Should I buy one? I really like the design and I'm wanting a working one to collect/use as a server.
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Should I buy an iMac G4 for fun?
- Thread starter OpTic Jayex
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They are pretty awesome and have a fantastic screen for their time that is nice and bright. I am about to sell a 20" one myself 
I love it but it's much more worth the money to be than the computer at this point in time. So I'd say if you want to go for it, but they are pretty pricey and slow.
I love it but it's much more worth the money to be than the computer at this point in time. So I'd say if you want to go for it, but they are pretty pricey and slow.Yeah, iMac G4 was my first apple computer. I loved that machine, but remember I used to hate the geforce2 MX limitation and how the newer geforce4mx based iMacs came right out after I got mine. Anyway, I just bought an old iMac g3 with 1gig of ram just for fun. Mainly, for Tomb Raider level editing and to play Tomb Raider The Last Revelation. I'll probably donate it when I'm through with it.
Get one with those clear speakers...there Unreal sound! Worth the price of the Imac just for the killer stereo you will now have!
Keep an eye out on your local Craigslist - they usually pop up here, and occasionally a great deal comes along. I picked up a 15" 800MHz G4 a year or two ago for $20, brought it home, bumped it to 1GB RAM, and had a beautiful little Leopard machine. It's since been replaced as my primary PowerPC machine by an iMac G5, but I still have it around; the iMac G4 is without a doubt my favorite Apple design, and it's far too beautiful for me to part with. I keep wanting to do something useful with it, like set it up as a server, but I want to keep it somewhere that I can see it
And as stated above, the Apple Pro Speakers that work with it sound absolutely amazing for a tiny pair of computer speakers
And as stated above, the Apple Pro Speakers that work with it sound absolutely amazing for a tiny pair of computer speakers
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earlier this year i bought two 1.25ghz g4 imacs and use them for my main computers, one upstairs and one downstairs, and i really don't see what all the fuss is about concerning their limitations. i use safari 4.1.3 and have zero compatibility problems with the sites i go to. in addition to the internet they're also used for a few dumb games, managing digital photographs, playing, managing, copying music, printing letters and storing some old movies. i have no complaints. (i also don't have any use for flash so i'm sure that helps) if for whatever reason internet becomes unusable i may buy a chromebook or two to sit beside them but at this point there's really no use. sometime this winter i'll buy another g4 for a backup/spare parts. they're just so useful for me. i still use firewire, optical drives, and actually like some of the older software that you can get for these things. go for it.
I bought an iMac G4 just for fun (typing this response on it right now ). I ended up getting a 2003-04 G4 with USB 2.0 and a 1GHz CPU. So far this machine can do everything my intel mac can do. Yes it is much slower than my MBP, but I'm fine with that. Really only web browsing is a dramatically slower. Though, it's not too bad, when it's hooked up via ethernet.
YouTube is the only thing that my MacBook Pro excels at in my day to day use. After that I got everything I need, iWork for school, emulators for gaming, Spotify and iTunes for music, and safari for browsing (I would use TenFourFox, but I can't seem to get YouTube to run HTML 5 mode.). If my G4 could run youtube videos smoothy on the website (at least at 360p) it would most likely become my main machine.
I would say go get a G4. It's a fantastic machine with still quite bit of software available on the internet. It's just takes some digging around and forum asking. Just make sure it's 1GHz or higher with USB 2.0. You can tell it's 2.0 if the USB is right next to the firewire ports.
). I ended up getting a 2003-04 G4 with USB 2.0 and a 1GHz CPU. So far this machine can do everything my intel mac can do. Yes it is much slower than my MBP, but I'm fine with that. Really only web browsing is a dramatically slower. Though, it's not too bad, when it's hooked up via ethernet. YouTube is the only thing that my MacBook Pro excels at in my day to day use. After that I got everything I need, iWork for school, emulators for gaming, Spotify and iTunes for music, and safari for browsing (I would use TenFourFox, but I can't seem to get YouTube to run HTML 5 mode.). If my G4 could run youtube videos smoothy on the website (at least at 360p) it would most likely become my main machine.
I would say go get a G4. It's a fantastic machine with still quite bit of software available on the internet. It's just takes some digging around and forum asking. Just make sure it's 1GHz or higher with USB 2.0. You can tell it's 2.0 if the USB is right next to the firewire ports.
If the price is reasonable, then yes! I just found the magic of game emulation so my iBook G4 works really well for an ATARI, NINTENDO, Super Nintendo, and even older PC game emulator. Once I have money again, I'll be investing in a mac mini and a couple usb controllers and having a blast.
Plus, if you want to work on one as well as just having a beautiful machine, then you could probably find a better graphics card, pop in a SSD, max the RAM, and then Leopard would run pretty well.
You very well could but I wouldn't see it be good for anything besides file storage (and a 40GB couldn't store much in todays world). I'd love to have a mini with external FW800 storage running ML Server and use it for Open Directory and remote file storage, but it wouldn't benefit me much. I'm the only one in the hose using Macs and I have 2 macs I use daily, and Dropbox usually syncs the important stuff I need.
I have an iMac G4 17" 1.25GHz model. I use it as an iTunes jukebox in my bedroom.
