Wanted: A Mac!

[DailyDi]

Okay, this is asking a lot, but I'd like to start playing with the MAC platform and learning it, so if anyone has an old Macintosh (or clone) computer or laptop, I'd love to get it.

Can pay shipping plus a small fee for your kindness

[Lil_Miss_Ruffles]

Okay, this is asking a lot, but I'd like to start playing with the MAC platform and learning it, so if anyone has an old Macintosh (or clone) computer or laptop, I'd love to get it.

Can pay shipping plus a small fee for your kindness

Hello DD.

I have some older computers but, unfortunately, none in the MAC format.

However, why I am writing is because of an idea that might help you snag one sooner.

Do they have a community Freecycle in the area in which you live? I recently joined one here in Harrison and I'm always seeing all kinds of stuff come up or requested. When joining, I saw that this Freecycle thing has taken off and is all over the country. You might try "Googling" it along with your locale and perhaps you'll get lucky.

Good luck!

Ruffles

[DailyDi]

Posted to my local Freecycle and Craigslist Wanted areas

[ultrapampers]

DailyDi,

I have a 12" PowerBook G4, 1.0GHz in good working condition. The battery doesn't hold much of a charge, but that's the only functional issue I know of. It has OS X 10.3 loaded now, but will run the latest if you wish to upgrade. I believe it has either 384MB or 512MB of memory, but (no pun intended) I can't remember exactly. Will send you full specs when I get home if you're interested.

They're going on eBay for between $200-$300, so I can't quite justify giving it away, but I'd give you a great "diapered friend" discount, or perhaps a barter? Don't you run Diaper Cuties?

And Kudos to you for wanting to get into Macs. I fix PC problems all day, so when I actually want to *enjoy* using a computer, I go home and fire up the iMac! I think you'll like what OS X has to offer, even on 4-year-old hardware.

Cheers!

[InD]

Two years ago I switched to the MAC. Both for my laptop and my desktop. I've now switched back to the PC for my laptop, I will be switching my desktop soon. The reason? Far too many apps just don't work that well on the MAC, or not at all.

If you are a business user then forget programs like Visio, most of the backup apps (time machine is nice, but not the same as some say). Entourage looks slick, but sucks if you are trying to do anything like pst exports or setting up filters and what not.

I know you like to play WoW. Do you use Vent at all? Well some of the server codecs don't work on the Mac at all. Know that one guy who always has his mic turned way up on Vent so you turn him down or normalize the sound? Well guess what, can't do that on the Mac version of Vent either.

"But Macs are great for graphics"... not so much. Yeah sure the apps are the same, but buying a high end box that can handle them is way cheaper with PC. And when I bought my Canon 5D Mark II it took Apple almost a full month longer to support the raw images vs right away with adobe on the PC.

I could go on, but you get the point. What I would say is if you are looking to do browsing, simple mail, etc... sure it works. Otherwise stay with the PC.

InD

[DailyDi]

DailyDi,

I have a 12" PowerBook G4, 1.0GHz in good working condition. The battery doesn't hold much of a charge, but that's the only functional issue I know of. It has OS X 10.3 loaded now, but will run the latest if you wish to upgrade. I believe it has either 384MB or 512MB of memory, but (no pun intended) I can't remember exactly. Will send you full specs when I get home if you're interested.

They're going on eBay for between $200-$300, so I can't quite justify giving it away, but I'd give you a great "diapered friend" discount, or perhaps a barter? Don't you run Diaper Cuties?

And Kudos to you for wanting to get into Macs. I fix PC problems all day, so when I actually want to *enjoy* using a computer, I go home and fire up the iMac! I think you'll like what OS X has to offer, even on 4-year-old hardware.

Cheers!

A barter deal + shipping would be great. I have a partner on DiaperCuties, but I can still give access and just pay his share of the fees

[DailyDi]

Got a Mac Mini coming at a good deal, but could still use Mac software and accessories if anyone has some to share!

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

DailyDi,

What kind of software specifically are you looking for? More importantly, what are the specs of your Mac Mini? (I'm using actually one right now.) The reason I ask is that a PPC-based Mini will be slightly different than an Intel-based Mini. For example, the PPC-based mini used full-sized G4-compatible memory modules, while the Intel-based Minis all use SO-DIMMs instead. There are other minor differences, and the "new" Mac Mini that was released earlier this year is far more advanced than any of the previous models to date. (Of course, this is what happens when you don't update a machine for over a year.)

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. If you have a PPC-based Mini you won't be able to upgrade it to OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" in September when Apple finally drops the PPC architecture entirely--I suspect the reason Snow Leopard is being released in September has to do with the fact that the last PowerMac G5's were released in August 2006 right up until the Mac Pro was announced, and Apple was legally required to provide support for those machines via Applecare for three years. Those three years are "up" in September, and Apple can legally drop PPC support from any new products.

2. Most software being released now is only being coded for Intel-based Macs--there are exceptions (e.g. FireFox,) to this rule, but don't expect to see any new PPC-based software in the future; Apple's phasing out the "Universal" product line, and third parties are doing the same.

3. "Generic" PC keyboards, mice, and monitors will all work with your Mini as long as they use either USB connectors (keyboard/mouse) or you have a PS/2 to USB adapter. The Mini should come with a VGA to DVI adapter if you want to use an older display as well. I'm using the same keyboard and monitor that I've been using since 2001 with my Mini--I finally killed my old mouse earlier in the year, and this keyboard is shot, but I'm too lazy to crawl behind the desk and swap it for a newer one. ("Lazy," and I don't feel like dealing with the dust that's back there, or the tangle of cables that could easily strangle a small rodent.)

