The ports are for analog input and output. The machine has a built-in AV operations. No additional upgrade is required to do this. The 9500 has 3 more PCI slots, but not AV module. If you want output to TV or input from VCR or analog camera, the 8500 is probably the better choice, If you want more than 3 PCI slots, then the 9500 would be better. A G3 upgrade would probably perform about the same in either machine and is a very worthwhile addition. It brings comparable speed to that of the G3 desktops. Faster, larger hard drives would also make a big difference, as would more memory.
The 8500 is considered a member of the "AV" Mac family; there is an old FAQ on these machines at: <http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~jwang/cgi/av-faq> On Friday, November 2, 2001, at 06:32 AM, mark mccague wrote: > > What exactly are all the av i/o ports on a 8500 for and what do people > use > these ports for? Is there a cheap upgrade to allow input and output to > full > screen TV? I also have a 7300 and a 9500, if I was to buy a G3 upgrade > card > would I be better putting it in the 8500 because of the av i/o or is the > 9500 the best machine to upgrade? Is the audio i/o better on the 8500 > than > on the other two? How so? -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> 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/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
