# How usable is a G4 Imac these days... and what is it worth?



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

In the market for a 17 or 20 inch USB2.0 Imac G4

How usable is it for general internet browsing nowadays?

I have plenty of old PCs that would do the job but I'm kinda tired of PCs... want'em gone.

Would be mostly for forum browsing, PDF reading and a quick email.

What are they worth?

I'd post in the classifieds section but I can't :yikes:


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Certainly up to the chores you described as long as you are not too fussy about video quality.

Biggest issue is sufficient RAM to run Tiger. You will need a minimum of 640 MB to run Tiger efficiently. Should be able to get there without having to swap the less accessible slot.


----------



## Rob (Sep 14, 2002)

Flash is going to be a big problem. This means YouTube and other Flash based videos are going to be horribly choppy, or may not even run at all. Adobe dropped PPC support back at Flash 9 something. 

Other than that, they're great machines. I'm typing this on one now.


----------



## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Coriolis99 said:


> Would be mostly for forum browsing, PDF reading and a quick email.


The G4 would suit your needs very well. I loved that design of the iMac - and managed to find a 17" model for my parents' use. If you can score the larger screen size, though, go for it.


----------



## Funkynassau (Apr 13, 2008)

Well this doesnt actually answer your question but I have a big old G4 desktop I've been using for years. It works fine for me, it's plenty fast enough and YouTube videos are not choppy. I know it's old technology but hey, it works for me!

Funkynassau


----------



## Chimpur (May 1, 2009)

I sold a 15" 700MHz one for about $200 6 months ago. One thing you may want to look for in these is to make sure the screen is still fully posable. Sometimes the springs in the arm get weak and lazy with age.


----------



## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Coriolis99 said:


> In the market for a 17 or 20 inch USB2.0 Imac G4
> 
> How usable is it for general internet browsing nowadays?
> 
> ...


I've had a 15" for sale in the classifieds for some time. I'm in no hurry to sell, but the offer still stands:

http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-desktops/94765-700-mhz-lampshade-imac.html


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Good to know.

Look forward to picking one up. It will make an excellent garage PC to look up service manuals, post in forums and best of all listen to tunes.

I would be looking at a 1.25 Ghz USB2.0 model. 17 or 20 inch if I can find one. I would want to run Leopard on it.


Flash is the scourge of the internet. It's broken as hell on mac os and is terrible (slightly less so) even in Windows. I plan to avoid flash content like the plague.

If the arm is weak, can it be repaired? Can the springs be replaced?

Finally are there any canadian mac dealers or used computer shops that would have some?

I was asked why not get a G5...i heard they were blowing capacitors like cheap pentium 3 boards.


----------



## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

FWIW if all else fails, I just did a bit of research and found this video:





+
YouTube Video









ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.





Leopardassist is free and this download link still works:

Download LeopardAssist for Mac - Install Leopard on some unsupported Macs. MacUpdate.com


----------



## Chimpur (May 1, 2009)

SINC said:


> FWIW if all else fails, I just did a bit of research and found this video:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes thats the software I used on the 15" iMac G4 and it worked great!!


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

I'm looking more for the 1.25Ghz / DDR model. 550mhz penalty can surely be felt.

Guess I gotta hit ebay!


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

We have the G4 MDD 1.25 dual boot (and you probably won't need the System 9 capability  ) tower we just semi-retired with dual DL CD/DVD R/W optical drives and multiple internal PATA hard drives, USB 2.0 PCI card, and max RAM running 10.5.8, and driving either a single 24" display and/or with a 15" Cinema ADC display and it still works with just about everything.

Nice Mac you might want to consider.


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

For youtube and other sites you don't need flash anymore.

If you avoid it like the plague it shouldn't be a problem.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

pm-r said:


> We have the G4 MDD 1.25 dual boot (and you probably won't need the System 9 capability  ) tower we just semi-retired with dual DL CD/DVD R/W optical drives and multiple internal PATA hard drives, USB 2.0 PCI card, and max RAM running 10.5.8, and driving either a single 24" display and/or with a 15" Cinema ADC display and it still works with just about everything.
> 
> Nice Mac you might want to consider.


Is it available for sale?


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Coriolis99 said:


> Is it available for sale?


Sorry no.

