After being a holdout on upgrading to 10.4.x (Tiger) I think I'm now ready to upgrade. I know Leopard is right around the corner, so I'd like to get Tiger on eBay and hopefully pay less than full retail (or even slightly discounted retail).

I've noticed that some listings are for an upgrade version, I assume this means that it can only upgrade a previous version of OS X and can't do a clean install is that correct? Also, if I had to do a clean install it would mean installing Jaguar, upgrading to Panther (I've got upgrade disks) and then upgrading to Tiger, correct?

Is there any difference between the full retail version and the bundled version that some people are selling?

I imagine that any version that is new sealed in box would be a safe bet, but what about listings that don't specify new sealed in box? What about those that are listed as used?

Some sellers have versions that say they're for a Mac mini or an eMac, etc. will these only work on the specified computer or will they work on my G4 1Ghz Flat Panel iMac?

Any sellers I should steer clear of? Any other advice on this purchase? Thanks.

You can have a bootable version of OSX on a second or external drive, and do the full install.
Most of the time, versions bundled with machines are loosely machine specific, and can be a pain.

I am not endorsing the info below--but it is for information

There are tools to extract a full install from an upgrade. If you can extract the OS from a Machine specific, you also get the additional iLife apps.

Don't buy Tiger on eBay!

It will be a new, miserable experience for you, and I highly recommend against it...for many reasons. The "machine-specific" versions that you'll see there are potential problems, right out of the box, as they may or may NOT work on your iMac G4.

Your best bet is finding a reputable seller like OWC and finding the best retail deal that exists right now, and just paying the $$$ and be happy. You'll not like getting a version of Tiger that doesn't install properly on your G4 iMac, trust me. But if you insist on going for some eBay package deal, then get the Tiger version for an eMac, as that package is the most universal version that's out there in quantity...ie it works on more machines than everything else does.

My 1st caution to you is to read the seller's Feedback ratings and go from there. That's the key to eBay Tiger selling/buying. If you read that 90 people on the first page of 100 were 100% satisfied then I guess that's a go, yes?

____________________________

---

What's the difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make some sense.

$69 from Apple.
Buy it at the EDU price for your Nephew/Niece/
Little Brother/Sister.

BGnR

---

"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

Quote
Ken Sp.
You can have a bootable version of OSX on a second or external drive, and do the full install.

I currently have two bootable backups on an external drive, so I'd be covered there.

Quote
Ken Sp.
Most of the time, versions bundled with machines are loosely machine specific, and can be a pain.

That's what I was afraid of.

Quote
Ken Sp.
I am not endorsing the info below--but it is for information

There are tools to extract a full install from an upgrade.

I didn't know that. I'll keep it in mind if I decide to go in that direction.

Quote
Ken Sp.
If you can extract the OS from a Machine specific, you also get the additional iLife apps.

Yeah, I kind of like to upgrade iLife also, and that was my reason for considering a machine specific version.

Quote
rexrzer
Don't buy Tiger on eBay!

It will be a new, miserable experience for you, and I highly recommend against it...for many reasons. The "machine-specific" versions that you'll see there are potential problems, right out of the box, as they may or may NOT work on your iMac G4.

I was afraid that machine specific versions wouldn't work, but remember reading someplace (where I can't remember) that the machine version didn't matter as all OS X versions weren't specific to any particular machine, that reguardless of which Mac they came with they would install on any other Mac. I guess that info wasn't correct.

Quote
rexrzer
Your best bet is finding a reputable seller like OWC and finding the best retail deal that exists right now, and just paying the $$$ and be happy. You'll not like getting a version of Tiger that doesn't install properly on your G4 iMac, trust me. But if you insist on going for some eBay package deal, then get the Tiger version for an eMac, as that package is the most universal version that's out there in quantity...ie it works on more machines than everything else does.

I've looked around for retail deals and there really aren't any. A couple dollars off Apple list isn't much of a deal in my mind and with Leopard not that far off, I'd really like to pay less. I'll keep the eMac advice in mind if I go in that direction.

Quote
rexrzer
My 1st caution to you is to read the seller's Feedback ratings and go from there. That's the key to eBay Tiger selling/buying. If you read that 90 people on the first page of 100 were 100% satisfied then I guess that's a go, yes?

