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To buy or not to buy
- Thread starter Ih8reno
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Well PPC minis aren’t that hard to come but so unless it’s super cheap/free and you can replace (or pay to) the GPU or other board repair then is it worth the bother?
I’d hold out for another one in working condition personally.
I’d hold out for another one in working condition personally.
Not worth the hassle considering how cheap and plentiful these things are.
You guys say that, but finding my 1.5Ghz "1.42" according to what it says on the back being the secret upgrade. Still, in my search of it I searched exclusively for a 1.42Ghz in hopes that it was a 1.5. They're all insanely expensive. People were trying to sell them upwards of $200 on ebay. Now the older 1.25Ghz ones are cheaper. But I wanna know where you guys are finding your "cheap and plentiful" ones.
A quick ebay search right now shows a bunch of them from 50 bucks to over 200. And one auction starting at 30..
How much are they asking? I have never seen a G4 Mini with a bad GPU, though anythings possible. It's more likely the cable or the monitor they're using. Or even a software problem. Anyways, if it is actually cheap I'd buy it.Have a chance to increase my ppc collection and found a 1.42ghz mini locally. Seller says it has a bad gpu but he didn't test beyond seeing it. Here is a screenshot. Should I avoid?
![651d4f1a6e4338c6474f659dea94df7a.jpg]()
When looking on eBay, I always disregard the Buy-It-Now listings due to their outrageous prices. Sure, they can try to find a buyer willing to pony up that much but that's not going to be me. I usually disregard auctions with a higher-than-$1.00 starting price too unless it's still reasonable. So, that essentially constrains me to auctions starting at $1.00 and while there are times when a search for PPC minis comes up empty, it's only a matter of time before one appears. I've had a couple of second-hand PPC minis over the years and never paid more than the equivalent of US$50 - none of them were the 1.5GHz model though.
Apart from eBay, there's classified ads or sites such as Craigslist (if you're in the US). An advice I can give is: be patient, and wait for a good offer.
The G4 minis aren't worthwhile these days considering how inexpensive the early Intel models are becoming. With a serious issue like GPU failure, I would definitely avoid it.Have a chance to increase my ppc collection and found a 1.42ghz mini locally. Seller says it has a bad gpu but he didn't test beyond seeing it. Here is a screenshot. Should I avoid?
![651d4f1a6e4338c6474f659dea94df7a.jpg]()
I generally agree with your assessment, however, there are things an Intel mini won't do, such as natively running OS 9, Jaguar or Panther, i.e. depending what the OP wants [to use] it for, an Intel mini might not fit the bill.
Wouldn't the GPU be unsupported in Mac OS 9? If so, a Power Mac G4 is a much better choice for native Mac OS 9.
And it's fully accelerated, both 2D and 3D? I always thought the GeForce 4Ti is the best GPU for Mac OS 9, and the newer ones simply wouldn't be utilized properly.
Something was probably wrong with their cable or monitor. The digital signal was getting somehow interrupted.Well the seller tried with a dvi to vga, here is the result.![e161e3a75e217b28c152942f2803a0f0.jpg]()
Odd that without it the screen showed that pattern
What amedias said. Get a thin plastic wallpaper scraper and crack it open. Max the RAM if it hasn't been done already and maybe an SSD to replace the 4200rpm drive inside and you have a tidy little OS9 box that should pretty much handle all the old games on MG.
I used a Mini as my sole computer after a burglar made off with all my laptops and didn't feel the need to get another MBP for a year or two. Still one of my favourite Apple designs to this day. Much less fond of the squat aluminium redesign.
I used a Mini as my sole computer after a burglar made off with all my laptops and didn't feel the need to get another MBP for a year or two. Still one of my favourite Apple designs to this day. Much less fond of the squat aluminium redesign.
I got a G4 mini 1.5GHz with 64 MB (gpu ram). This mini is known as "silent upgrade" (Late 2005). But can it run modified OS9, too?
I got my g4 mini for free off of here (minus shipping) from a generous soul. IIRC if we didn’t take them they were going to landfill, so Yanno I picked one up for the cause - Actually is a fun little box that I use primarily for TDM.
If it’s a 1.25ghz model, you can overclock to 1.5ghz pretty easily.
If the seller keeps the price cheap & you want it, They’re fun boxes & make great bookshelf stops when not in use.
If it’s a 1.25ghz model, you can overclock to 1.5ghz pretty easily.
If the seller keeps the price cheap & you want it, They’re fun boxes & make great bookshelf stops when not in use.
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There seems to be some updating of the firmware from the 1.42GHz version, in that the 1.5GHz/1.33GHz models may support booting from GUID volumes. Whether that or any other less obvious changes under the hood breaks OS9 is something only you can find out by trying to boot the MacOS9lives CD. If it boots, you should be good to go.
its worth noting the DVI out on a Mac Mini G4 (at least the PowerMac10,1 models) is pretty weak and can get glitchy at high resolotions, so that might explain the DVI is all messed up but VGA is fine (could also be that DVI is just broken but VGA works fine, iv seen that as well)
they can indeed be made to run OS 9, with full 2D/3D, they make for quite spiffy OS 9 Boxes
if its cheap enough and all else fails, you could buy it for its 7447A CPU to solder to an iMac G4 or something
(on that note I overclocked my 1.42Ghz Mac mini G4 to 1.67Ghz and its been like that for a few years now without issue)
as others have said, it also comes down to cost, if the guy wants $10-20 then sure, its a fun bit of HW to play with
but if the seller wants $30-50+ id think about it esp if it does have HW issues
they can indeed be made to run OS 9, with full 2D/3D, they make for quite spiffy OS 9 Boxes
if its cheap enough and all else fails, you could buy it for its 7447A CPU to solder to an iMac G4 or something
(on that note I overclocked my 1.42Ghz Mac mini G4 to 1.67Ghz and its been like that for a few years now without issue)
as others have said, it also comes down to cost, if the guy wants $10-20 then sure, its a fun bit of HW to play with
but if the seller wants $30-50+ id think about it esp if it does have HW issues
Well, in the end he told me he had a buyer for $50. Wasn't worth it on my end as I see intel ones for that locally. Appreciate all the help.