> 1. I know the Rev. A ROM make this computer a road Apple. I have found > instructions for checking the motherboard revision (in Apple System > Profiler), but this is different from the ROM revision, right? If I check > ASP and it says it has a Rev. 1 motherboard, does that mean that it > definitely has the bad Rev. A ROM? If it has a Rev. 2 or 3 mobo does it for > sure have a Rev. B or C ROM? Or does ASP actually check the ROM and not the > mobo? Will I need to open the case to find out for sure whether it's a road > Apple? Does that take any tools?
The older ROM just keeps you from adding more than one hard drive on the IDE bus from what I remember. I wouldn't call that a road apple. > 2. If I bought it I might end up putting a processor upgrade in it. I've > read that there's a certain brand voltage regulator that can cause problems > with upgrades. How can I tell if this machine has the bad regulator? Is > this another case-opener? Pull the voltage regulator and make sure it doesn't say Royal on it. the Royal VRs were very rare. More info here http://tinyurl.com/6cfy6 > 3. What's with the DVD drive? I tried starting Apple DVD player from the > Apple menu, and it said that it couldn't start because a required something > or other was not found. Does this machine need some sort of DVD decoder > card in addition to the drive to play DVD movies? You need a decoder if you are running anything less than OS X. You will also need a PCI video card, if it doesn't have one, and some of the lower end PCI video cards do not support DVD movie playback so you will have to do some further research on that. Check at xlr8yourmac.com > 4. I've been looking at RAM upgrades on OWC, and after selecting "G3 > Desktop" I get a bunch of choices for 256 MB RAM modules, ranging from $25 > to $75. Is there any reason why the lowest priced one, "256MB PC66/100 168 > pin SDRam Low Profile for Apple PowerMac G3 Beige Models Only (Desktop, > Tower, All-In-One)", would perform worse in this computer than the more > expensive ones? Don't know the difference on this one. > 6. Would this computer be much faster than my 250 MHz S900? Fast enough to > justify the expense (1/10th of the price of a Mac Mini is still a lot of > money to me!) and the trouble of switching everything over? Between the DVD drive and the AV card that is in it you could probably make you money back and have all of the rest of it left over if you parted it out. Then again, maybe it is worth even less now that the mini is out. good luck, take care, Kevin Avery -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