I still use it and our G3 DT too often for some Mac support and often recovery and/or conversion data stuff some old Mac users have left for far too long to use with their newer Macs.

Should be some available out there at a decent price.

BTW: A fellow insisted that he wanted my pre G4 QS 733GHz for some strange reason some tears ago now which I sold to him after I located the G4 MDD locally that the seller was asking an absurd $850.00!! 

I offered him I believe $250.00, and we were both happy. And that was a few years ago now.

PS: don't forget you need a compatible display and/or cheap monitor adapter with such a G4 MDD Mac tower.


----------



## Aceline (Feb 21, 2012)

_The iMac G4 continues to hold its own in usability for many users not needing industrial speed and power_


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Aceline said:


> _The iMac G4 continues to hold its own in usability for many users not needing industrial speed and power_


True for many users, whether that's your quote or from another source, but the comparable Mac G4's, especially the later G4 MDD *TOWERS* have MUCH more expandable capabilities than *ANY* G4 iMac could even dream of.

And many of the latest G4 MDD towers sell below the similar iMac specs as many don't seem to like their larger footprint which seems a bit bizarre to me as they usually fit nicely under any computer type desk.


----------



## csonni (Feb 8, 2001)

My in-laws are still using their 800 MHz lampshade running Tiger. They never have any complaints.


----------



## gwillikers (Jun 19, 2003)

My coworker/good friend has a 17" lampshade iMac that I've upgraded and maintained for him. It's still working well for his needs, and it puts a smile on my face every time he brings it over. I love the design. It's the '57 Chevy of Apple computers.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Well,

Bought a 17" 1gHz model. Should be here soon.

I will be installing as much ram as I can, and a big hard disk. Hopefully I can find a solid state disk that will work but I won't hold my breath.

Pretty excited! Which is strange since I'm posting this from a top of the line 27" i7 imac...


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Coriolis99 said:


> Well,
> Bought a 17" 1gHz model. Should be here soon.
> 
> I will be installing as much ram as I can, and a big hard disk. Hopefully I can find a solid state disk that will work but I won't hold my breath.
> ...



Keep dreaming with some of your excitement, but don't hold your breath for installing any SATA SSD internally at least, as those Macs can only access PATA Ultra ATA/100 type drives AFAIK, but at least it has "big drive" support for any internal PATA hard drives larger than 128 GB.

Unfortunately they are becoming hard to come by and are often expensive comparable to later SATA drives, and the same goes for RAM. Pricy is usually an understatement to purchase new.

And oh yes, don't forget the thermal paste you'll need and check the proper application methods.

But still often a useful Mac, and right up to Mac OS X 10.5.8 with max. 2GB RAM (not according to Apple) but supported and installed.


----------



## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

pm-r said:


> ...don't forget the thermal paste you'll need and check the proper application methods....


+1 - lots of Macheads who were confident in their ability to tear down and rebuild their computers with HD upgrades, etc., were burned by the iMac G4 enclosure. That thermal paste - _exactly the right amount of it_ - was essential to keeping the iMac alive...


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Now I'm all confused.

It is a 17" 1Ghz imac.

However, after decoding the serial number it says the machine used PC133 SDRAM, USB 1.0 and no airport extreme?

I thought all 1GHz+ machines were on PC2700 DDR and Airport Extreme compatible.

I guess I'll call apple to find out but does anyone have any idea?


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Pretty sure the iMac like its eMac cousin had both first generation and second generation 1Ghz models. First gen was USB 1 and the older RAM. Second gen was USB 2.


----------



## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

MacTracker

...or the ever-fabulous EveryMac !


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Found the info on apple's site. they have a good serial number decoder.

It's a 1Ghz machine with DDR1, airport extreme but NO usb2

So there were 3 generations of these machines.


----------



## Rob (Sep 14, 2002)

Congrats, you've got the same model that I'm typing on right now.

It's a great little Mac, but ya gotta keep things in perspective. This is old and slow in OSX. No amount of money is going to make this thing even close to a low end G5, much less any Intel Mac. It's also not an easy machine to take apart, since the screen and swingarm can't be removed from the top dome. This makes it very awkward to work on even after it's been taken apart. I had to replace a burnt out power supply on another one, and I wouldn't look forward to doing it again.

