theamazingxemo Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 Well guys, I haven't really been active much with the board, but I thought I'd still share my experience with you fine gents: I've been wanting a Mac for years now. Even back when OS9 was around, I was eager to get my hands on a machine, but when OSX came out, I knew I had to have one. Being a gamer, however, I was always about the bigger and badder graphics cards, and PC hardware, and never really got to a point where I could afford a Mac. Long story short, I still can't afford a new Mac, so I've found a great deal on a PowerMac G4 500MHz system, and I'm picking it up tomorrow! The gentleman I'm buying it from has Panther installed on it, so hopefully I can purchase Tiger for it. Any recommendations on software I should check out? I'm interested in a good: POP3 Email Client Newsgroup Reader Usenet robot RSS? I'm pretty much a complete Mac OS X noob, so any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys! EDIT: Thanks for moving this, I was unsure of where to put it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_4e Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 Congratulations! I know it's exciting getting your first Mac, I really was. Some good sites to check for little apps and such are www.macupdate.com and www.versiontracker.com. You'll probably want Flip4Mac (Link). If you're going to get a word processor go with iWork over Office. Both Pages and Keynote can export and import to Office stuff and are fully compatible with everything I've encountered. You'll also need StuffIt (link). To put it simply, it opens downloads and is a must have. As for a newsgroup reader, Unison works real well. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac-mini Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 for email use mail it is included with osx and for RSS use safari RSS included with tiger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orea Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 Sometime safari can be pain for RsS! I cant get it work sometimes,! BaYlisS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostgame Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 Congrats! I've always wanted a PowerMac G4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregano Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 lucky i dream of having a mac book evry day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xfsasx Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 Firefox has a good RSS Tiger is where its at though right now though, i can think back to when i got my first mac the Blue and White G3 i still have!!! Shoot Me a PM when you get it maybe i can help you out with Tiger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav1085 Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 PowerBook G4 800Mhz on a mailing list for only $180. Should I buy it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac-mini Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 if all you have is a hack i think you should buy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theamazingxemo Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Thanks for all the quick replies, guys! Looks like I still have a little work to do with it. The onboard networking isn't functioning (saying that there's no cable plugged in), and I'm hoping to upgrade the hard drive to a 120GB I have laying around here soon. Panther is installed on it, and I'm going to snag some more RAM for it, as well as a copy of Tiger here soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregano Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 how much did it cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theamazingxemo Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 $110. I replaced the 40GB HD that was in it with a 120GB (that I had laying around), replaced the DVD-RAM drive with a Pioneer DVD+-R (I had laying around), and put in a Foxconn 802.11b/g card for networking (that I had laying around ). Everything is up and running, and I've upgraded to Tiger 10.4.8. Really glad I did that too, I wasn't getting widescreen resolutions with Panther. (not to mention the other cool upgrades). It seems to preform pretty damn well for only having 256MB of RAM... I hope I can come up with some cash for 2x 512MB sticks here soon... lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaminarFlow Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 You've probably heard of OpenOffice before, but if you're looking for an alternative to shelling out $$$ for Office, check out NeoOffice (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22021). If you like OS X on a 400MHz machine just imagine what it's like on a dual core Intel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac-mini Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 or a single core one if you get the refurbished mini core solo for $480 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregano Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 u bought a mac for $110? or r u talking about panther Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_G Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Well done. That's a good PowerMac with plenty of room for growth. With proper upgrades you'll find the performance to be much better than any Mac Mini, including the Intels. Like Centrino notebooks, Mac Mini Intel doesn't come with proper video chip, and in my book that just isn't acceptable. Now with a PowerMac you can: 1. Upgrade to a decent and affordable processor 2. Upgrade to an FX5200 or better, up to ATI 9800. Either can be PC card flashed to Mac. With the above combo you might just ditch your PC altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedragon1971 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 u bought a mac for $110?or r u talking about panther That's not too unusual for a Mac of that vintage. I just bought a G4 Cube for a total of $255 including shipping. It will be here tomorrow. 450Mhz, 40GB hard drive, DVD, and 512MB of RAM. I'd eventually like to max it out with upgrades: dual 1.8Ghz G4's, 1.5GB of RAM, largest hard drive that will fit, Geforce FX5200 or 6200, Superdrive, & Airport. Of course, this will end up costing about the same in the end as a new iMac, but it will be very unique, and still very powerful. This is one of the oldest machines that will be officially supported by Leopard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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