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Where can I get the iMac G4?

V

Valencia

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2005
8
0
I want to get myself a Mac but can't really afford a G5 right now, so I thought I'd go for a G4. I quite like the design of them and for what I need a computer for, (surfing, writing essays, listening to music), it seems to be ok.

What I want to know is where can I get a decent second hand G4 imac from, what should I be looking for in terms of spec and when I get it will I be able to run Tiger on it.

Thanks
 
I've got a 17" 1GHz G4 iMac that's running Tiger very smoothly. Right now it has 768MB of RAM in it.

I've seen a couple on eBay, mainly since I was considering selling it and going up to a G5 iMac, since there were so many good refurb deals.

What are you looking to spend?
 
for tiger, you might want to max the ram, my bro has a 1.25Ghz iMac, he runs tiger with 512Mbs(upgrading to 768 when a new memory chip comes) he has lots of things open at a time and it slow. Not impossible to use but not very fast.

As for buying an iMac G4, i only know were your can kind 700-800Mhz, which would be better running panther. http://www.wegenermedia.com/imacfl.htm


Do you have screen in your house? If you do look at a Mac Mini intel (or a PPC one) or look at a refub eMac from Apple
 
Best place to look would be eBay or Craigslist. Buying it used is pretty much your only option to getting a G4 iMac at a reasonable price.

However, I would personally recommend a G4 Powermac over an iMac for the following reasons:

You can use any display you want.
You can upgrade to Dual 2.0ghz G4's down the line, if not more
Higher RAM limit
Video card can be upgraded
Internal components easier to upgrade (hard drive, etc)
PCI slots

Just throwing another option out there for ya.
 
I have a iMac for ya.

Imac G4 800
512 Ram
Superdrive
400GB Hard Drive (used as Mp3 server)
Airport Card
Apple Speakers, Pro Mouse and Pro Keyboard
10.4 Tiger

Runs like a champ. I'd sell if for 550
 
I second the Craigslist suggestion. You could go to the seller's house and actually inspect and try out the Mac before purchasing and save some money on shipping. I've had great transactions that way.
 
D0ct0rteeth said:
I have a iMac for ya.

Imac G4 800
512 Ram
Superdrive
400GB Hard Drive (used as Mp3 server)
Airport Card
Apple Speakers, Pro Mouse and Pro Keyboard
10.4 Tiger

Runs like a champ. I'd sell if for 550
Click to expand...

Is that a 15" or 17"?
 
Wow guys, thanks for your fast responses!

Just to clarify things for those of you selling your iMacs, I live in the UK so it may prove a little difficult and expensive posting it across the pond :). But for you UK people I'll be interested if you're selling.

DOACleric, about the powermac, I have noted your comments which do make sense, but I have just been looking at pics on line, its looks kinda big. I'm kinda limited on space, hence why I want an all in one product. Thanks though.

In terms of Ghz, do I need to be looking for 1+ and 768 RAM for Tiger to operate smoothly

ETA: Budget £500 max
 
Valencia said:
Thanks for the link. It only has 256MB of RAM, how easy/expensive is it to add RAM to a Mac?
Click to expand...

The G4 iMac has two RAM slots. Only one is considered "user accessible". This slot takes a SO-DIMM (laptop style memory). You can get 1GB SODIMMs for about $130 from http://www.macsales.com. Not sure if they ship to UK.

The other memory slot takes normal DIMMs but you need to be very brave and very good with a screwdriver. It is some major surgery.

I have a 1Ghz G4 iMac with 1.25gb RAM and I'm very happy with it. I use iLife to the fullest and I also edit video in FCE and use Soundtrack Pro. I just finished a 30 minute short film, all done on this machine.

Try to get the 17" screen if you can. It is very nice. Don't spend more than $550 US though for an iMac G4. Anything more than that and you'd really have to start looking at Power Mac G4s, the mini or refurb G5s.
 
If you are interested in a Quicksilver 733 PowerMac with 640 RAM, 6 extra USB 2 ports, Sonnet PCI card for installing drives up to 300 GB, PCI Firewire card with extra port and 120GB HD installed let me know. In 10 days I will be selling from London.
 
sigamy said:
The G4 iMac has two RAM slots. Only one is considered "user accessible". This slot takes a SO-DIMM (laptop style memory). You can get 1GB SODIMMs for about $130 from http://www.macsales.com. Not sure if they ship to UK.

The other memory slot takes normal DIMMs but you need to be very brave and very good with a screwdriver. It is some major surgery.

I have a 1Ghz G4 iMac with 1.25gb RAM and I'm very happy with it. I use iLife to the fullest and I also edit video in FCE and use Soundtrack Pro. I just finished a 30 minute short film, all done on this machine.

Try to get the 17" screen if you can. It is very nice. Don't spend more than $550 US though for an iMac G4. Anything more than that and you'd really have to start looking at Power Mac G4s, the mini or refurb G5s.
Click to expand...

Even the www.Macsales.com is still lower than www.crucial.co.uk there a tax called VAT to consider too :eek:

VAT info
 
sigamy said:
Try to get the 17" screen if you can. It is very nice. Don't spend more than $550 US though for an iMac G4. Anything more than that and you'd really have to start looking at Power Mac G4s, the mini or refurb G5s.
Click to expand...

$550 is about £350ish - is that what I should be spending, considering its G4?
 
My iMac is (as sig states) 800mhz, 1GB Ram, 60GB HD, runs Tiger like a hot knife through butter. Better yet, in zee UK ;)

Even has Airport fitted. Im planning on selling it in the next couple of weeks or so, so if you're interested, drop me a line
 
sigamy said:
...I have a 1Ghz G4 iMac with 1.25gb RAM...
Click to expand...
Are you sure about this? I have a 1GHz G4 and when I was looking to update RAM I was told the max sodimm was 512 for it (making total possible 1 GB if you opted for the 512 internal from apple) :confused:
 
If it's the same RAM as the ibook G4 (pc2100U), then it's an inaccurate spec, as my ibook maxes out at 684 according to apple but I have 1.12 gigs running smoothly.
 
Running Tiger isn't anything to worry about. :\ I'm running it on an 800Mhz eMac with only 512MB RAM. It works fine.
 
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