OSNews reviews an old iMac G3 333MHz from Geeks.com. You’d think these guys were crazy for buying old, refurbs and trying to run new software on them. But I’d have to give OS News credit for being creative in this regard. I’ve had my share of purchasing (rather inexpensively I must say) old machines, refurbishing them with loads of RAM, a large hard drive, and new software, and getting some pretty decent performance.
The way I see the value of these older G3 iMacs is this: great gifts for small kids (up to young teenagers) or older non-technical people. While they won’t satisfy young gamers or business environments anymore, these iMacs still have a place in the kids’ bedroom or the office of your grandparents. So if you have newphew, young kids or older parents who don’t need “more” or just need an introductory computer, these iMacs are a great deal. They sell between $50 and $100 and they provide the full monty. And if you are a geek, you probably are going to get one for yourself too.
You won’t get blazing speeds and eye-popping graphics off these old machines. But you still get decent performance with most office-related tasks (word processing, some spreadsheets) and Internet use (email, web, IM). And if you’re as geeky as I am–and the Mac enthusiasts over at OSNews–you would appreciate old computers, just as as auto connosieurs would appreciate a well-maintained vintage auto or 60′s muscle car.
And for $50 to $100, a G3 iMac would be a good buy, even just for the cool factor!
I purchased one for my son last Christmas, and while it’s got some issues, and I’m working on getting it’s wireless connection setup, he has enjoyed it.