iMAC G3 500mhz 640megs 20gig firewire OS X -- what it good for ?

i'm looking to purchase this computer:

iMAC G3 500mhz 640megs 20gig firewire OS X

what is this computer capable of doing and not doing ?

i cannot use a ps2 keyboard and mouse through KVM can i ?

I dont play games. I'm very fond of easy to get apps -- freeware, shareware, etc.

what are the pros and cons to this computer ? right now i have a 2.4 ghz XP processor with 1 gig ram etc but its not fun or exciting and i think a change would be good.

would the imac i am looking at have relatively OK speed ?

thank you appreciate any input

radishpox said:

i'm looking to purchase this computer:

iMAC G3 500mhz 640megs 20gig firewire OS X

what is this computer capable of doing and not doing ?

i cannot use a ps2 keyboard and mouse through KVM can i ?

I dont play games. I'm very fond of easy to get apps -- freeware, shareware, etc.

what are the pros and cons to this computer ? right now i have a 2.4 ghz XP processor with 1 gig ram etc but its not fun or exciting and i think a change would be good.

would the imac i am looking at have relatively OK speed ?

thank you appreciate any input

Click to expand...

The speed will probably seem slow to you.....the G3 500 is a pretty old processor. It will still run a lot of software (you can search for free/shareware), but newer stuff will need a G4 (iLife and most any photo/video editing software). It'll make a pretty good server, web surfer, and office machine (documents/spreadsheets/databases), but it'll have a hard time doing some of the more "artistic" functions of a Mac.

It really depends on what you will do with it. I have the same iMac, same amount of ram. It runs good, great for music, using iPhoto, surfing the web with cable internet. It runs alright for some light graphic work using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. I would not do any video editing with it, to slow for my liking. But it does have Firewire for plugging in a digital video camera. It plays some older games like Warcraft and Starcraft very well. Its a good computer for regular home use. But again it helps to know what you like to do on your computer.

Well since you are not planning on playing games, I see no reason why you shouldn't get the iMac. A 500Mhz G3 is still capable of running current Mac software. True, it will run slower than a newer model, and multitasking apps will be sluggish, it will definitely be a fun machine to have. You won't be able to use your PS2 keyboard, but any USB keyboard and mouse will work just fine. If you do use a USB Windows based keyboard, the only thing you need to know is that the Windows logo keys become your 'Apple' (command) keys, other than that it functions the same. If you use a USB Windows mouse the right click becomes the same as "command-click" witha one button Mac mouse.
I think the G3 would be a fine second computer and a good way to wet your feet with the Macintosh. You will probably find yourself wondering why you ever used a PC.
Good luck with the new Mac!

I completely agree with the previous posts. The main thing I find that I love is the intuative way around all the apps and the dock instead of the task bar and sys tray. But the main thing i love is that OS X is Unix BSD (Nextstep) and that rules! For most routine apps and internet that G3 should be good enough, but I bet the more you use it the more you wanna get a newer Mac -- maybe a look at refurbs! there is a thread about those