Apple advice?

[Parrothead]

I inherited a iMac DV Special Edition when my grandma died. Right now, it has no power cord, mouse or keyboard.
I know that Apple will give you 10% off your iPod purchase if you trade in your old one (brick and mortar stores only, afaik)

My questions: Would it be easier to get the power cord, mouse, keyboard and upgrade the OS, or get a new iMac. Also, could I get 10% off if I trade this in?

Or [something i haven't thought of]?

[Amadan]

Even the very old macs should just require a kettle lead for the power and work with pretty much any old USB keyboard and mouse.

That being said I would see if I could borrow the cable, keyboard and mouse either from another computer of someone else just so I could find out how well the machine worked.

Value wise, if I'm right in saying this is an iMac G3 with dvdrom >link<, I'd reckon it's not going to be much use for anything more than browsing the web. The IBM PPC macs are pretty old now so there's not a whole load of support out there for them software wise.

[emax4]

It's cheaper to get PC parts and build your own "Hackintosh" rather than get an iMac, but it depends on if you've put together a PC before. The newest OS is $30 too, the hardware varies, and the supporting files from tonymacx86.com is free.

You could just donate the old iMac to the Goodwill or something. They're not good for much these days, although if you need to look up stuff when your newer/current computer is down, it'll help in a pinch.

[Dave1982]

If it's the classic iMac form factor, then any stardard desktop PC power cord should fit it no problem, as has been said.

And like Amadan said any USB keyboard and mouse should work as well, just be aware of two potential problems:

-If it's a keyboard with a Windows key, then the CTRL/Windows/ALT keys may not map quite right to the Mac equivalents (they'll still work, you'll just have to play around a bit to find out which key does what).

-If this iMac is runnin MacOS 9 (and IIRC, the DV Special Edition was just old enough to have shipped with OS9) then you may need drivers to get anything besides basic functionality out of said keyboard and mouse.


As far as building a Hackintosh.....I can't say I recommend that. It is cheaper, yes, but there will be a lot of headaches and extra hoops you will have to jump through to make everything work correctly. Except for true power users this is going to be more hassle than it's worth. If you want to get a new iMac, just get a new iMac. It will work far better and more reliably than any Hackintosh system you could build.

ETA: And - technically - installing MacOS X on non-Apple hardware violates the EULA, if you care about that sort of thing.

[Parrothead]

I'm not even picky about PC vs Mac. I just need a desktop, and I have this now, so I'm figuring options.

(Also the extent of my techie knowledge is "double-click this to get internet" and "Not working, call Daddy")

[emax4]

I would see if you can borrow someone else's USB keyboard and mouse just to see what's on it. The current version of Firefox may not even run on PPC's anymore, and even if you find a compatible version, who's to say how fast or slow it is? They only take so much RAM too. So, if they're good for just browsing internet sites, you may be limited on what sites you can visit if they take plug-ins which require more power than the iMac can provide.

[emax4]

BTW, there's no harm in getting an older Apple computer that's newer than the iMac you have. I personally believe that you don't need the latest and greatest to get around all the time (unless you like to play all the latest games, but even then it'll suck your money away).

[Amadan]

I used to have a G4 Powerbook when they were current (Way more powerful than the G3) with, if memory serves me, 1.25gb of ram and it was ok-ish until you wanted to browse something with flash. To use sites with flash you would have to close down all other software and only load 1 or 2 pages especially if it was a video you wanted to play.

A G3 will be about 10 years old now I would guess and as others have pointed out may not even be running OSX let alone support any modern (and therefore updated against security issues) software. By the time you've upgraded it with RAM (some G3s came with about 32mb) and probably a bigger and faster HDD (I seem to remember 10gb being the norm on a G3 iMac) in addition to a keyboard and mouse you're getting close to the cost of a cheap pc.

Personally I'd recommend you consider something like a Netbook/NetTop or even second hand PC if money is tight, granted you don't get OSX and would probably end up using linux (may not be best for non-techies) or windows (just yuk!) but it's probably the best usability per £. The other option if you are genuinely only wanting to browse web/email is an iPad or other such tablet, supposing you've got wifi or you go for the 3g/cdma version.

If you really have your heart set on getting a mac, see if you can grab something with an Intel core duo (not solo) or better as afaik that is the minimum spec for the new up and coming OSX Lion so you should at least get some life out of it. Also remember Apple give large discounts to students etc on new machines and Apple's recon store has some great deals also (full warranty - usually machines customers didn't need/want and returned).

A couple of links on G3s / Other PPC Macs and useage
Get the most from your G3
9 Browsers for G3s and older G4s

HTH

*Just to clarify, although I spend my working hours fixing virus riddled windows boxes and listening to moaning customers with said boxes, I actually like windows - i just prefer OSX.

[emax4]

Something else I thought of (I hate to keep on this). If you've ever wanted to get your feet wet with programming, web programming and design, graphics video editing (with older hardware), the computer you have may be just what you need. It may be difficult to find software still available for it, but when you do find it (maybe not video editing), it'll be pretty cheap. Have a computer opens up a whole new world on not just what's out there, but you might find another hobby or talent.

[Parrothead]

...So... I should look for a newer desktop? (I'm not even close to being a techie, i just want something that plays movies, music, and can access Steam and the interwebs. And since I couldn't connect this to the interwebs, i'm thinking "no")

[PepperElf]

If you don't want to use the mac you may want to consider selling it.

I am not kidding when I say these can often be collector's items.


but there shouldn't be any reason why it won't connect that I can think of. Unless there's something specifically wrong with it. In fact many of the older macs CAN handle Tiger & Leopard.

My BF specifically bought a used G4 tower - the one with the "mirrors" on it, mainly because it came with the software still intact. It's not as fast as his laptop but it's running Tiger just fine. He decided to leave it as is instead of upgrading it. We don't use it right now because of a lack of space but it's a beautiful functional computer.