Few mac questions.

[realredpanda]

So, I've never owned a mac before, know little to nothing about them, but I've been thinking about picking up an old g4 for audio/misc stuff, as they are fairly cheap it seems.

I was wondering however, about compatibility, can you use existing pc hardware for macs? Such as the Keyboard/Mouse and Monitor? How easy/difficult is it to upgrade from within, memory, hard drive, sound card installation and the like.

Lastly, would getting a 733mhz over a 500mhz be worth the fifty dollar difference?

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: realredpanda
So, I've never owned a mac before, know little to nothing about them, but I've been thinking about picking up an old g4 for audio/misc stuff, as they are fairly cheap it seems.

I was wondering however, about compatibility, can you use existing pc hardware for macs? Such as the Keyboard/Mouse and Monitor? How easy/difficult is it to upgrade from within, memory, hard drive, sound card installation and the like.

Lastly, would getting a 733mhz over a 500mhz be worth the fifty dollar difference?

Compatibility wise, most any USB keyboard or mouse should work no problem. Same goes for printers.

On an older g4, you might have problems with the monitor due to Apple's old ADC connector that they used. You can get adapters for them, but they are pricey. So you will want to make sure that the mac that you get have DVI or VGA.

Older macs, particularly the G4s did tend to be a little picky about RAM, specificaly the timings, so you might want to watch out for that. Hard drives are hard drives. Sound cards might be an issue.

A lot depends on what kind of G4 you get. If it is a G4 Mini... then forget upgrading. The same more or less applies to the older desklamp iMacs. Those could be a chore to get into. If it is a PowerMac, then you are doing better and should be ok.

$50 for an almost 50% increase in MHz? I would go for it, plus at 733MHz, you will have a better time with Tiger. You will not be able to run Leopard with either of those processors however.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

I wouldn't waste the money on one to be honest.

 

[DW in UT]

Lastly, would getting a 733mhz over a 500mhz be worth the fifty dollar difference?

You won't notice the difference on most functions - web pages will load in 2 seconds instead of 3 seconds, but that isn't much to get excited about.

But you may wish to use certain software that runs much better with the extra speed. For instance, you might be able to use Garage Band in a limited way on a 733 where it might not run at all on a 500. So check the applications you hope to use first to see what they need.

 

[xanis]

You can use existing peripherals such as keyboards and mice with Macs. The only compatibility issue I've run into so far has been with my parents' Canon Multipass AIO because there is no driver support for OSX. I own a Canon Pixma AIO and there is driver support, so it's probably just for that specific Multipass model maybe. As to if you should pay extra and get the faster processor: I say yes. There probably won't be a huge performance difference, but it'll be enough to make things a little smoother. As for upgrading, it's about as straightforward as on a PC IMO, the trick is just getting compatible parts.

 

[realredpanda]

Thanks for all the information, as I was under the impression that the g4 500mhz could run OSX, Garageband, and the like from reading the forums at Harmony Central, where as if it can't in fact, it certainly becomes a less desirable purchase.

 

[TheStu]

I had an older G3 Lombard PowerBook that barely worked (hardware wise) but it would boot OS X. So a 500MHz+ G4 will run OS X. It just won't run Leopard which is the newest version. You will be looking at 10.3 Panther or 10.4 Tiger. It all depends on whether it has firewire or not, and how much memory it has.

 

[alfa147x]

how about a g4 mac mini ?

 

[clarkey01]

Originally posted by: realredpanda
Thanks for all the information, as I was under the impression that the g4 500mhz could run OSX, Garageband, and the like from reading the forums at Harmony Central, where as if it can't in fact, it certainly becomes a less desirable purchase.

Run OSX in vmware....

There's a guide I followed a few months back, I not had a mac since the G5's and I probably wont get one again, but this helps me stay in the loop and I'm able to support the "artist" type guys at work.

 

[DW in UT]

Originally posted by: realredpanda
... I was under the impression that the g4 500mhz could run OSX, Garageband, and the like from reading the forums at Harmony Central...

Unfortunately, your dealing with a moving target here. Yes, a 500 mhz Mac can run OSX, but not the newest 10.5.x (10.2.8 was good at that clock speed, and higher versions will probably as well.)

And GarageBand requirements have been creeping upward since it was first released a few years ago. I think GarageBand 1 would work on 500, but much better on 700+. Now processor speeds have tripled, so the latest version packaged with iLife '08 is iffy under 800 mhz. (May get 2 to 4 tracks, but not much more, and not all instruments.)

But if you can find specific reports of other users who can run it on a Mac comparable to the one you have in all 4 major specs: processor speed, memory amount, operating system version #, GarageBand version #, then it may well work for you too.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: realredpanda
Thanks for all the information, as I was under the impression that the g4 500mhz could run OSX, Garageband, and the like from reading the forums at Harmony Central, where as if it can't in fact, it certainly becomes a less desirable purchase.

These are programs that CAN run, if you want to use all the A/V tools mac has to offer then you want the best system you can afford, just as if you were doing it on Windows.

Running this stuff on something that is now considered sub-par will leave you feeling like macs in general are sub-par. So in general, if you're really looking to get your feet wet with the world of apple, then I suggest holding off for a little longer and finding a way to buy a better system.

As you'll see mentioned here often, a mac mini is a great way to get started.

You have to keep in mind that just because it is a different operating system than Windows, doesn't mean that greatly reduced specs will perform at a satisfactory level. A 733MHz processor in the PC world is almost considered garbage nowadays unless you're running a specifically slimmed down OS/System


So in response to the question asked in the OP, is 733Mhz over 500Mhz worth it for $50, then the answer is by and far Yes, it's worth it... but on a scale of 1-10, you're talking the difference between maybe a 2 and a 3 and it's mostly worth it because you're one step further away from a useless system.

Running any outdated system, regardless of architecture, OS, etc. is often a labor of love. Just because it CAN work, doesn't mean it's the most appropriate tool to fit your expectations for the job.

 

[manly]

As others have suggested, I'd recommend any Intel-based Mac for Garage Band, even a lowly Core Solo mini would be okay.

If you must get a used G4, at least get something that uses DDR RAM (instead of PC100/PC133 SDRAM). That ensures you'll be able to buy cheap memory and use PATA drives > 120GB, not to mention have a decent CPU and run Leopard if you wanted to.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: realredpanda
So, I've never owned a mac before, know little to nothing about them, but I've been thinking about picking up an old g4 for audio/misc stuff, as they are fairly cheap it seems.

I was wondering however, about compatibility, can you use existing pc hardware for macs? Such as the Keyboard/Mouse and Monitor? How easy/difficult is it to upgrade from within, memory, hard drive, sound card installation and the like.

Lastly, would getting a 733mhz over a 500mhz be worth the fifty dollar difference?

Out of curiousity, how much are they asking? EFI-X gives you a very good Leopard-on-PC solution and you could build a basic fully-compatible model with a $70 dual-core CPU on a small budget pretty easily.

 

[realredpanda]

Out of curiousity, how much are they asking? EFI-X gives you a very good Leopard-on-PC solution and you could build a basic fully-compatible model with a $70 dual-core CPU on a small budget pretty easily.

79 dollars.

http://www.macofalltrades.com/...D_Drive_p/g4500sa1.htm