It's great to have, particularly with a Front Row remote and dongle I bought off eBay.
I would offer the following tips:
1. The 1.0-1.25GHz models allow you to run Leopard and iTunes 10.6.3, which are both reasonably compatible with newer Apple stuff. They also have USB2.0, meaning USB drives etc are usable.
2. Try and get one with the speakers for added coolness.
3. Upgrade the RAM. I am running 2GB; Leopard typically uses about 1GB just with iTunes.
It's great to have, particularly with a Front Row remote and dongle I bought off eBay.
I would offer the following tips:
1. The 1.0-1.25GHz models allow you to run Leopard and iTunes 10.6.3, which are both reasonably compatible with newer Apple stuff. They also have USB2.0, meaning USB drives etc are usable.
2. Try and get one with the speakers for added coolness.
3. Upgrade the RAM. I am running 2GB; Leopard typically uses about 1GB just with iTunes.
Just out of curiosity, what are you doing in iTunes that causes it to use 1GB of RAM? I have an iBook G4 with 1.5GB RAM running 10.5.8 and iTunes 10.6.3 and even with a movie playing(A Beautiful Mind) it's only using ~125MB of Real Memory. If you combine that with virtual memory; sure it'll be using more than 1GB but it usually doesn't for me anyway.
Dunno what causes it, but it does, not immediately, but over time...
Currently, iTunes is 280MB and Kernel Task is 220MB. The rest is taken by other processes (the only other program is Dropbox, at 60MB). All up, 1GB is being used, with another 200MB inactive...
I bought an iMac G4 just for fun (typing this response on it right now
YouTube is the only thing that my MacBook Pro excels at in my day to day use. After that I got everything I need, iWork for school, emulators for gaming, Spotify and iTunes for music, and safari for browsing (I would use TenFourFox, but I can't seem to get YouTube to run HTML 5 mode.). If my G4 could run youtube videos smoothy on the website (at least at 360p) it would most likely become my main machine.
I would say go get a G4. It's a fantastic machine with still quite bit of software available on the internet. It's just takes some digging around and forum asking. Just make sure it's 1GHz or higher with USB 2.0. You can tell it's 2.0 if the USB is right next to the firewire ports.
Get nightly aurora for fox 17.0.2 and install download helper plugin... that way you can get URL's and paste it on "open network" in VLC that way you can view video in higher quality.
Also you can take the whole youtube link and paste it (using latest VLC for PPC 2.0.8) on the very same "open network" text box and then you can watch youtube as well
Thank you all for you replies. I might do this. I already have an excellent computer and I want to buy this for my Apple collection really. I'd love to upgrade the ram, install an ssd in it, etc. It be really fun! I'm an Apple Geek and proud of it!
Do note that Aurorafox is outdated and no longer being updated. A good alternative would be TenFourFox.
Can I do everything on TFF that I can on the nightly 17.0.2esrpre?
I couldn't get all the java and flash working
No, you can't do pluginless AV chatting, speed and memory enhancements, or securely browse sites. If you want plugins, use the latest TenFourFox 17.0.10 instead of the insecure Aurorafox 17.0.2.
17.0.10 isn't out yet... at least it's not announced anywhere
I'm currently testing Tenfourfox 17.0.9 and IT SUCKS
home is set to icloud.com but the initial animated transition of the login window stayed semi-transparent for almost 40 seconds before I was able to see it. The fans kicked in and I just aborted loading icloud. Isn't T4F supposed to have a fast engine? in any case, next stop was youtube, obviously didn't work so I had to enable QTE extension which didn't work all the time btw... then I headed for tubeplus.me to watch a show and obviously that didn't work...even with download helper AND QTE installed.
Mind you that during this time the computer was 10c hotter than running webkit for leopard.
Im really staying away from this T4F which more and more feels like seamonkey performance wise and reverting to webkit for leopard with my occasional venture into aurorafox nightly
sorry but anybody with a single CPU / core should stay away from this.
And yes, 17.0.2esrpre does still support secure https protocol, so I'm happy with that. At least I can surf with it.
17.0.10 isn't out yet.
I'm currently testing Tenfourfox 17.0.9 and IT SUCKS
home is set to icloud.com but the initial animated transition of the login window stayed semi-transparent for almost 40 seconds before I was able to see it. The fans kicked in and I just aborted loading icloud. Isn't T4F supposed to have a fast engine? in any case, next stop was youtube, obviously didn't work so I had to enable QTE extension which didn't work all the time btw... then I headed for tubeplus.me to watch a show and obviously that didn't work...even with download helper AND QTE installed.
Mind you that during this time the computer was 10c hotter than running webkit for leopard.
Im really staying away from this T4F which more and more feels like seamonkey performance wise and reverting to webkit for leopard with my occasional venture into aurorafox nightly
sorry but anybody with a single CPU / core should stay away from this.
And yes, 17.0.2esrpre does still support secure https protocol, so I'm happy with that. At least I can surf with it.
So I got one version ahead. Just a result of my beta testing. I wasn't speaking about it not supporting HTTPS, nearly every browser since 1999 does that. I'm talking about security exploits within the browser itself, which are made worse by using PowerPC's really outdated plugins.