Wanting to try out OSX

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natermeister

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
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I want to try out OSX, but I don't want to shell out a lot of money. What should I look for in a used Mac? I want to spend about $500-$750 on it, without a monitor. I'm only going to be using it for e-mail and web surfing, but I can't make myself spend less and get that ugly ass translucent blue G3, so I'm looking for a G4. I don't know anything about Macs, a little help would be appriciated. The only real requirement I have is that it runs Tiger smoothly.
 
natermeister said:
I want to try out OSX, but I don't want to shell out a lot of money. What should I look for in a used Mac? I want to spend about $500-$750 on it, without a monitor. I'm only going to be using it for e-mail and web surfing, but I can't make myself spend less and get that ugly ass translucent blue G3, so I'm looking for a G4. I don't know anything about Macs, a little help would be appriciated. The only real requirement I have is that it runs Tiger smoothly.
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Mac Mini. $499, comes with Tiger, 1 year warranty. Nuff said.
 
QFT.

Either that or install the x86 version of OSX on a PC if you have one that can handle it:p
 
Is the Mac mini upgradable at all? I just remember that goddamned iMAC and it makes me shudder...
 
natermeister said:
Is the Mac mini upgradable at all? I just remember that goddamned iMAC and it makes me shudder...
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somewhat, you can upgrade the RAM, hard drive, and optical drive.

plus there are a myriad of external upgrades.

But the Mini is really the best bang for the buck in your price range. For the same money the only other option is a used G4 tower off of Ebay, and it won't be as fast the the Mini.
 
natermeister said:
Is the Mac mini upgradable at all? I just remember that goddamned iMAC and it makes me shudder...
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If you want to enter the realm of the Mac, you must put away your old PC-esque notions of "upgradeability". Think about it, how fast of a computer do you really need if you're only gonna use it for the web and email?
As for internal upgrades, you can always put in more memory (to a limit).
You'll probably be able to upgrade the harddrive and disc drive as well, although it may come with some difficulty, like some of the apps not recognizing the disc drive properly anymore (there are workarounds though).
You *may* be able to upgrade the graphics card, if it's a tower computer and you are able to find one that'll work.
Then there's all kinds of external gadgets like harddrives, discdrives, sound cards, etc.

Other than the above... it's buy, use, trash, buy new.
 
illgiveumorality said:
I say get a dual 1ghz G4 or something off of ebay, it won't let you down.
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Overkill for web and mail use. Besides, those are going to be more expensive than what his price range is especially if you start upgrading the RAM and replace the video card, you're going to pay alot more than the base line Mini and you'll only have 2 processors and maybe a faster video card over the used G4 you got.

A quick eBay search and all the MDD dual 1Ghz boxes are Buy Nows at $950 with regular auctions running around $700+.
 
The_Mage18 said:
A quick eBay search and all the MDD dual 1Ghz boxes are Buy Nows at $950 with regular auctions running around $700+.
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Oh, I thought I saw some going for the same price as the mini. On that note, I love my mini.
 
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