Uses for old G4 Powermac tower and 23" screen?

AJB · Jan 8, 2009

I have an old G$ tower, reasonable amount of memory and two drives, plus a 23" cinema screen. Both are redundant as I have new iMac and powerbook.

The cinema screen has the old connection type so is no use as a second screen with the iMac as far as I know. (Please correct me if I am wrong).

I don't want to sell the G4 on eBay as I am worried about data theft (I used it in my business) even if I erase the drives.

So, does anyone have any bright ideas about what I can do with this set-up. Seems a shame just to throw it all away as it all works fine - if slowly compared with modern gear. (Runs Tiger by the way).

All ideas welcomed.

thanks.

louishen · Jan 8, 2009

Set it up as a file server if you need that. I have set of Tiger OS X server disks if you are interested

Otherwise, load it up with itunes music, attach a set of speakers and you have a great jukebox

hughvane · Jan 8, 2009

You may find a willing private buyer in the UK, it's a good computer. Otherwise a donation to a local school perhaps. Incidentally, I think erasing the drives completely would also erase the sensitive data to which you refer. As for the cinema display, if it has the VGA connection, there are adaptors to connect it to your modern Macs.

AJB · Jan 9, 2009

Thanks. I am tempted by the server idea.

I would donate it to a school - but they are all PC around here. And I would need to be very sure that the persona data on the disks cannot be recovered by anyone.

louishen · Jan 9, 2009

If you want to set it up as a server then these links may help

HornWare: SharePoints

Mac OS X: How to Share More Than Public Folders

mcjacksonnelson · Jan 9, 2009

sell the monitor at least. could still get a good price for that.

D3v1L80Y · Jan 9, 2009

AJB said:
I don't want to sell the G4 on eBay as I am worried about data theft (I used it in my business) even if I erase the drives.

Well, there really isn't much to worry about if you erase and reformat the drives... but, if you are still apprehensive about it, just take the drives out and sell the tower without them.