I wonder if this Mac could handle iMovie for me to create my vlog with?Â
iMac
Memory: 384 MB
Processor: PowerPC G3
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Processor: 500 MHz
OS: Mac OS 10.4, Tiger
Screen Size: 15 inches
This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:53 am - Edit
Oh Mike I feel your pain.
I’ve been a die hard mac guy for only about 3 years now, but I know that it wouldn’t have worked for me before OS X came out. That changed everything IMHO.
The problem with this one you’re looking at is that it’s only a G3, with a small amount of RAM. I am surprised it can even run OS X 10.4! if you get this I think you will be teased with what the software has to offer but EXTREMELY frustrated at what you can actually do.
I’m running a G4 iBook (just over 1 Gig) with a little over 700 megs ram, and the most intensive thing I do with it is play World of Warcraft, which gets my GPU up to a toasty 70-80 C pretty quickly. I know iMovie won’t grind on it that hard, and a friend of mine actually edits some rock climbing video on his ibook all the time, but he does complain about how sluggish it can get.
But still, I think a G4 is the minimum you should get. Check out the apple.ca store and look at the refurbished computers. You can often get good deals on mac minis, and you could use your existing monitors and keyboards with that (you’re basically just buying a ibook without a monitor or keyboard!). They often have ibooks and the new macbooks on there too.
I’m not a vlogger so those message groups would be the best place to get advice, but I personally think you would be disappointed with this G3.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am - Edit
Thanks Dan, I’ll take your advice. I checked out apple.ca and if I save my money, I can afford an Apple Protection Plan.
Kidding, $589 for the MiniMac.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:04 pm - Edit
I’ve been considering a MACbook for a while. I would like to get one but not to replace just as a companion to our PCs. Money is the big factor right now. They are pricy but nice. That and my wife is afraid of them. She feels it’ll be a new learning curve to figure them out and since the laptop is her primary computer I guess she does get a vote there. Oh well..I’ll just settle with watching the funny “Hi, I’m a Mac..” commercials.
May 25th, 2007 at 4:28 pm - Edit
Yes there is a steep learning curve if you’ve been a long time pc user. But once you go mac you never go bac.
We just replaced all our pc’s in the lab with mac minis. Incredible. We’re running the dual operating systems on them too…(vista and os x), and you can swtich on the fly if you absolutely need some kind of pc application. Great machines those minis.
I’m such a pathetic apple groupie that a couple of weeks ago when I was in the Bay area I drove by the apple HQ in Cupertino. Nice place!
I’ll probably buy a liquid cooled G5 with the dual processors in a few months. I love laptops but there’s no resisting the raw power!
May 26th, 2007 at 12:17 am - Edit
I’ll agree with bombauer - The G3 you quoted just won’t cut it.
My first Mac was a G3 iBook with 512 megs of ram (the most I could get in it) and it wouldn’t have been suitable for video editing even though it did run OS X.
Look around for a used Intel Macbook if you a really serious and are willing to buy used - there’s quite a few of them available on places like Craigslist.
If you want a desktop, ditto for iMac’s - lots of them available from people who are upgrading to faster ones.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:24 am - Edit
(More thoughts…)
Don’t get me wrong, the machine you mentioned would be a decent intro to the world of Mac (and if it’s running Tiger, better yet) but it won’t be a powerhouse by any means - don’t count on video editing at all.
I wouldn’t bid more then $100 for it, either - there’s plenty of G3’s available used (Craigslist, again) and they seem to hover in the $100 range there.
I’d hate to see you be dissapointed in your Apple introduction by buying a machine that you are overly confident in, though - just remember that if you do start with an old G3 like this that it will be a decent intro to Mac (and OS X) but it won’t be capable of anything close to the newer Mac hardware.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:52 am - Edit
Thanks for the input guys. I didn’t bid on it.
I’ll check into Craig’s list for perhaps a used miniMac. I don’t need portability at this point.
I just checked… no one bid on it.
Hmmm… Maybe I should offer him $40 for it. I could get a wireless networking card and use it in the Cabana. Great for searching the net and seeing how we like a Mac.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:53 am - Edit
He relisted it for $49. I’ll wait another week to see if he sells it.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:11 am - Edit
No wireless possibilities at all on the first gen iMacs, Mike. Better run some Cat5 to your Cabana.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:54 am - Edit
No, you can get Wifi on any computer so long as it has a USB 2.0 port. If you buy a wireless dongle and go to
(http://www.ralinktech.com/ralink/Home/Support/Macintosh.html)
you will up and ready to go.