Used "iMAC G3/333" Questions....

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CaryMG's picture
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Used "iMAC G3/333" Questions....

Hey!

I was thinking VERY heavily about buying a used "iMAC G3/333"
for $200.

SPECS
CPU > 333MHz
RAM > 96MB
HD > 6GB

What I want to know is....

1] Is $200 a good price?
2] Will any ol' USB PC optical mouse that you can get from
ANYwhere work or does it have to be an Apple specific
optical mouse?
3] Will an ADB optical mouse work on a "iMAC G3/333" ?
4] Has anyone had any experience with buying stuff online from
"Megamacs.Com"? That's where I was thinkin' o' goin'....

Later!
-CaryMG
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martakz's picture
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Re: Used "iMAC G3/333" Questions....


1] Is $200 a good price?

SO sO considering a 333 is pritty darn glacial + it'll probally die of GLOD.


2] Will any ol' USB PC optical mouse that you can get from
ANYwhere work or does it have to be an Apple specific
optical mouse?

It should work fine.

3] Will an ADB optical mouse work on a "iMAC G3/333" ?

not without an adb to usb adapter or alot of soldering and canabilising from older iMacs

CaryMG's picture
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Excellent!

Hey!

OK -- that "Ordinary USB Mouse" question was what was MOST important of what I wanted to know.

However, I am in a conflict....
When asked if I used DSL with an "iMAC G3/333" if I would I get the same rapid performance that DSL offers even though the CPU's only 333MHz, "Disco Inferno" replied >

"Only 333MHz" isn't really the right way of thinking;
a 333MHz G3 or 400MHz Pentium is a multimedia powerhouse
no matter which way you look at it.
The motherboard has way more bandwidth than is necessary
for a DSL connection(by several orders of magnitude and
whatnot).

The whatnot nothwithstanding [:)] he said that "Yes" I WOULD
get normal DSL performance.

So I don't know what "martakz" meant by saying it'll be pretty darn glacial & die of "GLOD".

And by the way, the website I was thinking of buying from is NOT
"MegaMacs.Com" but, in point of fact, "MacOfAllTrades.Com"

Later!
-CaryMG
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P.S.
What is "GLOD" anyway?

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Re: Excellent!

The whatnot nothwithstanding [:)] he said that "Yes" I WOULD
get normal DSL performance.

So I don't know what "martakz" meant by saying it'll be pretty darn glacial & die of "GLOD".

You will get normal DSL performance, but for other uses, the computer will be slow. It's also older, and iMacs as they are are increasingly prone to dying.

[quote[What is "GLOD" anyway?
[/quote]

Green Light of Death; or if you read Terry Pratchett, a small dwarf.

moosemanmoo's picture
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Nope, nope. $200 isn't a good

Nope, nope. $200 isn't a good price. At the local used macs vendor by where I live, you can pick up a 256MB/20GB/400Mhz iMac DV for $130.

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Its funny you bring this subj

Its funny you bring this subject up because i just bought a imac 333 from a girl i go to school with. I paid $100 for it which was the low end of what they are going for on e-bay. i have it hooked up to my router with cable internet and it downloads just fine. Im only running 8.6 on it and that keeps it moving pretty well, i wouldnt bother getting it if you want to run the latest greatest software though. Mine is just being used for AIM and some light web browsing. I was impressed with performance for an old machine though, however it doesnt compare to my new mac-mini.

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Thanks Guys!

Hey!

Thanks for the help, fellas!

eeun > What exactly IS a "Green Light O' Death" & why/how are "iMACS"
prone to "dying"?
And what do you mean, exactly, by "dying"?

jjh1001 > A 100 beans ?!?
Boy -- do *I* feel silly....
Why, O WHY do I never seem to be able to find all these good buys? lol

Later!
-CaryMG
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Thought I'd add to this...

...that firstly, $200 is not a good price; that's well and truly into 'Kihei' slot-loading iMac territory. Pay up to US$160 for one, any more than that will get you a somewhat more capable computer if you look around.

As for the "glacial" performance, need I remind you that if you look at reviews of even 2GHz Celeron-powered PCs, which a year or two(or three) ago would have been considered phenomenally powerful, they are typically labeled as good for "nothing more than the most basic Web and word-processing work". Now, go back a little further, and the "glacial" G3 @ 333MHz is a supercomputer. It's still as fast as it was when it was new, so it can still do everything it could back then, just as fast. Just remember that new software is generally only designed to work quickly on new computers, so even if it will run on an older iMac, it wasn't designed for it; so it would probably be a little sluggish. As a very general guide, anything made before 2003 will work fine, if you have enough RAM.

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Re: Thanks Guys!

What exactly IS a "Green Light O' Death" & why/how are "iMACS" prone to "dying"?

The iMac analogue board is a weak component, and there have been a good number of people posting here who have had them fail. In fact, before the plague of ipod questions, it was possibly the number one broken hardware question.

The GLOD refers to the iMac trying to start, and the green light coming on, but no picture. The name's a tip of the hat to Microsoft's blue screen of death, or 'BSOD.'

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So Maybe I Should ReConsider?

Hey!

So are you saying -- in the long run -- that maybe I shouldn't get an "iMAC G3/333-400" ?

Later!
-CaryMG
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