What to do with a beige Frankenmac and a UMAX?

Achates

Registered
Hey everyone,

Recently, my beloved beige G3/G4 Frankenmac bit the dust. Here are the specs:

NewerTech ZIF G4 433 MHz
416 MB RAM
Sonnet Tech Tempo Trio (FW, USB, ATA)
ATA 25 GB HD
ATI Radeon 32 MB
CD Burner (replaced the internal CD-ROM)

It's been a faithful friend, but it's time to move on. I'm getting married in August and need to get rid of some extra stuff.

I wanted some advice on what to do with it. It seems to me I have two options:

- Replace the motherboard (around $20 all told) and try to sell the whole thing on eBay.
- Scrap it and sell off the parts like the Tempo Trio, the ZIF, and the Radeon on eBay.

How can I find a balance between profit and time?

A similar question: I have an old Umax C600 that runs just fine, but I don't need it around anymore. I think it'd make a great little Linux server, but would anyone really buy it off of me? I may end up just giving it to a friend.

Thoughts?

Achates
 
I think you wouldn't get more than $50 for it, is not worth it, I would sell it as parts.
 
You should be able to install Debian "etch" on that Umax. I installed a previous version of Debian on an old StarMax 4000 I gave to my father and it ran nicely. Just max out the RAM and put in a decently supported video card (Radeon 7000 series might be a good bet since that one supports hardware acceleration in Linux/ppc) and you should have a great Linux/ppc computer.

Of course, you could always just install Mac OS 9 and install the necessary apps (iCab, AppleWorks, etc.....this is assuming that you include the discs for the commercial stuff, of course ;)).

If you still don't want it, you can always try offering it to the guys over at the PowerPC Macintosh Liberation Army.
 
Yeah, I've thought about transforming it into a Linux box. Either that or experimenting with OS 7.6.

Eventually I'm going to have to get rid of it, I imagine. There won't be much space for it in my 1 bedroom apartment.
 
Yeah, I've thought about transforming it into a Linux box. Either that or experimenting with OS 7.6.

Eventually I'm going to have to get rid of it, I imagine. There won't be much space for it in my 1 bedroom apartment.

Yeah, I know what you mean. With three kids in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house, space for all of my toys is becoming very scarce hence why I had to give the StarMax 4000 to my father. Eventually I hope to get it back (ssshhh..don't tell my wife!). :p
 
I'd be interested in the G4 accelerator in it, do you think it still works? Have you tried it with the original G3 card back in it? Also the display card might be of interest as well.
 
Back
Top