Help us select a Mac system !!!

[Despair]

Well, My wife needs a Mac for some of the graphic design works she does. She uses one at work, but also needs one for home, so now its time fo us to look for one. But the truth is, the budget is limited. We are looking at something under a $1000. It not need to be da best thing since sliced bread, but decent running system.

We were looking on Ebay, just to see the selection there, and few choices got the attention:

Here is one that seems quite decent:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=4130403881

We would definately appreciate all the advice and suggestions we can get so go ahead and help us

[Nomi]

I have a 15" iMac like above, DVD-R and all that. I have had some problems, though.

On my old Bondi iMac and this one, the sounds has died out. I can't have external speakers or headphones anymore, but it may have been covered under the warranty. I never got to a dealer in time to find out before my Applecare expired.

Speaking of which, I would recommend getting Applecare. I don't know how that works if you're going off eBay though.


Under $1,000 should get you a nice 15" iMac, for sure. They're not bad, and I'm pleased with mine despite a few little quirks. If she totally needs a Mac, they're not bad for the price.

[Calliander]

iMacs are nice. The one in the auction, Despair, is the top of the line machine from the original run. Chances are it's not under warranty anymore and if that's the case, you can't get AppleCare for it. That lowers the purchase value immensely. If my company were to buy that machine from a customer, we would pay them 500 dollars and then probably sell it for 800.

Get me the serial numbers of any of the machines, though, and I'll check out the repair history of each machine for you.

[K3V]

I got a 266MHz G3 PowerMac off of the Low End Mac mailing list for $39. It's pretty upgradeable/overclockable and will run OS 10.3 (Panther) so if you're looking for something dirt cheap, that might be the way to go.

[Lhadatt]

$39?

You must reveal this "Low End Mac mailing list".

[Calliander]

Hehe. My company would buy that machine from a customer for 25 bucks. If it came with the box and keyboard/mouse.

I need to see how you overclock a PMG3 Beige, though. Should be interesting.

[Nomi]

I still have a dead iMac G3, 400 range mhz CD-RW... Someone Tain knows gave it to me to attempt to fix, but I only got so far as replacing the PRAM battery and can't get a damn OS on there. I bet I could get forty for it, hah.


Seriously though, the top-line original 15" iMacs are nice. If your lady's just going to be doing graphic work and such, it'll handle is wonderfully. Slap in a bit of RAM and she'd be set.

[Despair]

Thanks for the replies guys

Yep, We are looking into IMacs now, since they come with monitors, and we wont have to buy another display, unlike if we just got regular PowerPC. 15 inch is ok, but 17 inch would have been perfect.

Here is serial for the machine in that link: QT20714KMDL

We also looking into couple more even better options, but those might get much higher, if people continue bidding on them

[K3V]

Hehe. My company would buy that machine from a customer for 25 bucks. If it came with the box and keyboard/mouse.

I need to see how you overclock a PMG3 Beige, though. Should be interesting.

I've already got it running at 315 up from 266. I'm going to try bumping it up to 350 next and see how stable it is. It's rock solid at 315.

It's the old-school "reposition the jumpers on the motherboard" kind of overclocking but hey, it works.

There's also a 1GHz G4 CPU upgrade you can get if you want to shell out the big bucks. It's not very cost-effective, but it's possible

Here's where to sign up for the mailing list: http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/swap.html

Yep, We are looking into IMacs now, since they come with monitors, and we wont have to buy another display, unlike if we just got regular PowerPC. 15 inch is ok, but 17 inch would have been perfect.

You can run a Mac on a VGA monitor with a cheap adapter. I picked one up off of eBay for $4 shipped. This is the exact same thing that I got (same seller too) and it works great. Get yourself a USB KVM switch and you can use one keyboard and mouse on both the Mac and PC.

Of course, if you want them to both be available at the same time (i.e. you on one machine and your wife on the other) then this won't work for you. But it's another option at least.

[Calliander]

Here is serial for the machine in that link: QT20714KMDL

Machine: iMac (Flat Panel)
Config: iMac Flat Panel 800Mhz SuperDrive CTO
Coverage Status: Out Of Warranty (No Coverage)
Estimated Purchase Date: 2/17/02
Purchased In: United States

That lowers the value of the machine. It's OOW, totally, so you cannot buy AppleCare for it. This means that any future issues with the machine will have to paid out of pocket. Just to give you an idea, here are some customer costs (my company, may be less or more at other places) for parts if some common components go:

Board, Logic, 800 MHz (v.1 & v.2) - $399.00 + tax (w/o "abuse", $629.00 + tax if board was "abused")
Drive, Superdrive, 4x - $379.00 + tax / $529.00 + tax
Neck Extension Assembly - $280.00 + tax / $290.00 + tax

And here's the killer, since most LCD repairs are "abuse" by Apple standards:

LCD Display, 15"" XGA - $258.00 + tax (w/o "abuse")
LCD Display, 15"" XGA - $560.00 + tax (w/ "abuse")

So keep in mind, for that particular machine, that many common component failures are fairly expensive OOW. Also remember that I didn't even include labor. For my company, it's $95.00 per hour of labor. Logic board and Superdrive are only 1 hour, but the LCD is betwen 1.5 and 2. The neck assembly, though, is a good 2.5 to 3. Thankfully, the price difference is negligable if you break your iMac's neck.