Hi Rich, Something's weird: You say the model number is M5183 (Sawtooth), but the other info you give fits to a Digital Audio. Here's a good page for specs and lots of links with upgrade tips: http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/digital-audio-power-mac-g4.html
I think the main thing to improve is the HD. Don't worry about the size; you can partition them in chunks smaller than 120GB if necessary. Then you can install the system software and start using the computer. While working, you'll see what else is needed. If it's actually a 466MHz Digital Audio with 896MB, it's the same model I have, and I can tell you from experience that it runs Adobe DreamWeaver (CS3) under 10.4.11, not fast, but usable. Still, it would certainly be good to upgrade the RAM to the maximum 1.5GB. Be careful which RAM you buy: the modules should absolutely be "low- density", and most of what is offered is "high-density". I learned the hard way: One ebay-shop offered a 512MB stick labelled as "low- density" (12$) and another labelled as "universal low-density" (30$). When I asked them which to buy for my Mac, they advised the more expensive one. Somehow I was too dense to understand that they were fooling around with the descriptions, bought the cheaper module, and sure enough, it didn't work. So, if you can, try the module before buying it, because you may find working ones for about 12-15$ (I did once); if you can't try them first, play it safe and buy the more expensive ones. For the harddisk, I don't know if you need SATA; I'm using IDE (pATA) and have no problems. I don't know if it's easy to find a SATA-card for this model. But if it's similar to USB2-cards, beware: almost no card works properly! (After searching around for some time, I just bought a new case for my external harddisk: a model with both Firewire and USB-2 connections, so it's fast on my computer and on others.) I think the ATI rage 128 pro has two connectors: ADC, which works only with some Apple monitors, and VGA, which works with almost all PC monitors. So for starters, you can probably connect that HP screen. But if it has a DVI connector, you'll want to buy another graphics card. There are convertors from ADC to DVI, but they cost almost the same as a graphics card. I'm quite happy with the ATI Radeon 9000 Pro which I bought on ebay for about 40$; it has both ADC and DVI connectors. Good luck! > > I have a friend who has this G4 Power Mac M5183 tower and keyboard she > > doesn't have the monitor, she wants to upgrade this machine to it's full > > capacity and run Tiger 10.4.11 so she can do her web design work and it > > needs to be dual boot OS9.2.2 too... > Ok the computer was built around July 2002 it has a 466mhz processor, > 896mb (1-128mb/1-256mb/1-512mb) -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
