Apple iMac G4 15" Flat Panel 700MHz w/Combo Drive

[squeegee]

Jeezus, will you platform warriors get over yourselves?

@Johnny L.A.

The iMac G4 is faster than my ‘work computer’, and my sister would only be using it to surf the web and sending emails (assuming she’d actually use it).

Careful there, there’s web surfing and web surfing. Watching streaming video, flash applets, etc can strain a steam-powered machine a bit. My 9-year-old son, fer chrissakes, visits sites like Webkins and other stuff that are little 3D-apps that use the GPU like crazy, and his machine (a PC with an older nVidia in it) can barely keep up. Appraise what sis might be interested in doing on the web, if that’s possible.

[beowulff]

@SmartAleq

Well, that’s all right then–I hear people all the time who insist they don’t need anti-virus software because “I have a Mac!” shudder

And all I’m saying is that if the husband were to suddenly decide to write any sort of an attack bug targeted specifically at Mac OS it would take him no more time or effort to do it than to whomp one up that targets Windows. We’re all lucky he doesn’t do that sort of thing, because being the sort of perfectionist picky bastard he is he’d write a horrible doomsday bug that was targeted to hit Windows, Mac AND Linux–he’s methodical like that.

There’s nothing magically fabulous about Mac OS that keeps it from getting infected, end of story. There’s nothing magically fabulous about viruses, either, they all get in pretty much the same way–because people are stupid, they will click on anything that says “click here!” and they go to dirty places without their condoms on and they ask vampires in for a cuppa tea. If anything, the only intrinsic protection the Mac OS gives is in being a tad more “idiot proof” than Windows.

Except that’s completely untrue.
Trojans are easy - social engineering exploits.
Viruses and worms which target flaws in the OS itself are much harder, and to date there have been only single digits of these which attack OS X vs. many tens of thousands which attack Windows. To say that the two platforms are equally vulnerable is disingenuous.

[Johnny_L.A]

@squeegee

Careful there, there’s web surfing and web surfing.

I don’t actually know how she’d use it, but I don’t imagine she’d be watching a lot of streaming video. I suspect it will be enough of a chore for her to check her email every day. This is why I don’t want to spend a lot of money on her. (Anyway, we’ve agreed to not give each other presents. But if she uses the email, then it’s a present for me! )

So what I’m getting from this thread is that the 700 MHz iMac will probably have fewer problems than a 1 GHz eMac (and be cheaper to send to her).

[Unintentionally_Blank]

@squeegee

Jeezus, will you platform warriors get over yourselves?

Careful there, there’s web surfing and web surfing. Watching streaming video, flash applets, etc can strain a steam-powered machine a bit. My 9-year-old son, fer chrissakes, visits sites like Webkins and other stuff that are little 3D-apps that use the GPU like crazy, and his machine (a PC with an older nVidia in it) can barely keep up. Appraise what sis might be interested in doing on the web, if that’s possible.

This.

I have the Mac linked in the OP with the exception that it’s got 1 Gb of RAM. It’s in most every way adequate for my kids…until they go to discovery kids or Nick Jr, or some such site. Flash KILLS it. It can do video and music and DVDs just great, but the normal kid’s site has a Flash menu, a Flash Ad and a Flash game/video/whatever and just brings it to it’s knees.

I’ve got an Aspire One (the SSD Linux version) and the newer processor (Atom) has enough starch to do flash just fine. (plus it’s a lightweight, cheap, computer with WiFi)