>Hi. I just returned from the Apple store at my local mall and ask a >sales person about an eternal drive. He pointed me to the end of the >store where I saw numerous Lacie brand named hard drives. I can't >recall the sizes, but they seemed impressive. OS X 10.4 is on sale >there for $129 and the drives were running about $189 to start with.
Check online dealers like www.MacSales.com, they have drives MUCH cheaper (and most are USB/Firewire combo drives). Also, look at the flyers for your local office supply store or computer store. I often see drives on sale at CompUSA or Office Depot in the $100 range. These are usually USB only drives, but if you watch, periodically USB/Firewire combo drives appear for the same price. Another option is to build your own. Get the case from somewhere like MacSales.com (Other World Computing), and pick up an internal ATA/IDE drive on sale at your local computer or office supply store ($50 for 160 GB range, plus a USB/Firewire combo case for another $40 or so). >I told one the sales folks that I wanted to buy a external drive and >load on 10.4. He seemed to think that that would work on my iMac, >but suggested that I call Applecare for some possible go-between >step. Assuming yours has a firewire port, then yes, this would work. Or, you could upgrade the internal drive with one of the cheap internal ATA/IDE drives (see above) and install the OS on the internal drive. >The Apple stores are now a media/entertainment blitz loaded with >customers, so I sensed that I probably would get an annoyed look if I >bothered to pursue him with any more questions, so I thanked him and >left. Bother away... that is what they are there for. Or go to the Genius Bar and have a chat with the person stationed there. > So, we're talking $329 >dollars to bring this baby up to code, or another $400 to get an >eMac, which on another occassion, a salesman at the same store said >that he suspected that Apple was going to be quickly ceasing >production of them. I'd not be surprised if the eMac won't make it thru the Intel transition, but I would be a little surprised if they are dropped before then. They are still selling well. They may never be upgraded past where they are now, but I'd guess they will be available thru 2006. You could also get a Mini for $500, reuse your existing keyboard and mouse, and use a cheap PC monitor. You can get 17" VGA monitors for well under $100 now (or find one free if you check out your local area on bulk garbage night, around here, it would take me less than a week to find a working 15" or 17" VGA monitor in the trash). Or for just over $100, you can get a 15" or 17" LCD display to go with the Mini. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> -- 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/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
