eMac G4, should I even think about the 1.25GHz model?

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I'm planning to buy an G4 mac for a home server/file server/webserver/HTPC.
So, From what I understand the 1.25GHz model of the eMac had Capacitor problems, so I'm looking on Ebay and frankly the 1Ghz models post shipping are ~$80 the the 1.25Ghz models are ~$85 and the 1.42Ghz models are ~100.
Any help?
 

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I'm planning to buy an G4 mac for a home server/file server/webserver/HTPC.
So, From what I understand the 1.25GHz model of the eMac had Capacitor problems, so I'm looking on Ebay and frankly the 1Ghz models post shipping are ~$80 the the 1.25Ghz models are ~$85 and the 1.42Ghz models are ~100.
Any help?

If the price is right...I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a 1.25ghz eMac...assuming that it was working fine when purchased. But the first thing I would do when I got my hands on it would be to open it up to see what the condition the capacitors were in. If they are fine, swollen, or leaking.

I got lucky...and purchased a "low-mileage" 1.25ghz eMac from a local person off Craig's List about 2 months ago for $50 dollars (no shipping).

Many of the eMacs on e-Bay are from academic settings (since eMacs originally were designed as an education market computer...that's what the "e" in eMac stands for (education))....where the seller buys the eMac by the pallet load...then resells them on e-Bay. So many of these eMacs have lots & lots of usage hours on them...which can be hard on the CRT display.

On the positive side...if these e-Bay 1.25ghz eMacs have lots of hours on them (and they're still working)...then maybe these 1.25ghz eMacs don't or won't have a problem with the capacitors...if they've survived this long without a capacitor problem.

Also...if someone has the skill to replace the capacitors (if they have an 1.25ghz eMac with a capacitor problem)...the repair parts needed I believe cost less than $30 dollars.

Lastly...if a 1.42ghz eMac can be purchased for just $15 dollars more than a 1.25ghz eMac...then I would go for the 1,42ghz eMac. Because the 1.42ghz eMac:

- is the fastest eMac ever made
- has better graphics hardware
- has a faster "combo drive" (8x vs. 12x)
- possibly a larger hard drive
- and no issues (AFAIK) with capacitors

Hope this helps,

- Nick
 
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If the price is right...I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a 1.25ghz eMac...assuming that it was working fine when purchased. But the first thing I would do when I got my hands on it would be to open it up to see what the condition the capacitors were in. If they are fine, swollen, or leaking.

I got lucky...and purchased a "low-mileage" 1.25ghz eMac from a local person off Craig's List about 2 months ago for $50 dollars (no shipping).

Many of the eMacs on e-Bay are from academic settings (since eMacs originally were designed as an education market computer...that's what the "e" in eMac stands for (education))....where the seller buys the eMac by the pallet load...then resells them on e-Bay. So many of these eMacs have lots & lots of usage hours on them...which can be hard on the CRT display.

On the positive side...if these e-Bay 1.25ghz eMacs have lots of hours on them (and they're still working)...then maybe these 1.25ghz eMacs don't or won't have a problem with the capacitors...if they've survived this long without a capacitor problem.

Also...if someone has the skill to replace the capacitors (if they have an 1.25ghz eMac with a capacitor problem)...the repair parts needed I believe cost less than $30 dollars.

Lastly...if a 1.42ghz eMac can be purchased for just $15 dollars more than a 1.25ghz eMac...then I would go for the 1,42ghz eMac. Because the 1.42ghz eMac:

- is the fastest eMac ever made
- has better graphics hardware
- has a faster "combo drive" (8x vs. 12x)
- possibly a larger hard drive
- and no issues (AFAIK) with capacitors

Hope this helps,

- Nick
I would imagine that replacement of the capacitors would not be that hard (I am skilled in soldering and such) my fear is that bulging caps tend to like going boom, if you know what I mean.

Here is the $99 1.42 emac: APPLE eMAC POWERPC G4 1.42GHZ/512MB/80GB HD/DVDROM/CDRW - eBay (item 160514275750 end time Dec-07-10 11:13:33 PST)

Here is the $85 (With shipping) 1.25: APPLE eMac A1002 G4 1.25Ghz/256MB/40GB/CD 17" d - eBay (item 270672571347 end time Dec-07-10 07:24:02 PST)
 

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I would imagine that replacement of the capacitors would not be that hard (I am skilled in soldering and such) my fear is that bulging caps tend to like going boom, if you know what I mean.

The price is pretty attractive on the 1.25ghz eMac ($75 shipped vs. $125 shipped for the 1.42ghz if you did the "Buy It Now")...but I think that I would go for the 1.42ghz model not only for the positives that I mentioned before...but because the e-Bay seller seems to have put more effort into they're auction (more pictures).

Also...the 1.42ghz emac has twice the hard drive (40 gig vs. 80 gig)...and twice the ram (256meg vs. 512meg)...neither of these is major...since you may want to upgrade them even further. And...the seller of the 1.25ghz eMac mentions that no OS is on the hard drive...so you will been an OS install disk if you don't have one...the 1.42ghz model appears to have an OS (10.4) on the HD.

It also seems that the 1.25ghz e-Bay seller is more of a "high-volume" sort of person...has over 28,000 feedback & calls themselves "hightech-assets". The seller of the 1.42ghz eMac although they have over 2000 feedback...does not look like they are quite as high volume.

