Today I got my very first mac. And I am excited. And I need some help...

[srk999]

Hi guys. Today I got my very first mac from a friend of mine who didn't need it anymore. And I have been playing with it all day long.
I've been very excited, which led to an extreme urge of upgrading this awesome computer, so that I can use it just like my other PCs, that are much more powerful than this.

From looking around a bit on the desktop, this is an iMac G3 333 tray loading edition.

My question is up to what spec can I upgrade it with hardware that are available in today's market.
OS: Comes with 8.6. What is the latest OS X I can put in it without compromizing the performance? I don't have any recovery CD or any other CD with it. I think my friend lost em.
RAM: max what amount of ram can I put in it? what should I ask for when I go to the hardware store?
HDD: people are saying that this mac can take less than 8gb hdd without any complication. so I may get a hdd of that size.

what else can I upgrade for not much money?

 

[ddeadserious]

1. OS: I'd stay at 10.3 for this, my 333mHz iMac ran 10.3 just fine with 384MB of RAM.
2. RAM: It uses laptop RAM, and has a max of 512MB(2x256) of PC133 or PC100 laptop RAM, but it's picky about it. Pretty much make sure that the seller(I'd stick with an apple parts retailer or eBay) says it will work on Apple computers. Don't bother buying a 512 stick, it won't read more than 256MB per slot - learned that the hard way.
3. HD: You can install up to a 128GB HD(just a standard IDE/PATA drive)but the OS X needs to stay in the first 8GB of the hard drive, so just make 2 partitions - one 8GB for the OS, and the rest of the space for storage. You can do this buy using Disk Utility with your OS X install cds when you buy them and begin installing OS X.

Unfortunately, there are no processor upgrades, and the only CD drive upgrade is ridiculously priced. The things listed above are about the only viable upgrades - if you're on a budget, you may be better off just getting a slot loading iMac from the same era, they have firewire ports, airport card functions, a 1GB ram limit, cheaper more available ram, and faster processors.

 

[MarkMS]

Good place for RAM is Macsales. Here's a link to your iMac 333. You can also find some hard drives from there at decent prices.

 

[Consultant]

Congrats, FYI that computer is a bit dated, although it should run ok.

That OS is WAY outdated (10 year old). I would try to install OSX 10.2 on it.

everymac.com should list what type of ram you need.