Buying old imac g4 - price?

Hey Al,

how much I should pay for an iMac g4 17" ? It has been sitting in a box a lot and I will get a chance to test it first.

I think the 17" is the more desirable of the iMac G4s due to the screen. Is it an 800, 1 or 1.25 GHz machine? The slowest won't run 10.5 w/o a hack. How much RAM? How big is the hard drive?
Printed on the bottom if you don't know and it hasn't been upgraded.

the owner is a friend...Wondering what tests I might do and how to check it out and determine a value.

Since it's a friend you can go more by questions about performance, upgrades, ever been opened, repaired etc. Check condition of the screen; run disc utility and check out the hard drive.
Then this is a pretty good place to check:
http://www.mac2sell.net/
Finally if it's a good friend it would depend on how badly they want it and whether they need the money. I've gotten great deals from friends but also had to force money on ones I knew could use the money.
Richard

Al,

I am hoping it has at least 10.3 or I can easily upgrade to 10.3

I run all my 800 MHz 17" iMac G4s w/ Tiger 10.4.11.

I am thinking somewhere around $500. He is out of work and needs money so I am willing to give a little more than it is worth.

Well that would be very generous.
Richard

{Those may be simply downloads of the software update for 10.4 from
an early offering from Apple Support Downloads; a long time ago; and
you would not be able to do anything worthwhile with them.}

In order to install OS X 10.4.x on the computer, a retail installer disc
for Tiger would have to be acquired (not a restore disc from a different
model/year computer; but a universal retail install disc) and those file
sizes and vintage would be meaningless toward any installation of 10.4.

There is no direct upgrade from an old 10.1.x to 10.4; a full new install
is the best and actual path. There is nothing in 10.1 worth upgrading.

For Tiger to run in the computer, it may need some hardware updates
such as they are, with additional RAM; and a combo or superdrive to
be able to use the DVD installer disc media, as Tiger shipped on DVD.

I was able to get two iMac G4 17" 1.25 computers, (one in box) and
one that probably needs a logic board, from someone down the road
who'd listed in the local Craigslist. I overpaid at $350. even though
the working one has more RAM and newer superdrive. The other one
is a good source of some parts I can tell were still good, or maybe fix.

While I have three iMac G4 1.25s, two work. And I gave away a nice
almost new iMac G4 17" 800 fully upgraded with all accessories.

As a partial gift to a struggling friend, amount paid should still be within
a realistic one, if it needs work or may have some ailment undisclosed.
And anything over a valid retail price (given condition, accessories &
updates; original boxes, wires, books, discs) may be considered a gift.

A computer repair company with parts and good service history could
give you a better deal for the money. Someone such as wegenermedia
.com may be a good place to compare. The low-end iMac G4 15" 800
is more limited than the 17" model 800 which shipped with Superdrive.

Hopefully that works out OK.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

My first iMac G4 1.25GHz 17" computer with airport extreme card, speakers,
larger pro keyboard, mouse, wires, book and OS X were bought direct from
Apple online some years ago as a Special Deals item, after the iMac G5 was
available and most stores no longer had any iMac G4s. I still have that one.

The deal from a local Craigslist seller, who coincidentally worked at a retail
authorized Mac reseller but knows almost nothing technical, sells a few he
gets from people from his rented residence in the larger town up the road.

The one computer was set up and working fine, it appeared, when I finally
connected with the person and could see the computer. It was running 10.5.
but there were no discs included with the sale at all. Offers of one, were on
a contingency of me paying more - and I have an unused 10.5 retail disc...

{Instead I wiped the hard drive and installed Tiger 10.4.11 on that, since I
could then compare the activities in the questioned yet working iMac G4
based on the one I already owned that I know has been running OK. And
I also have most upgrade files for Tiger including Java & what not, saved.
I don't have to download same repeatedly to update 2+ 10.4 systems.}

...I said no. He told me he had a box for the computer, but in order to get that,
(last November, when it was sub-zero) I had to take the computer already in
side that box. It did not function correctly. I talked him down on the price from
$450. and then put the good computer in the box where the poor one was;
so as to transport the functional one with its accessories, in the cold weather.

So, the spare computer with apparent logic board issue (won't go past white
screen with Apple icon, sometimes does briefly, then kernel panics at some
point, occasionally, then won't boot to white at all, nothing. Then if I reset the
PMU button - under bottom metal plate, hidden under plastic in there - it will
start and give me the white screen with Apple icon, sometimes a spinning
spoke wheel; then nothing, or a kernel panic until the next PMU reset. I have
not taken that computer apart to see what it has for a hard disk drive or RAM.