If it was me, I would upgrade the ram in the one easy to access slot on the bottom, and leave everything else alone.

Mine has an 80 Gig hard drive, and I'm assuming yours is at least that too. That should be plenty for secondary machine that's just running basic software.

If you want more storage space, then I'd recommend an external firewire drive. At least a firewire drive can be used on newer Macs too, and is just as fast as USB2. A firewire drive can also be used to boot your PPC iMac, whereas no PPC Mac can boot from an external USB drive (be it USB1 or 2).


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

good advice. As a mechanical engineer I'm not afraid to take stuff apart but i find the older I get the more I want to avoid hassles.

In any case, should be here soon, will post pics.

The worst part is this will be a purely auxiliary PC. Garage or kitchen don't know which yet. Will just use it to play some tunes and do some light browsing/email checking.

And also to own a piece of apple history i guess. 

Certainly not a glamorous assignment, but like I said, i can't do Windows anymore.


----------



## Chimpur (May 1, 2009)

Its not too difficult to take this machine apart. Just be careful, take your time, remove distractions and you'll be fine! iFixit has some great guides to follow along too!


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Received it today. The machine is a thing of beauty.

Unfortunately there are some blemishes on the LCD panel and some scratches on the machine.

But it is strangely pleasant to use.

Tiger is on it but feels like it's from the stone age. Will install leopard tonight. 

Tiger runs very well on it however. A smooth experience.

So it has already 1gig of ram. Bought bluetooth and wifi modules on ebay, should be here soon.

The machine is too nice to use as a garage PC but I will probably end up doing so. should be a lot more fun to use than my old POS pentium 4

the sleep led is so obnoxious but very nice to have. Wish my 2011 imac had one.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Wow.

So today we had a power failure while the machine was on.

After power was restored, tried the power button and nothing happened.

Then I reset the PMU and tried again and nothing happened.

My PC and my 2011 imac started back up just fine (same surge strip)

Is there anything else I can try? Because this is ridiculous. I just had a Power Mac G4 DA die in similar circumstances


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Which Mac model went kaput?? I assume the G4 iMac. 

Pull out the power cord, push the start button for maybe 10+ seconds, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Say a prayer or two, and have a nice glass or two of wine or scotch while you wait and try again booting it later - after plugging in the power cable of course. 

If it was a G4 tower, I would suggest doing the same thing plus removing the PRAM battery while you wait.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

I'll give it a try for both

gotta say though as a mac newbie that so far not too impressed.

My old PCs went through some serious abuse and emerged unscathed

If I could reliably run Mac OS on PC hardware I so would. But hackintoshes are a mess and I want to make my life easier, not harder.


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Well, as our house builder would sometimes say: "S*it Happens" which was a bit hard to swallow sometimes considering that we were paying all the bills, but we ended up with a very nice house in the end even if not exactly to the plans for some strange happenings.

But don't forget if you're talking about a Apple iMac G4/1.25 20-Inch "FP" (USB 2.0) iMac, let's see now:
"Introduction Date:	November 18, 2003	Discontinued Date:	July 1, 2004" and it's now 2012.

And you bought it used and no idea of its previous treatment, and how long did your old Windows boxes last and run reliably????

Enjoy you drink and I'll hope for the best and others may have some alternate suggestions.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

Well, my Pentium 75 runs 10 hours a day and is still going strong to this day 

The iMac works again!

I did another PRAM reset, hit the power button, nothing. 

Did what you suggested as well, still nothing

Out of frustration I violently hit the power button and BAM! started right up.

Could the power button contacts be corroded/ used up?

Anyway so far so good. Reinstalled a fresh copy of tiger and it's purring along (terrible pun)

All is right once again, thanks so much for the suggestions!


The Power mac is still totally dead, but I'll take 1 out of 2


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Which or what what "Power mac is still totally dead"????

I'm getting lost with your various models you're having troubles with.


----------



## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

pm-r said:


> Which or what what "Power mac is still totally dead"????
> 
> I'm getting lost with your various models you're having troubles with.


So the iMac G4 is purring along.

I have a Digital Audio Powermac G4 that is also not powering on. No light, no fans, as if not plugged in. Also happened after a two minute power outage.

Reset pram, reseated cpu, ram, video. Tried various combinations of leaving it unplugged with battery out, all to no avail.

