I have always been an IBM Clone person, but would like to learn something about the Mac personal computer and operating system. A full blown Mac can be awfully expensive. I have heard of IMacs and other systems. I even checked e-bay and saw some of them selling for $300 or less. The local Mac dealer says a newer IMac will run the 10.3 OS, although a bit slower. What should I buy if I want something functional that I can also use to learn about Macs and the newest Mac operating system? How much will it cost? Is there any reputable dealer online that I can buy one from?
Refurbished Macs are available from several dealers. These are usually 20% less expensive than “new” systems and are a good way to get a system at a discount. They also can be a bit out of date and will then be even less expensive.
The best source for late-model systems is probably Apple. Go to the Apple Store and scroll down the page until you see “Save – Special Deals. Great prices on limited offers.” on the left. Click on this and a page with many refurbished systems opens. I bought a refurbished 15" iMac G4 a bit over a year ago for Apple and have had no trouble at all with it.
I can also recommend Small Dog Electronics for refurbished Apple products. There are several other companies who specialize in selling older Macs. PowerMax has been around for several years and seems reliable, but I’ve never used them.
There are numerous scams on eBay, and Apple products have at least their share. I would go with a reputable dealer instead.
eMacs are relatively inexpensive and would serve you very well if you just want to experience MacOS Xwhatever.
If you buy older or used, don’t go too old. MacOS Xwhatever only runs on fairly recent models. The Apple web site lists the models somewhere.
If you are looking to give a serious effort to switching platforms, then pick the model that has the features you want. Don’t go by price, it’s only one consideration.
I have a lot of experience running Jaguar (10.2) on older 350 MHz and 400 MHz G3 iMacs (Blueberry and Red, slot loading CD-ROMs). If you load their RAM (get at least 512 MB), it runs fine, albeit a little slow. I can’t imagine the requirements for Panther are much greater. We run Panther now on all our computers, but we have since upgraded the G3 iMacs for 17" G4 iMacs.
Most G3 iMacs have <10 GB hard drives, so you will probably want to replace that as well (although we didn’t for Jaguar, things tended to get a bit tight). You can do an eBay Buy It Now for $229 on a 350 MHz G3 iMac, 400 MHz are going for under $300. Upgrading RAM and switching hard drives is no big deal on those computers. It uses the same ATAPI hard drives and DDR RAM as most PCs, so just find the cheapest stuff and throw it in. I bet you could have a perfectly capable OS X machine for under $350.
A lot depends on your patience with mild to moderatly sluggish responsiveness. You can actually run MacOS X (even the latest build) on machines as old as the 7300. Most anything new enough to have PCI rather than NuBus will work if you put enough RAM and a big enough hard disk in them. But it can end up feeling like running XP on a Pentium 233, and you’ll spend more time futzing with things that are on the (umm, what’s the antithesis of bleeding edge?) tail-dragging edge of compatibility, which isn’t the nicest way to get to know the OS.
For a performance difference: get something with a G4 chip in it, rather than a G3. OS X makes use of the functions that the G4 has and the G3 lacks, so you see a decently impressive speed difference (especially in responsiveness). But it’s possible that you can score a G4 upgrade card for a G3 box cheaper than a newer box that had a G4 in it to begin with. On the other hand, the first-generation G4 towers ought to be pretty cheap on eBay. A 500 MHz G4 Mac is entirely sufficient for the job unless you’re intending on jumping into Final Cut Pro in a big way.
Feed it RAM. OS X will run nicer on a slow processor sporting lots of RAM than on a lightning-fast but memory-starved box.
For a baseline reference, I’m running MacOS X 10.3 on a year 2000 450 MHz G3 iMac with no complaints. Having more than 256 MB of RAM helps, though.
If you want to buy a used Mac to play with, I’d go with edwino’s advice – keep the processor at 350 MHz G3 or better, give it a decent amount of RAM, and you should be okay.
For another reference, my recent 1999 model PowerBook G4 400MHz with 384MB ran acceptably. The only reason I ditched it was because it wasn’t acceptable compared to my G4 tower. Of course the G4 tower is almost not acceptable compared to the new PowerBook. Oh God! Where will it end!