little iMac for a buddy, how much?
 

A friend of mine (has zero computer experience) wants to get on the internet. I told him I'd set him up with a cheap machine. Will an iMac (the old blue/red/leopard stlyes) be fine for just web browsing? I assume so, and even then what should I pay? OSX fine?

Yes, an imac should be fine for browsing. 150 bucks max. Those are getting old. Actually, there is one in my hallway going to the trash, but it belongs to the company next to us. I sold mine 5 years ago, for $300 if I recall.

Aurel

Will the old iMacs run OS X well, though? Might need a memory upgrade, if the old iMac can accept enough memory. Plus you'd have to buy OS X to install on it, $100(?).

Think better off buying a slightly newer machine that already has OS X and enough memory/memory capacity.

Get a G3 or higher iMac and a copy of OS X (if it doesn't come with one). They use standard PC memory which is cheap.

This guy will never upgrade memory or cards and the one I'm looking at already has OSX.

But...

If I were to go one step up for him, what would it be and what would it cost? And what would the browsing benefits be?

For $500 or $600 (maybe less, you work as an adjunct somewhere don't you for hte edu discount?) you could get him a *new* Mac mini - faster computer, Intel inside (incase he decides to go with windows)

What is this " iMac (the old blue/red/leopard stlyes) "?

Like this?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172167066.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172167075.jpg

He really just wants to browse, he'll do NOTHING else I promise you. So if the older ones browse just fine then why pay more?

Yep

try one of these, if he thinks about a laptop, otherwise the desktop will work fine for him. This is still the one I use.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PISMO-Powerbook-G3-400-192-DVD-Batt-100gb-iLife-Clean_W0QQitemZ180088460612QQihZ008QQcategoryZ5104 2QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180088460612
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172167393.jpg

I use one of those oldies at home, and I'm here to tell you it is Maddening. I wouldn't give one of those to an enemy.

Seeing a lot of this http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172174690.jpg, huh?

So should I really avoid the little blue bastard or what?

We had three, one for each kid, and they were fine until they all wanted a laptop.

John and Moses, what seems not to be okay?

In giving andice for me you need to keep in mind that he will NEVER use this for anything but browsing. He is 42 and never operated a computer.

How about a first gen used MAc Mini ? If you have old peripherals to reuse, it's perfect and tiny ! I just sold mine for $200 to a friend !

They were like $450 new....

PS: The reason I mention them is a they run OS X better than older G3 macs at times...

My concern would be that OS X would be pushing that older iMac to it's limit. Granted it's just to be used for browsing, but the possible slowness at startup and general responsiveness could be frustrating. I think the idea of a used Mac Mini instead is a good one.

Well, I think if I can get it for under $100 I'm gonna get it. What's the worst that could happen.

Absolutely. The old processor will run OSX, but not efficiently. Get a Mac Mini and a cheap 17" flat screen. Perfect setup for browsing and e-mail.

Generally, a crappy monitor that starts shimmering cannot be fixed. Both of mine died that way... I'd get a used mini instead, but I already said that ;-) Good luck !