Finally...both sellers offer a 30 day warranty. The 1.42ghz warranty is a 30 day DOA warranty vs. a 30 day warranty for the 1.25ghz eMac. The seller of the 1.42ghz eMac also mentions that it's an "off-lease" computer...so it probably has lots of hours on it...it's not just some individuals computer that's been sitting in the closet for the last couple years. I would assume that the 1.25ghz eMac is well used as well.

Hope this helps,

- Nick
 
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The price is pretty attractive on the 1.25ghz eMac ($75 shipped vs. $125 shipped for the 1.42ghz if you did the "Buy It Now")...but I think that I would go for the 1.42ghz model not only for the positives that I mentioned before...but because the e-Bay seller seems to have put more effort into they're auction (more pictures).

Also...the 1.42ghz emac has twice the hard drive (40 gig vs. 80 gig)...and twice the ram (256meg vs. 512meg)...neither of these is major...since you may want to upgrade them even further. And...the seller of the 1.25ghz eMac mentions that no OS is on the hard drive...so you will been an OS install disk if you don't have one...the 1.42ghz model appears to have an OS (10.4) on the HD.

It also seems that the 1.25ghz e-Bay seller is more of a "high-volume" sort of person...has over 28,000 feedback & calls themselves "hightech-assets". The seller of the 1.42ghz eMac although they have over 2000 feedback...does not look like they are quite as high volume.

Finally...both sellers offer a 30 day warranty. The 1.42ghz warranty is a 30 day DOA warranty vs. a 30 day warranty for the 1.25ghz eMac. The seller of the 1.42ghz eMac also mentions that it's an "off-lease" computer...so it probably has lots of hours on it...it's not just some individuals computer that's been sitting in the closet for the last couple years. I would assume that the 1.25ghz eMac is well used as well.

Hope this helps,

- Nick
Well, the 1.42 has free shipping, and it works out to $85 to be shipped here on the 1.25, I think I will go for the 1.42 at $100.
Additionally I have a copy of 10.4 server.
 
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Good decision. The 1.42 model, whilst being a little faster, did not have the capacitor problems like the 1.25. That warranty is the bees knees. To improve things consider dropping in a Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drive.
 

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To Echo Nick's comments, I would grab that 1.42Ghz EMac. I have a 1.25Ghz Mini and 1.5Ghz Mini and the later is much nicer and then you also get better Video hardware as Nick pointed out.

If you can solder PC boards, replacing Caps would be no issue at all, but since you can get a 1.42, go for it! Nice little machine.
 
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Really? When I open the e-Bay link for the 1.42...it says $25.00 shipping.

- Nick
It also says above that: "Free shipping if you Buy it Now!" and above the warranty info.
 

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It also says above that: "Free shipping if you Buy it Now!" and above the warranty info.

Ok...I see it now (below the title). It's in a smaller "gray" font and I didn't see it when I looked at the auction before. All the better...$100 + free shipping...sounds good!:)

- Nick
 

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After reading that carefully, my guess is the power supply is dying. Pulling the AC cord and letting it sit then plugging it back in probably is letting a capacitor discharge and allowing it to power on again.

Remember, the above is just a guess.
 
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After reading that carefully, my guess is the power supply is dying. Pulling the AC cord and letting it sit then plugging it back in probably is letting a capacitor discharge and allowing it to power on again.

Remember, the above is just a guess.

Thought so, that seems common on the dual G4s...I guess I'm off to get an eMac :)
 

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And if it is the power supply on that G4...the power supplies on the Mirror Drive Door Powermac G4's are quite expensive...even used.

- Nick
 
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And as you may note, that 1.42GHz model links to a ended auction :)
 

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Very cool. When you receive the Emac let us know how it works and how you like it!

PS, I just looked at that auction and did a Double take! Arcadia, Ca. I used to live 8 miles from there for many years!
 

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And as you may note, that 1.42GHz model links to a ended auction :)

Uh-oh...looks like you pulled the trigger!:)

In case you weren't aware of it...here's a specially designed stand for eMac's:

076-0931.gif

attachment.php


I have one of these on one of my eMac's...and it really makes it easy to tilt & swivel the eMac...plus it raises/elevates the eMac a bit bringing it closer to eye level. You should be able to find one on e-Bay for $15-$20 bucks.

- Nick
 
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Uh-oh...looks like you pulled the trigger!:)

In case you weren't aware of it...here's a specially designed stand for eMac's:

076-0931.gif

attachment.php


I have one of these on one of my eMac's...and it really makes it easy to tilt & swivel the eMac...plus it raises/elevates the eMac a bit bringing it closer to eye level. You should be able to find one on e-Bay for $15-$20 bucks.

- Nick
Actually I intend to do something a little more radical, you see, this machine will be going on the (strong) bed stand next to my desk(of which has my Asus G50Vt-X1 on it), I intend to maybe make a simple holder for the eMac that will angle it up 45* to make it glanceable.
5 feet from the bedstand is the TV (With S-Video in), I already have the wireless KB and mouse :)
Front row anyone?
 

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Actually I intend to do something a little more radical, you see, this machine will be going on the (strong) bed stand next to my desk(of which has my Asus G50Vt-X1 on it), I intend to maybe make a simple holder for the eMac that will angle it up 45* to make it glanceable.

Interesting idea. If you change your mind & decide to make the eMac into a "regular" desktop computer...the eMac stand is pretty neat.:)

- Nick
 
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And as you may note, that 1.42GHz model links to a ended auction :)

Congratulations fellow eMac owner! Are you going to run Tiger or Leopard on it?
 

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