Worthwhile purchase?

R

Ross

Guest
I've been a lifelong windows user and I'm going to be buying a new laptop in about six months. I'm weighing my options and I'm thinking about making the jump to a macbook. I'm afraid to spend that kind of money having never used a mac before, so I want to buy some sort of trial machine. I found an iMac for sale and I know it's old, but I was wondering if it would give me a decent feel for what I would be getting into. The specs are:

iMac OS X computer with keyboard and mouse:
Slot-loading CD ROM
Headphone jack in front, stereo speakers.
OS X version 10.1
PowerPC G3 processor
64 MB memory, and an extra 64 MB to be plugged in
6.37 GB HD
Price - $75

I'd try to get the price down, but would it even be worth it? I'm mainly concerned with learning my way around the OS and playing with the terminal.

Thanks
 
BiT

BiT


Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
New Jersey
Your Mac's Specs
20" Intel core duo iMac. 15.4" MBP, 100GB, 256MB vRAM, 1GB RAM, 2.16GHz
try to get the price down? i think thats a pretty good price, thats a bargain. that looks like a good idea.
 
OP
R

Ross

Guest
biggyme13 said:
try to get the price down? i think thats a pretty good price, thats a bargain. that looks like a good idea.
Click to expand...

Shows how much I know about Macs...

So how different is OS X 10.1 from the current version?
 
coach_z

coach_z


Joined
Jul 23, 2004
Messages
3,169
Reaction score
164
Points
63
Location
North NJ
Your Mac's Specs
i dont have no mac's
what is the speed of the processor?
75 bucks is a **** good price
-chris
 
OP
R

Ross

Guest
Heh, ok, the person selling the computer doesn't know how to check the processor speed...and neither do I...so what should I tell them?

Thanks, I really don't know what I'm doing here :)
 
BiT

BiT


Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
New Jersey
Your Mac's Specs
20" Intel core duo iMac. 15.4" MBP, 100GB, 256MB vRAM, 1GB RAM, 2.16GHz
try System profiler. Did older macs have that?
 
OP
R

Ross

Guest
I was looking at the system requirements for OS X 10.4 and it says that it requires 256mb of RAM. This thing only had 128. It also appears that 10.1 has little to none of the features in 10.4. For any of you who have been using OS X since 10.1, will I actually be preparing myself for 10.4 if I learn on a 10.1 machine?
 
xstep

xstep


Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
3,231
Reaction score
112
Points
63
Location
On the road
Your Mac's Specs
2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid
Ross, I think you'll find that machine to slow to appreciate OS X. I'd look for at least a G4 processor too because some of the applications take advantage of the extra capbilities. ****, you might even find an inexpensive G4 Mac mini for a decent price.

As with most systems these days, 512MB is really the minimum for decent performance.
 
dimagex20

dimagex20


Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
202
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Your Mac's Specs
iMac Intel Core Duo 17" A Little Piece Of Heaven
I would have to agree, this is a slow computer at a great price, but i really don't think you need to buy a mac to get the feel for it. Find a friend that has one with at least 10.3 or better. Use it for a few hours. Personally, I really wouldn't worry about having to get used to it. Macs' have SUCH a shallow learning curve, it takes only a matter of hours to get the hang of it. Than maybe a few more hours to start to turn pro. It is just that simple.
 
Thad

Thad


Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
87
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Fayetteville NC
Your Mac's Specs
13' MacBook 2.2Ghz 1Gb Ram 120Gb ,iMac G3 CRT 600 Mhz 512 Ram 60Gb Broken iBook G4, stolen Nano
"Macs' have SUCH a shallow learning curve, it takes only a matter of hours to get the hang of it. Than maybe a few more hours to start to turn pro. It is just that simple."

ditto on that
 
OP
A

Americain

Guest
Ross said:
I've been a lifelong windows user and I'm going to be buying a new laptop in about six months. I'm weighing my options and I'm thinking about making the jump to a macbook. I'm afraid to spend that kind of money having never used a mac before, so I want to buy some sort of trial machine. I found an iMac for sale and I know it's old, but I was wondering if it would give me a decent feel for what I would be getting into. The specs are:

iMac OS X computer with keyboard and mouse:
Slot-loading CD ROM
Headphone jack in front, stereo speakers.
OS X version 10.1
PowerPC G3 processor
64 MB memory, and an extra 64 MB to be plugged in
6.37 GB HD
Price - $75

I'd try to get the price down, but would it even be worth it? I'm mainly concerned with learning my way around the OS and playing with the terminal.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You did exactly what I did. I bought an old G3 iMac with OS X 10.1, a 333 mhz processor, 64 megs of ram. I've upped it to 160 megs of ram with another hundred or so on the way. I wanted to do what you're doing...get some experience with OS X without breaking the bank. I'm having fun exploring the world of Mac and I paid $69.00 for my machine. Beat ya. :bone:
 
OP
R

Ross

Guest
Thanks for all the input. I'm not going to spend time/money on 10.1 if it won't really prepare me for 10.4. And now, with the release of bootcamp, I really don't have any fears about switching. Now I just have to deal with all the waiting before I get my Macbook. (June at the earliest!)

Americain, how are you liking the Mac world?
 
S

slyydrr


Joined
Mar 20, 2006
Messages
96
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Location
Michigan
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 1.83GHz, 1.5GB RAM
Ross said:
Thanks for all the input. I'm not going to spend time/money on 10.1 if it won't really prepare me for 10.4. And now, with the release of bootcamp, I really don't have any fears about switching. Now I just have to deal with all the waiting before I get my Macbook. (June at the earliest!)

Americain, how are you liking the Mac world?
Click to expand...
I have a better, FREE suggestion for you.

Goto CompUSA, or an Apple Store. Both places have absolutely no problem with you just messing around on their machines, essentially doing anything you please. I went to a CompUSA in my area, and messed around on an iMac for about 30 minutes, downloaded all kinds of software to test out. That's all it took to convince me that dropping $2000 on a MacBook Pro was a great decision. I have had it for a week now, and absolutely love it. Keep in mind, I bought at a great time, as I almost immediately have the ability to dual-boot/virtualize WinXP. If you have ANY questions, or just want to talk about random features, send me a PM, or IM me on one of the many IM clients I have listed in my profile :)

Give it a try! Can't beat a free trial!
 
OP
O

onestep

Guest
or even better, go to an Apple store. Buy yourself the 'Visual Guide' to OS X Tiger. It includes full color illustrations of everything you will need to learn. OS X 10.1 is like night and day. People that have OS X 10.4 think about how bad 10.1 was. Plus you will be working on older hardware. You don't want anything leaving a bad taste in your mouth. I have an Intel iMac, and I LOOOOVE it. We also have a couple iBooks. The slowest is a G3 500 Mhz w/ 512 MB of ram.. and it runs OS X Tiger...but it leaves a lot to be desired, i can only imagine how the $75 would be. If you have a kid, get it for them... they will be wanting their own mac too... I know mine did.
 
OP
T

tortoise

Guest
onestep said:
Plus you will be working on older hardware. You don't want anything leaving a bad taste in your mouth.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd think that machine would scare you away from Macs, not make you want them. But a nice, new Mac running Tiger is a thing of beauty. You'll fall in love instantly, guaranteed :)
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top