These any good

zetec452

zetec452

zetec452

Soldato
Joined
15 Sep 2003
Posts
9,454
Just been lookin on egay for a cheap mac of some kind for the Mrs. She is starting a Graphic Design HND tomorrow and from the looks of it will be using MAC's.

I've seen a few of the following going cheap and am wondering why:

Mac Mini G4 1.25GHz

Brand New Apple Mac Mini for sale. G4 1.25GHz, 512 MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, DVD/CD-RW combo drive, Mac OS 10.4.5 Tiger installed.

Documentation and installation discs are all included, and like the Mac itself, are all in perfect condition, only been used once to test out.

Specifications:
* Processor: G4 1.25GHz
* RAM: 512 MB
* Hard drive: 40 GB
* Network: 10/100, integrated
* Wireless: AirPort Extreme can be installed
* Modem: Integrated
* Optical Drive: DVD/CD-RW combo drive
* Ports:
1 Firewire
2 USB 2.0
1 RJ-45 (network)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 DVI/VGA out
1 Headphone/audio out
* Accessories:
A/C Power Supply
DVI/VGA Adapter
Click to expand...

How much should something like this go for? Whats the catch?
 
If I had the money to buy a brand new one I would. :( I've seen a few of these for half the price of the new ones. Hence my question of the likely condition of these units.
 
my understanding is that cpu-power wise they are not much compared to the latest intel based ones, hence people selling them cheap to upgrade to the newer ones. seems like a good time to buy the old ones in my opinion, although i've never used a g4 one so i can't say how fast they are.

it might be worth asking how advanced the course gets, as for graphic design power may well be important, but on the other hand... you can always sell this and upgrade again in a year if it's not powerful enough then.
 
I did notice that they were the older systems. TBH we won't know how intense the course is. After taking a tour around the college and not seeing one PC I thought it would be worthwhile at least looking at a cheapish Mac.

Like you said, if its not good enough I'll have to save and buy a better one in 12 months or so.

It's not helping that I've been itching to have a play with one for sometime. :D
 
If they are using Photoshop as a core part of the course then a decent PPC Mac will actually be a better bet than an Intel Mac until the new version of Photoshop ships next year. Performance wise it runs ok via Rosetta, but stability wise it's not 100% and it's eats memory like a stoner in a munchy factory.
 
I think photoshop will used quite a bit. I'm going to throw about £100 pounds at one of these Mac things and see how it goes.

I assume I can use a normal monitor with these things as they have a DVI port?
 
100quid ish seems like a very good price.. hope you don't get scammed.. and if it turns out to be legit, mail me the seller's id :p

Edit : AFAIK they all came with a port for connecting a standard DVI/VGA monitor to.
 
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I've not seen any go for that price on the completed auctions lists.. so I think you'll be getting a bargain if you can get one that low :)
 
Doesn't matter anymore. Apparently my girlfriend will be given a macbook pro do use for the 2 years she attends the college. How nice is that.
 
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