Your help is much appreciated by the way..... have a digital beer on me!


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Coriolis99 said:


> So the iMac G4 is purring along.
> 
> I have a Digital Audio Powermac G4 that is also not powering on. No light, no fans, as if not plugged in. Also happened after a two minute power outage.
> 
> ...



Ahh, the lovely Apple model designation of a "Digital Audio Powermac G4"!!!

Which one???
Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) - Technical Specifications
Power Macintosh G4 (Digital Audio)

We used to have one of the 733-MHz PowerPC G4 models which was quite modded and using Apples's OS X version that wasn't even officially supported.

BTW: Thanks for the beer offer but I switched it to some glasses of dry red wine if you don't mind.


----------



## Rob (Sep 14, 2002)

This is probably a no hope idea, but if you've got some time to waste then here goes.

I had an old PPC 604 tower that had wouldn't start no matter what. Unplugged with the battery removed overnight, then several nights, but still wouldn't start. I then unscrewed the power supply with the intent of possibly replacing it, but then decided it wasn't worth spending money on, so I just put the power supply back in. Damn thing worked after that.

The only thing I can think of is that the mounting screws may have been part of a grounding circuit, and playing with the screws may have cleaned off some corrosion enabling proper contact. In all honesty, though, this doesn't really make sense. It was probably just a fluke occurrence that got it working again.


----------



## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Did you replace the PRAM battery? 
They are good for 3 - 5 years only, less if the machine has been left unplugged from AC.
If the battery is completely flat, there isn't enough power to sense the soft power on switch and boot the machine.
Just taking the battery out overnight will clear the PRAM if it has become corrupted, but it won't address the lack of power from the battery if it is dead.


----------



## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Coriolis99 said:


> Found the info on apple's site. they have a good serial number decoder.


With all due respect, this is simply the best s/n decoder on this globe:
Klantenservice: Serienummers
Also in English!
Courtesy of your fairly new neighbour.


----------



## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

pm-r said:


> Which Mac model went kaput?? I assume the G4 iMac.
> 
> Pull out the power cord, push the start button for maybe 10+ seconds, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
> 
> ...


I would suggest the *usual suspects*: p-ram reset ( press option/alt-Apple/command-P-R combined during restart), SMC reset (described in the post above), and try to start up in safe mode (press "shift" during startup). With older G4 Desktop Macs, the System Management Controller reset is called the CUDA reset. Please Google this yourself. 
Good luck!


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Welcome to ehmac hexdiy, and finally two *good* posts in one day!! Nice. 

Where have you been for the last few months since joining??


----------



## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

CanadaRAM said:


> Did you replace the PRAM battery?
> They are good for 3 - 5 years only, less if the machine has been left unplugged from AC.
> If the battery is completely flat, there isn't enough power to sense the soft power on switch and boot the machine.
> Just taking the battery out overnight will clear the PRAM if it has become corrupted, but it won't address the lack of power from the battery if it is dead.


Oh yeah, another good tip. What's more: if you are a bit electronically savvy and have a totally dead mac on your hands: remove the p-ram battery, and drain the circuit with a 600 Ohm resistor. This seems to be the prudent way.
Worst case scenario, if the machine is really totally dead and lost anyhow / a last resort: reverse the (fully loaded) p-ram battery for a second or two, no more. Replace the battery to normal polarity and try again. This is documented to do the trick in isolated cases.
Good luck! But no warranty! Do not, I repeat, do not hold me responsible for damage if you try this!


----------



## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

pm-r said:


> Welcome to ehmac hexdiy, and finally two *good* posts in one day!! Nice.
> 
> Where have you been for the last few months since joining??


Sorry, I am from Flanders, Belgium, and I only post here whenever I have the time (rarely) and no local fires seem to have to be put down.
That said, using older Macs ( this is a PB G4 1.67 with 1 GB RAM I am typing on, actually my main machine), makes me the laugh of the local ( Dutch speaking) forum, "Intermactivity.be".
You people seem to have a lot more respect towards users of older Macs, and seem a lot more tech savvy also.
What I really wanted to react to in this thread was the actual useability of Motorola G4 PPC machines, but I was sidetracked. So easy on the Net to get sidetracked.
Anyhow, glad to be a neighbour, and hope to be of use.


----------

