iMac G4/800 17" What can I do with it in 2017?

This is a very old iMac, so don't expect miracles.

Video streaming will not be possible on this old an iMac.

With video sites like Vimeo and YouTube you would have to let the video download enough data to stream the video and have the download video data load ahead of what you are streaming watching.

Forget online gaming.

This is a nearly 15 year old iMac.

15 year old technology is going to limited with modern devices on modern internet.

If you can find a pair of Apple Pro speakers, these are the speakers that work really well with this year and model Mac

or the Harmon Kardon sound sticks and subwoofer combo.

OR JBL creature speakers

A G4 cannot run Snow Leopard. Do you mean Leopard?

You can do a lot with it. I used one as my main computer up to January last year. It will just be a bit slower, and of course won't be able to run modern application versions. You can't use it to sync a new iPhone, for example.

The iMac is a bit more limited than if you had inherited a Quicksilver desktop model. Some people use those for file servers.

I suppose another take on this is what do you need to do with a computer? Do you already have one? Do you need a second one? I always like having a spare so should I have problems with my main computer I can still get on the Internet and visit sites like this to get help.

Modest upgrading is possible (RAM, drive size), but the question is if it is worth it now.

use the computer for what it was already doing is what you can do with it.

Its not supported and don't expect new software to appear or mainstream browsers that have modern security.

the HD is ATA and it is expandable to 1 GB RAM as two 512MB PC 133 DRAM

you could possibly sell it for between $100 and $200 if someone really wanted it and you didn't.

Finding a workable web browser is going to be a real problem with iMac.

Also that old of an operating system it is capable of running has security problems.

Personally, I would not put any money into it at all.

The bus structure in that iMac is so slow that you will probably see the same performance using an SSD as you do using a HDD.

In addition, you will need to find an ATA SSD instead of the more common SATA SSD generally available.

You may find the Leopard OS X 10.5(.8) system either won't install

in that model G4 iMac 17-inch 800MHz due to limitations on CPU

or if it already has been tricked into running it, that is rather slower

than if it had been compared to supported Tiger 10.4.11.

The wireless card early model (if included) does not support WPA2

later version Wi-Fi security protocol; works best with similar vintage

AirPort base station. Or much better/faster with Ethernet cable.

The clock battery would need to be replaced. This is a chore.

Otherwise the system may not want to boot or run correctly.

• NewerTech 3.6v Lithium 1/2 AA PRAM Computer Clock Battery

The browser (if Mac is given all the RAM upgrade it can use, both

RAM slots) available would be TenFourFox. ~ There presently is a

rendering issue in TenFourFox present build, so Apple sites could

be seen correctly; use the 'about:config' in browser to reset gfx so

fonts in Apple Support/Apple.com page won't render odd icons...

Until the makers of TenFourFox release an updated step, workaround

for Apple site font renderings is to temporarily set the item in 'about:

config' (you can use in-browser search from about:config window) by

double-clicking on the item to make it change so it no longer says True.

" gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled = false " so as to be able to read

most Apple site pages. The newer fonts and layout of Apple pages

show incorrect or iconic [X] instead of letters. I use a G4 Mac Mini with

Leopard 10.5.8 w/ TenFourFox 45.7.0 version. I know about this issue.

http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

About the SSD upgrade. You could see a good increase in read-writes

to the hard drive including Virtual Memory swap files where the RAM is

inadequate for certain data, so the system would use drive space then.

OWC macsales.com find upgrade parts for many models: MY UPGRADES

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/imac-g4-17-inch-mid-2002-0.8-ghz

Various parts include the "OWC Mercury Legacy SSD" for ATA computers.

And that clock PRAM battery. ~ Also fairly good 'take-apart sites' are online

which show disassembly of iMac G4 to replace battery, upgrade RAM, etc.

Sources online may yield a viewable copy of original Apple Service guide

that show complete factory technical details; somewhere I have a copy.

An example of the internal view of G4 iMac (believe this is later 1.25GHz) shown

Mr Totes iMac G4 take-apart, here: http://www.mrtotes.co.uk/page1/page1.html

Note this is not technically the same as similar appearing iMac G4 800/17-inch.

On the other hand, there's more info on take-apart for Drives, RAM, & battery:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/imac_g4/imacg4_takeapart.html

Not sure if the iFixit guides for Macs have specific one for the 800MHz 17-inch

model. I had one that could dual boot MacOS 9.2.2 & later Mac OS X 10.4.11.

There is an open firmware update method to trick these to accept 10.5 installer.

Anyway, the unit with original box and hopefully some paperwork, should be

worth something to a collector. Documentation of its early life is helpful, then.

Good luck & happy trails! 🙂

alex7375 wrote:

If I upgrade the ram to 1gb. and add a air port card and install leopard with combo update can I use this computer as an every day computer ?

does it have a web browser that works in 2017, does it have iMessage and FaceTime ? Does email work with iCloud?

App store? email app? iTunes? iMovie?

iCloud will not work.

iMessage & FaceTime will not work. Apple drop support for older OS's, 15 year old Macs are not supported.