If you don't mind paying shipping, you can get iMac G4s from companies who
repair and resell them with a limited guarantee; however any adjustment does
require you to mail or ship the unit back. Some companies won't honor such a
guarantee if they think you live too far away; & won't let a local tech fix it under
their alleged warranty period. I see wegenermedia.com has a few listed. The
accessories cost extra, as would an OS X retail boot installer disc, I'd guess.

These can be fun, but try to find the service manual (a technical document)
not usually something a consumer would have, if you get more than two of
these computers and start messing around. They are a bit of work and do
require some detailed steps to be performed correctly to even upgrade the
internal factory-installed RAM or replace the hard drive, or optical drive.

The later USB2.0 iMac 15" computer is different than the earlier 15" iMac G4;
so to compare the specifications, see the free download database from
http://mactracker.ca and check into the iMac G4 series (among others.)

The first 17" iMac G4 was USB1.1 and a lower processor series, later
versions and different builds have other hardware options. The early 17"
was the first with a Superdrive and it had an 800MHz processor. I gave
one of these away to a friend a few months ago, and it was like new.

Have fun, even if it isn't pleasant work.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

{ edited }

K.Shaffer that sounds like faulty ram to me! I had the same problem with my cube. It would boot up ok after a clean install, but then after the software update it would boot up to a kernel panic or apple logo screen.

Message was edited by: Mythos_gr

For under $300. you can buy an iMac G4, but the better ones
were the last of the run 1.25GHz 17" and the 20" with USB2.0;
& the original boxed accessories that sometimes later got lost.

They shipped with Panther 10.3.x on DVD media and the main
installer disc#1 has the appropriate Apple Hardware Test on it.

{The system requirements for the DVD studio software aren't
very high and the 1.25GHz iMac G4 with adequate RAM + with
large capacity hard disk drive for project workspace could suffice.}

DayStar company did a logic board upgrade, usually required
a core in exchange, and the return product was a 1.9GHz CPU.
The last models of the G4 iMac can run 2048MB RAM total.
But the graphics processor is not upgradable.

{You could try a home repair on that iBook G4 if the symptoms
appear to be along the lines of the well-known fix posted here:
The CoreyArnold Effect: http://www.coreyarnold.org/ibook/
- Also found elsewhere, even in Discussions w/o the name.
...The hardware solder repair is known as re-balling, and was
done to the old solder joints on the logic board, for under $100.
one company said to do that is: http://www.superiorreball.com/ }

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

{edited to add iBook info}

Usually, the as-shipped software packet included with the purchase of a new
computer was not intended nor would it work in a different computer series
or in a different computer model. (The iMac 15" USB2.0 installer may not be
correct and likely would not be, for an iMac 17" USB2.0 computer; so being
able to use the restore-install disc set's Panther 10.3.x installer in an early
iMac G4 700/800 probably would not work, one which shipped with an iBook.

{And a Mac can't run an OS version older than the one it shipped with. So,
Jaguar 10.2.x machine-specific installers won't do, either, when the Mac
you hope to use them with came with a different Panther 10.3 version on
discs intended for the one machine series and no other.}

In the process of booting the computer from whatever disc set you have, there
often would be a dialog box stating something to the effect the disc can't be used.
And, the limited license for one system from each installer, in use at one time,
applies to those; unless it was a retail set Family Pack for specific multiple installs.

And being able to run the installer's version of Disk Utility and the options there,
would not be available (the installer must be able to boot the computer) if you
were able to use discs from one computer in another to install. If the iBook G4
has a Combo optical drive and its media shipped on DVD disc, the installer is
way different in more than two ways. Not supported by iMac hardware if it does
not have at least a Combo drive (read DVD/read-write CD) or a Superdrive, as
those read DVD and read/write DVD & CD media; and boot from the included
restore install discs they shipped with, or newer Retail installer, with correct drive.

There are some workarounds, but having the correct OS X installers or one
that could supersede the limited machine-specific installer to put a test OS
on some other computer the system can be used in, are the basic paths.

{In a rare and sometimes bizarre occurrence, sometimes old early eMac installer CDs
could be used for installing in very early iBook white G3 computers; but there was no
hardware test and some portable computer items could go missing, not included in it.}

Anyway, have fun...
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

PS: re: iBook G4 - http://wegenermedia.com is in SC.
Links to more info topics: re: iMac G4, 17" & other:
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/17in-imac-g4-1.25-ghz.html

PS:
Of course, you may be able to use the discs if they were for
the same iMac G4 hardware, if not in use in the other one;
I was reading what you wrote and saw you mentioned 10.2
Panther (that'd be 10.2 Jaguar) and as Jag, the disc set
may work; if they were both of the same processor series
and close to the same build model. You'd know if the discs
were capable soon enough, though. Just that Jaguar is a
bit out of date and little is available for it; maybe a browser
may still work. Some applications are OK but limited now.

(For some reason, I was thinking two different items at once
and may have misunderstood the facts regarding the question.)

In any event...
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