iMac/eMac Questions *Mac Newbie

Okay, my grandfather's laptop is horribly slow. I want to buy him a new computer thats runs faster for his emails/videos. I was looking at the old imacs/emacs on ebay (the 2000-2005) versions. These comps fit in his budget of approx 100$. I was planning to buy an imac/emac with the following specs

500mhz (or faster) Processor (or 600/700mhz)
256mb (or more) Ram (512mb)
20gb Hard drive (adding external memory)
with the newer os x operating system.

My question will these computers fit his needs? He writes emails, he writes a ton of word documents, and he views videos off youtube.

My question is that will these computers be able to run his needs efficiently? Are there programs that are similar to the windows (which he is used to)?
Can you run microsoft office on these computers?
If not what would be the recommended specs I should look for?
Will it be fast (as in loading programs or webpages)
Good Website to purchase other than ebay?

I never had any experience with older macs, only with my cousins newer macbook pro.

gotrice864 said:

I was planning to buy an imac/emac with the following specs
500mhz (or faster) Processor (or 600/700mhz)
256mb (or more) Ram (512mb)
20gb Hard drive (adding external memory)
with the newer os x operating system.
My question will these computers fit his needs? He writes emails, he writes a ton of word documents, and he views videos off youtube.

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Short answer, yes, but............

For what you're looking to pay I would recommend that you buy the G4 eMac. If your budget allows, just make sure it's the April 2004 or later, in order to get the USB 2 feature.

eMacs have a faster processor than the earlier iMacs. eMacs were made for the education market, and they are, by-and-large, rock solid. They're compact, they come with a 40 Gb hard disk minimum, you can put as much as 2 Gb of RAM in them, and they run OS X easily.

For what your grandfather wants to do, the eMac will handle all his needs. And yes, you can run Microsoft Office, or just M'soft Word, whichever suits. MSO or MSW is very similar to the way Win runs them.

what would be the recommended specs I should look for?

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Download Mactracker (it's free) http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5968. It shows every model of Mac ever made and what their specs are.

Almost needless to say, I run an eMac and am very happy with it. It's only negatives are that it's slippery to handle (it has no carry handle), it's heavy, and the display (CRT) can be a little bit wonky in very warm conditions.

Thank you very much. Do you know a site that sells the emacs other than ebay? I don't want it to break within the month I buy it.

I would say, for uTube video, go for the fatest processor you can, ideally 900 Mhz or above, but 500-700 Mhz should be OK if you are on a buget

as for prices, I haven't ever used CraigList, but it might be worth a look

gotrice864 said:

Thank you very much. Do you know a site that sells the emacs other than ebay?

Click to expand...

What about the Buy/Sell/Trade of this site? You can also advertise there.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1431095
Also other Mac forums which you can find with a Google search.

Perhaps your local Mac shop can locate one for you. Shop around auction houses, look out for schools which may be upgrading their computer equipment.

Because you're buying a desktop machine, the issue of machine abuse and misuse is less likely than, say, a laptop one. Good luck with your search.