Matt If you want Firewire forget the early iMacs 233-333MHZ and the first versions of the 350MHz iMAc since these all lacked Firewire. The early iMacs can be maxed out to 512MB RAM, whereas the later ones will take 1GB. Think you are looking at least an iMac 400MHz as your starting machine. In Sydney iMac 400/450's go for between $450 and $650 from resellers, depending on the configuration, but most have only 128MB RAM so you will have to upgrade that too. Forget second hand out of the paper as they often want so much more that it is better to buy a new eMac.
I doubt that you will notice any difference in performance using an ATA 133 since, please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the iMac was ATA 66, but do make sure it is a 7200rpm drive since this will work faster than a 5400rpm for the same ATA rating. It's all about the weakest link in the chain, doesn't matter how fast one part of the system is, if some parts can only take things in smaller bursts. Basically the ATA rating for an IDE Hard Drive tells you the maximum data transfer in burst mode (giving sudden bursts of data rather than a continuous stream). I don't know about games, I nornally advise people to get a Playstation 2 if they want that, rahter than fork out $1000's on a PC or Mac just to play the same sort of games, but I'm not a gamer. To use OS X with any serious app like Photoshop, I'd recommend installing 512MB RAM for optimum performance, think of 256MB as the bare mimimum to run OS X and things like web browsers, word processors etc. Then again people here are using 233's with 288 MB RAM running Panther. Hope my tuppence worth helps. Pete -----Original Message----- From: iMac List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Jordan Sent: Wednesday, 7 April 2004 5:30 AM To: iMac List Subject: Considering an iMac Hi all, I am looking for some advise and the general "lowdown" on the various early G3 iMacs. I hope to purchase one but before I do, I figured that it would be best if I ask people who know more about them. Based on the information below, which iMacs should I consider? (I do not want to spend too much money on this system so I am expecting it to be around 500 MHz or less.) Use: I want this as a "secondary" OS X machine and would like to use it for mild Photoshop, a few 3D games (like Myst III: Exile, which reportedly runs fine on any iMac), websurfing and general applications. Things don't have to be blazingly fast by any means but I don't want to be frustrated by poor performance. Stability is a must. Upgrades: Maxing out the RAM is definately a first on the list of things to do. Also, do iMacs accept any newer ATA drive? Do they benefit from faster ATA/133 drives and 8MB cache models? Ports: Firewire would be nice but I could certainly live without it. Which iMac(s) would be best for me? Anything I should know? Any suggestions? Thanks a lot! Matt -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/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/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com --------------------------------------------------------------- -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/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/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
