G3 value question

C

corimay

PeanutButter
I don't know much about Mac's, but I'm looking to get one and not spend too much. I found a local apple store that is selling a used G3/300 (tower) and has OSX, 80gig HD, Rage 128 Graphics Card, 576 MB Ram, 512K L2 Cache for $799.

I'm an intermediate level Graphic Designer, and don't need anything really fancy or super fast for home. I just need something that works well with my design software (ie Photoshop and Flash). I want to know if this system is worth getting. The salesman told me its terribly slow and tried talking me into getting a G4. However, I'd like a second opinion from real users. Is there that much of a difference between this G3 and the lowest model G4?

Thanks for your help!!
 
There is a difference between G3 and G4 indeed. Especially if the G3 is 300MHz !

I use a G3/500 with 640RAM. Everything is fast, don't worry, the G3 is a fine processor. But G4 is the future, as well as OSX is. You should, in my opinion, think about this when buying your Mac. This G3 you're talking about sounds great, but you'll be stucked with it when you'll need to upgrade some software, OS, etc.
 
$800 for a 300 mHz Mac seems high.

Here are some options:

For about $1000 to $1100 you can get an iBook (consumer notebook) with good, fast graphics and decent (700 mHz) processor speed. It has a 12.1 inch screen and a vga port (via adapter) should you wish to plug it in to a larger monitor.

Or for about the same amount, you can get an eMac, a consumer all-in-one Mac with fast graphics and decent speed and a 17" monitor. The eMac also uses a G4!

You can get either of these machines often with free printers and extra memory from Mac Mall or other online catalog companies.

So, $800 for a slooooooow Mac with slowish graphics or $1000 - 1100 for a decently fast Mac with speedy graphics. . .

It's worth it.
 
Take the G4! Take the G4!

Especially if you're going to be running OS X. I use a G3/300 at work and a G4/867 at home and the difference is quite pheonomenal. As already said, the eMac's probably your cheapest option for a new machine or you could probably pick up a graphite G4 cheap. Check Ebay for sensible prices. $800 seems way too much for the G3.
 
Same here. G3 300 is a nice comp but 800 is way too much. Ok it has 80gig hdd and some ram but still.

I would go for iBook, eMac or used G4 tower.
 
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