Mac for £200 [spec me]

whitecrook

whitecrook

whitecrook

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hi all

Wondering what your thoughts are on this:

If I had £200 what is the best Mac to go for, I;d like to use it as a general PC / emails/ web / accounts / office etc /and hook up my DSLR to it, ideally to replace a PC with something that just works...

Obviously second hand, but open to any suggestions as reasons why.

e.g. what is the absolutely oldest mac I should consider - are G4's still worthwhile? Even a G5? G4 cube? laptop . mini / desktop doesn't matter.

Or is it totally un realistic to expect a mac for that money? What is the minimal amount required to 'get into the mac/apple zone'

thoughts?
 
Why not install Linux mint on it. (its free) Everything "just works" on that and its great. I use it for everything but gaming. Its rubbish apple dont just let you buy their OS but I don't like it anyway :p It comes preinstalled with a web browser with plugins, office, a media player etc.
 
I don't think "everything just works" applies to any operating system.

Anyway - I'd try and get any Intel mini you can find, as the cheapest way to get a decent Mac. You don't want to be spending money on PowerPC models at this point in time - they're dinosaurs.
 
Best bet is the later G4s.

I sold a year ago a MDD 867Mhz Dual for £250, so I recon the dual 1Ghz box will do you just fine.

Mine was solid as a rock.

Wack 2Gb in there, nice fast ATA drive and away you go.

Dealt with my 350Ds RAWs just fine :)
 
My PC is like Triggers broom, about 8 years old, but all the parts have been replaced at some point or another.... I usually spend ~£100 every couple of years (excluding HDs) to keep it ticking. It works fine. But it's in an old tower case and I'm often tinkering with bits of hardware and things....

But the question is, is it possible to get an acceptable mac for £200? The cheapest new mac is a mini, at a smidge under £400, with no screen or mouse.keyboard and seems underspecced, with no dvd writer, 1 GB of ram. (when compared to a PC of SIMILAR price) I thought I could get a better deal second hand but it doesn;t seem like it? I don;t mind old, as long as it's 'good' old.


Would love a dual G5 Power Mac as I borrowed one for a couple of week a coupld of years ago. Awesome machine. But they still command what seems like silly prices, for a machine that's pushing 4 years old?
 
whitecrook said:
My PC is like Triggers broom, about 8 years old, but all the parts have been replaced at some point or another.... I usually spend ~£100 every couple of years (excluding HDs) to keep it ticking. It works fine. But it's in an old tower case and I'm often tinkering with bits of hardware and things....

But the question is, is it possible to get an acceptable mac for £200? The cheapest new mac is a mini, at a smidge under £400, with no screen or mouse.keyboard and seems underspecced, with no dvd writer, 1 GB of ram. (when compared to a PC of SIMILAR price) I thought I could get a better deal second hand but it doesn;t seem like it? I don;t mind old, as long as it's 'good' old.


Would love a dual G5 Power Mac as I borrowed one for a couple of week a coupld of years ago. Awesome machine. But they still command what seems like silly prices, for a machine that's pushing 4 years old?
Click to expand...

Yup, G5s are the fastest PPC machines you can buy and it seems quite a few people are keen to keep using them!!!

As I say look at the final G4s they made, 2002/2003. I recon if you look hard enough you will fine the dual 1.25Ghz or dual 1.42Ghz. 2Gb of ram, Mac OS X 10.4 and you will be laughing.
 
OK sounds interesting will look. My thinking is with a Mac, they seem to be more of an 'appliance' i.e. I'm unlikely to start swapping parts, upgrading components etc, what you have is what you get. It works, ticks away etc. My PC always seems to be in a state of installation. I seem to be constantly 'setting it up' This is driving the missus crazy as she complains "everything is always changing", "where are my files?" Things like music library, picture archives, etc .. all just seems a hassle. The last time I had a PC working 'nicely' was when i had a win2k install for about 3.5 years... well bedded in by then.

Plus, I beleive that when I do upgrade, if I had a mac, it's SO EASY just to basically click a button and it migrates EVERYTHING ti a newer machine? This is the major prob with windows. It always involves re configing everything. And I usually don;t bother. I have backups of backups that are suppoed to be restored on to the newer installation but it never happens etc etc
 
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whitecrook said:
My PC always seems to be in a state of installation. I seem to be constantly 'setting it up' ....I have backups of backups that are suppoed to be restored on to the newer installation but it never happens etc etc
Click to expand...
Wow - you've pretty much just described my computer to a tee!
 
whitecrook said:
OK sounds interesting will look. My thinking is with a Mac, they seem to be more of an 'appliance' i.e. I'm unlikely to start swapping parts, upgrading components etc, what you have is what you get. It works, ticks away etc. My PC always seems to be in a state of installation. I seem to be constantly 'setting it up' This is driving the missus crazy as she complains "everything is always changing", "where are my files?" Things like music library, picture archives, etc .. all just seems a hassle. The last time I had a PC working 'nicely' was when i had a win2k install for about 3.5 years... well bedded in by then.

Plus, I beleive that when I do upgrade, if I had a mac, it's SO EASY just to basically click a button and it migrates EVERYTHING ti a newer machine? This is the major prob with windows. It always involves re configing everything. And I usually don;t bother. I have backups of backups that are suppoed to be restored on to the newer installation but it never happens etc etc
Click to expand...

..Stop upgrading your computer, then?
 
Blackberries said:
..Stop upgrading your computer, then?
Click to expand...
you don't get it do you...


WARNING: Car analogy coming up.

Some people have 2 cars , (yes!)

One is the sensible, reliable, never breaks down (much), doesn't need fixing, just works, gets them to work and back, isn't an excessive penis extension.

The second is either a trackday car, not practical, very fast, maybe an exposed roll cage, minimal fancies, handles well if you know what you are doing OR it's some kind of garage project, always getting worked on, trying out new things, on and off the road every other week etc etc


Now can you guess which one the the cars represents my PC, and which one represents the possible Mac that I may purchase?




...Anyway, checking out Dual 867Mhz+ G4's these look nice, seems to be a reasonable price.
 
Personally i would hold off and wait for the new Mac Mini's to come out and stretch a to a base model of one of those.

It'll have a nVidia chipset with a good graphic chip in it compared to the current one and also have 2GB RAM standard.

I have a redundant PowerMac Dual G5 that i don't use at the moment, one problem with it though, it doesn't switch on...so either logic board has gone or the PSU.
 
You want to spend £200 on a mac for day to day use AND hook your DSLR upto it? You're throwing £200 away. It'l be old, underspecced and generally a hog. Why bother?
 
I'd save up a bit more and get a Mac mini tbh.

The best you'd do with £200 would probably be a late G4 iBook or iMac. These would be perfectly functional but it would be better to spend that little bit more and get an Intel Core based machine.

As a side.. anyone know if the new Mac Minis will have Firewire 400?
 
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