The Mac App store requires 10.6, iTunes will work but many features will not (like syncing to new iOS devices will not work).

The Airport card was limited to 802.11.b networking so it is about as fast as using old USB 1.1 - about 2-3 MB per second. That is generally terrible by todays standards. Forget wifi & use a wired ethernet connect (or get a better external wifi card. The OS will have a hard time supporting new wifi cards & encryption standards anyway. The iMac only has USB 1.1 ports so that will be terribly slow if you have USB 2 disks.

You can probably buy a mobile phone that can handle email, music, internet browsing better than that Mac can for a handful of dollars.

You can problaby make the mac do something if you have a lot of time & patience, however most people just expect things to work, which is why your time may be better spent finding a different device - a used iOS device may be more suitable/ faster/ reliable…

Okay, it is actually a 2003 iMac 17 PowerPC with 1ghz. CPU and 2gb ram. and 80gb HD.

with airport card.

Can I use it with Wifi printing or network printing ?

If the printer supports the OS, and you will need to find an older model printer.

Will it work with a bluetooth v4 speaker ?

That system did not come with Bluetooth.

Will it work with apple bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse ?

see above.

Are logitech webcams supported ? I still have the iSight webcam.

You might find a webcam that works but it's up to the developer if they still provide the drivers

Can I connect it to any 1080p display using the mini-display port with adapter ?

No, the max resuliton is 1024x768

Will it play blu-ray movies via a USB blu-ray player ?

No

Will it work with a USB floppy drive ?

It might provided you can find a drive, find drivers for your OS

What are the limitations of the USB ports?

they are USB 1.1. You can use USB 2 & 3 devices but you will get USB 1 transfer speed, there is no way around it.

What are the benefits of using OS Tiger or Leopard ?

I know that Classic mode will only work in Tiger.

What are the benefits of using Leopard ?

There are no benefits to either. Theses OSs are securities risks to run, and that system won't anything past OS X 10.4.11 (Leopard is 10.5 so thats not an option either) You would be limited to the version of Safari that came with OS 10.4.11 and Firefox and Chrome would require very old versions to be compatible, the newer ones with newer securities won't run in older iterations of OS X. You are running a PPC CPU, Apple abandoned them long ago and so did developers. with the introduction of the Intel CPU to Macintosh developers could do far more with Apple because it was a platform many were already familiar with.

Apple no longer provides updates to system security and developers no longer develop for these OS's. Any computer is a temporary investment as gains in newer technology make older technology obsolete.

if you want a computer to use modern amenities do not buy computer from 2003 and expect it to be the solution. Do not expect the software developers to support it or expect anything more out of it that what is was designed to do in the state of being out of box for as long as the hardware still works because all the electronics in that machine are now 15 years old and were never designed to work for that long and are no longer manufactured.

If you need to do things that are done now this is simply NOT the computer to try to do it with, it won't work. There is someone who might take it off your hands for $100 because they want to run Graphic Converter and Rebel Assault in "classic" mode but what you are asking over and over is can you run things that didn't exist because technology held them back in 2003 on a computer made in 2003 and the answer is still likely going to be no.

You have what has become an antique; it may be a computer but it is no longer a viable one at this time.

You would need to find an older PPC version of Skype OR older version of Yahoo Messenger.

Yahoo Messenger has video calling capability.

This webcam work with OS X 10.5.8 Leopard and later ( OS X 10.6.8)

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Laptop-Webcam-Design-360-Degree/dp/B004YW7WCY/re f=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488191946&sr=8-2&keywords=logitech+webcams+mac+OS+X

I used that one on my PM G4 MDD running OS X 10.5.8 using either the old version of Skype AND older Yahoo Messenger.

Some of the more advance features of the webcam DO NOT work with OS X.

This headset will work, too!

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Stereo-Headset-H111-981-000612/dp/B00YJJB7YG/ref =sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488192464&sr=8-3&keywords=logitech+webcams+mac+OS+X

Other headset mic setups

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-ClearChat-Cancelling-Microphone-Headphones/dp/B0 00UXZQ42/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488193431&sr=8-1&keywords=stereo+headset+microp hone+Mac+OS+X

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WGQNJK4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&col id=20AIQPDUUWU9G&coliid=I214DCB8JDJZUX

alex7375 wrote:

Does the logitech C610 webcam work with OS Tiger or Classic ?

I have an iSight webcam. I see the logitech C250 or Microsoft vx5000 is recommended.

No.

The minimum OS X for the Logitech C610 webcam is OS X 10.5 Leopard.

The iSight webcam is an excellent webcam I believe would still work with any Mac that still has FireWire.

So, if you have the iSight camera, I would use it!

That iMac model CAN run OS X 10.5.8 Leopard as the CPU requirement for OS X 10.5 Leopard is a 867 Mhz CPU or greater.

Plus that iMac model has the max 2 GBs of RAM installed.

You would need to check Amazon or other online sources for an OEM retail OS X 10.5 Leopard install disc.