The reason I asked about the specs is that I might be able to dig up some old Mac software for you if it can run on your machine. Again, I'm not sure what I have or if it'd be of any use to you, (Pre-OS X stuff is pretty much useless on new machines, and I'm not sure if I have any OS X-based stuff that I'm willing to part with yet,) but if it turns out that I'm sitting on something that's totally useless to me and is useful to you, I'd be willing to part with it, especially if it's something I have a duplicate of.

As far as Macs themselves go, let me be honest: I used Windows PCs for ten years, because that's what my father wanted to use. As a Kindergartner, I wanted a Mac--my friends had Macs, and I didn't like Windows. Finally in 2003, after my father finally realized that he was sick of paying for perpetual PC "upgrades" on machines that were constantly broken, I convinced him to buy a PowerBookG4. I still use my PBG4 today on a regular basis, and have since purchased four additional Macs and almost entirely phased out Windows; I might boot an old Windows box once a month, but that's it. I convinced my girlfriend to switch to a Mac and she absolutely loves it, and hates dealing with Windows anymore. There's a bit of a learning curve at first, but once you get the hang of it, the Mac is a much simpler platform than Windows.

Regarding my PowerBookG4, I think there have been a total of four problems with it in the space of six years, and they look something like this:

1. Corrupted undercoding: My (father's) fault; nobody bothered to repair the disc permissions or ever perform routine maintenance so the BSD undercoding became corrupt and I had to reinstall OS X. This wasn't like dealing with Windows though--I could still boot the system and back-up everything--and I do mean everything before I had to reformat my drive and reinstall OS X. That was admittedly a one-time fluke though and I admittedly suffered no data loss, in part because I could back the entire machine up even in its crippled state. That was back in 2005. My machine was still under AppleCare, so I had an Apple Store handle the reformatting--I didn't feel like doing it myself.

2. I burned out the laser in my DVD Writer: Again, entirely my fault. I work with video and had to distribute a bunch of discs, so my DVD writer is in near-constant use--chalk this is up to usual wear and tear if you will, but for the number of DVDs I burned, I'm surprised that the drive didn't die sooner. (And yes, my discs were legal, original videos that I had created--I just had a high demand for them.) This was actually covered under my AppleCare warranty.

3. Fried video-inverter board: This required a MoBo replacement (still cheaper than a new Mac,) but I fried my video-invert board about a year ago. Considering that the PBG4 runs nearly 24/7/365, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. Needless to say, my machine is up and running again.

4. Botched OS X 10.5.7 update: This one is entirely Apple's fault. The OS X 10.5.7 "delta" update in "Software Update" was an incomplete patch, so most people who installed it had a machine that wouldn't boot afterwards. The solution however was quite simple. First, I restored my machine via Time Machine, (what Windows System Restore wants to be when it grows up,) back to the way it was right before the botched upgrade, and then I went onto Apple's website and downloaded the "Combo update" that installed OS X 10.5.1, 10.5.2, 10.5.3, 10.5.4, 10.5.5, 10.5.6, and 10.5.7, which proved to be a successful workaround for everyone who had the 10.5.7. update problem.

Now, compare those four things in the course of six years, to the number of problems I had per day with my last Windows PC, and the reason why I stopped using Windows should be pretty clear. Between perpetual blue screens, lousy tech support, constant hardware and software issues, I just got sick of using Windows. The only thing Windows seems to have an advantage in is gaming, and if I wanted to play games badly enough, I could run Windows on my Mac via Boot Camp.

In any case Di, I hope you enjoy your new Mac. I'd advise you to hang onto a two-button mouse at the very least though. I cannot stand Apple's mice, even with "right-clicking" enabled, and I personally use two-button mice on all of my Macs--mostly Logitech, although I do have a few Microsoft Mice on-hand as well.

My most recent "used" Mac is an iMac G3, and I have to admit, I love it; I'm using it primarily to study OS 9 just for fun--my OS X based macs are my workhorses. As far as my PBG4 goes, I'm looking to set a record of using it as my "main computer" for ten years straight; if I don't replace it before 2013, then I'll reach my goal. Granted, if my PBG4 lasts one more year, it'll still break my previous record for the computer that I've used the longest as a primary machine. I'm actually hoping to grab a Unibody 17" MBP once they start using Core i7 chips, but it wouldn't be a replacement for my G4--other family members still use it regularly, and I had OS X 10.2.8 on it up until OS X 10.5 came out.

[DailyDi]

My specs are:

1.25 G4 Processor

512 MB Ram

40 GB HD

DVD/CDRW Combo Drive

OS X Tiger 10.4

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

I went through most of my software that's compatible with your system, unfortunately, I haven't really found anything I can part with just yet. Most of my "older" Mac software dates back to OS 9 (second hand stuff to begin with mind you,) and virtually all of my newer stuff is still in use. If nobody in my family uses Photoshop Elements anymore, I might be able to get that to you down the road, but the copy I have is so old (Version 1.0 or 2.0--I can't remember which,) that it doesn't even have the same interface as Photoshop CS. (Not CS2, CS3, or CS4, but the first CS collection ever released.) In fact, the interface is outright horrendous, and played a very small part in my purchase of Adobe CS "standard edition," which oddly enough, I still use regularly on my PBG4.

Looking at your specs though, I can give you a few pointers:

1. If you plan on burning any DVDs, consider purchasing an external DVD

[babykeiff]

Okay, this is asking a lot, but I'd like to start playing with the MAC platform and learning it, so if anyone has an old Macintosh (or clone) computer or laptop, I'd love to get it.

Can pay shipping plus a small fee for your kindness

If you wish, I could send you an 'Umbrella'..... but it is not computer operated... it is a manual one