existent, I don't believe there has been a patch in years. I'm surprised they have not shut it down by now.

But if you REALLY must, i'd check around on the EQ mac forums and see how other people find the game runs on an intel mac with intergrated graphics. If its acceptable, then a Mac mini is your best bet. Otherwise, i'd recommend a nice higher end Powermac G4, and you can stick in a nice PC-flashed video card for cheap which should run the game great.

 

[Alacres]

You do know that almost no one plays the Mac version of Everquest, right? The Mac client is very buggy, and the servers are nearly empty. Support is basically non existent, I don't believe there has been a patch in years. I'm surprised they have not shut it down by now.

But if you REALLY must, i'd check around on the EQ mac forums and see how other people find the game runs on an intel mac with intergrated graphics. If its acceptable, then a Mac mini is your best bet. Otherwise, i'd recommend a nice higher end Powermac G4, and you can stick in a nice PC-flashed video card for cheap which should run the game great.

According to the forums, the population isn't really doing that bad. I've heard they had an estimated 700+ people playing there. That might not be much, but considering their version of the game is a lot smaller, I'm not worried about it.

As for being buggy, I haven't heard anyone mention anything like that so it must not be that bad.

 

[stainlessliquid]

Incase there was any doubt over the mac mini vs G5, theres this benchmark of an old core duo imac vs a G5: http://www.barefeats.com/imcd.html

Thats a Core Duo, not a Core 2 Duo (which is significantly better), and the imac stomps all over the poor G5. A Mac Mini with a Core 2 Duo would be even faster. G5's really are a rip off when you can get stuff that is so much faster for so much less.

And heres some game benchmarks for the GMA 950 http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2427&p=2

It will be able to handle Everquest easy enough. And remember that you can use the Windows version with an intel mac thanks to bootcamp. It could play Everquest 2 fine, since that came out when UT2004 did, the GMA can play UT2k4 fine at the highest settings according to those benchmarks, and that game was a powerhouse back then. The first Everquest will be a breeze.

 

[akm3]

Well, the game I'm getting it for is from around the late 2002 era so I figured most of the older macs would work fine.

It's funny you should mention Hackintosh because that's exactly what I've been trying to do for the last week or so. I finally got to where I can boot up the Leopard OS, but then It doesn't detect my HDD for some reason, only my DVD drive. I'm not really sure what to do to make the HDD visible to it.

Oh, the older Mac will work just fine, but what you haven't realized yet is you are going to fall in love with OS X, and want to stop using Windows. And then you are stuck with a junky old powerpc machine.

 

[Alacres]

Incase there was any doubt over the mac mini vs G5, theres this benchmark of an old core duo imac vs a G5: http://www.barefeats.com/imcd.html

Thats a Core Duo, not a Core 2 Duo (which is significantly better), and the imac stomps all over the poor G5. A Mac Mini with a Core 2 Duo would be even faster. G5's really are a rip off when you can get stuff that is so much faster for so much less.

And heres some game benchmarks for the GMA 950 http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2427&p=2

It will be able to handle Everquest easy enough. And remember that you can use the Windows version with an intel mac thanks to bootcamp. It could play Everquest 2 fine, since that came out when UT2004 did, the GMA can play UT2k4 fine at the highest settings according to those benchmarks, and that game was a powerhouse back then. The first Everquest will be a breeze.

Wow, that's impressive; I doubt I'd get lucky enough to find a core2duo for 500 though =/, but I'll definitely search for it. Besides, the single core would probably work fine for EQ anyway.

Ha, no kidding? You can actually play a windows game on one of the intel macs, as long as you use that program? Or am I reading that wrong? If that's true, right on!

Oh, the older Mac will work just fine, but what you haven't realized yet is you are going to fall in love with OS X, and want to stop using Windows. And then you are stuck with a junky old powerpc machine.

I have a feeling that you're going to be right about that. So far, I've only seen the MAC installation screen and I already like it a lot more than windows lol. It seems to have a much more streamlined installation system. So if that's any indication of the quality of OS X, I'm pretty sure I'll love it .

 

[flopticalcube]

Wow, that's impressive; I doubt I'd get lucky enough to find a core2duo for 500 though =/, but I'll definitely search for it. Besides, the single core would probably work fine for EQ anyway.

Ha, no kidding? You can actually play a windows game on one of the intel macs, as long as you use that program? Or am I reading that wrong? If that's true, right on!



I have a feeling that you're going to be right about that. So far, I've only seen the MAC installation screen and I already like it a lot more than windows lol. It seems to have a much more streamlined installation system. So if that's any indication of the quality of OS X, I'm pretty sure I'll love it .

You can find a Core Duo mini for less than $500 easy. I paid $429 for my 1.66GHz CD mini last August so you should be able to get a 1.83GHz C2D or CD refurb mini for $500 today or less if you buy second hand. You can play Windows games as long as you buy and install Windows. XP would be fine. I even had my mini running some Steam games for a while (not great but it managed).