Upgrade 10.3.9 to 10.4 - definitive advice please

HI

New user here. I know some of you will shake your heads in shame at the hardware i'm running but bear with me. I need some advice on upgrading from 10.3.9 to 10.4 and the web is full of misleading articles.

OK, spec as follows,

eMac with 1.25 G4 processor, 768MB RAM, 80GB HD.

Currently running 10.3.9 and aside from some internet browser issues it still knocks the socks off windows!!

I want to upgrade to 10.4 (as it wont let me jump any further in one go). Looking on ebay its a bit confusing as to if any of the second hand discs will work. dont want to buy the wrong thing.

so questions are as follows,

1. What am i looking for on ebay in terms of sourcing the right discs?
2. Do i need to backup?
3. Anything else i need to be aware of?

Hope someone can help me get into the 21st century!!

Cheers

Tiger is a great OS for that machine. I am pretty sure the eMac 1.25Ghz will take 2GB RAM. If I were you I would at least upgrade to 1GB RAM for Tiger.

Now onto the DVD. Tiger in general except for Special Order came on a Single DVD. Do NOT get the Gray Machine Specific Tiger DVD! Many are floating around Ebay.

Get the Black Full Retail of Tiger! That will install on your machine, but not the Gray DVD's (They are totally machine specific and only work on the Model Mac they came with.

If you get the Black Full retail of Tiger, you will be good to go. It will work with your 768MB RAM but like I said, I recommend more. BTW, when you install Tiger, run the Software Update and it will update to 10.4.11.

Let me find you a Tiger DVD that will work. Will be right back with a URL.

Here is one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-OS-X-10...ultDomain_0&hash=item35b5914874#ht_516wt_1413


A bit more $$$ but here is another:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-O...ultDomain_0&hash=item45fd63e34f#ht_781wt_1413

my sincere thanks!!

Thanks for your prompt and detailed response. greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to make sure i got the right thing.

is it worth backing up prior to doing the install or just go for it?

If there is say iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band) then yes. Did the machine come with any install CD/DVD?

ilife

i think there is an ilife install disc that came with it. i'll have a look tonight after work and see. its currently not working anyway so no big loss. Will buy a cheap external hard drive and dump all my photos etc on it just in case.

Thanks for your help. will post an update once i get it purchased and working.

Sounds great to me. Good luck and keep us posted!!

Do either of the 2 urls below look appropriate?

MAC OSX V10.4 Tiger | eBay

MAC OS X 10.4.6 Only used once grab a bargain - Full DVD INCLUDES Xcode2 | eBay

Both of those appear to be the full retail version.