I always do that. If I'm spending more than a few dollars on something I want it to come from a seller with a lot of transactions and a good feedback rating.

Quote
BigGuynRusty
$69 from Apple.
Buy it at the EDU price for your Nephew/Niece/
Little Brother/Sister.

BGnR

I don't understand. How would I do that?

EDU Discount!!
$69

BGnR

---

"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

Here is the upgrade [www.allmac.com]

Quote
DewGuy

Quote
BigGuynRusty
$69 from Apple.
Buy it at the EDU price for your Nephew/Niece/
Little Brother/Sister.

BGnR

I don't understand. How would I do that?

Pick up phone.
Call Apple.
Get salesperson on line.
You Say, "I want to purchase Tiger for my Brother who is in High School" (Make sure to know the name of a local HS)
They say, "That will be 69 bux"
Do you need more help??

BGnR

---

"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

IIRC, most of the "upgrade" discs are not machine specific, so that could make things a bit easier if the price is right for you since you already have Jaguar and Panther. Some machine specific OS discs actually work as generic, while others do not, and some work only on certain classes of machines, so it does help to know exactly what will work, and what won't, if it's other than a retail box. I bought what was listed as a retail 9.2.x disc on ebay for $40 a few years ago, but it turned out to be copy, with a decent home printing job on a printable CD, that unfortunately didn't work real well as an OS installer; so definitely beware. I got lucky afterwards, the tech at a local mac shop made me a copy of the needed OS 9 disc for the G4 tower at issue a the time, and after I called BS on the ebay seller, he sent us a pci card and some cables to make up for the bogus OS disc (along w/ a slightly used $20 bill). hopefully you can find a Tiger "drop in" disc for cheap (IOW, less than BGnR's noted edu deal to be worth while) to tide you over until Leo show up this fall. good luck.

I used the an OSX 10.4 Upgrade DVD on my Macs - worked fine and was NOT machine specific. If if you've gone the past year and a half without OSX 10.4 - I wouldn't bother to upgrade now - unless you feel the overwhelming need to run widgets. I prefer Yahoo widgets (Konfabulator) and these work fine on OSX 10.3.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Technically I want to hold out for 10.5. However, CS3 requires 10.4.8 or 10.4.9. I'm also thinking of holding out and buying a refurbished 20" iMac when 10.5 is released and selling my Dual 1.8 G5 w/ 4 GB of memory then.

But, if I could get a copy of 10.4 for $25-$40 it might be worth it.

Decisions, Decisions.

Bill

Quote
Ken Sp.
Here is the upgrade [www.allmac.com]

Ken, thanks for the link. That looks like a pretty good price. I haven't heard of AllMac.com before, are they a reputable reseller?

Quote
BigGuynRusty
[Pick up phone.
Call Apple.
Get salesperson on line.
You Say, "I want to purchase Tiger for my Brother who is in High School" (Make sure to know the name of a local HS)
They say, "That will be 69 bux"
Do you need more help??

BGnR

Now I understand, I didn't know you could do that. Thanks.

Quote
Buzz
IIRC, most of the "upgrade" discs are not machine specific, so that could make things a bit easier if the price is right for you since you already have Jaguar and Panther. Some machine specific OS discs actually work as generic, while others do not, and some work only on certain classes of machines, so it does help to know exactly what will work, and what won't, if it's other than a retail box.

I suspected that machine specific discs might be problematical for my iMac and I'm glad to hear about all the potential problems here before I go and buy one. Now I won't. I'll stick with either the full retail version or the upgrade discs.

Quote
Buzz
Ihopefully you can find a Tiger "drop in" disc for cheap (IOW, less than BGnR's noted edu deal to be worth while) to tide you over until Leo show up this fall. good luck.

I've never been an early adopter when it comes to computers so I'll probably not be upgrading to Leopard for awhile after it's released. Give everyone else a chance to work out any bugs.

Quote
Forrest
I used the an OSX 10.4 Upgrade DVD on my Macs - worked fine and was NOT machine specific. If if you've gone the past year and a half without OSX 10.4 - I wouldn't bother to upgrade now - unless you feel the overwhelming need to run widgets. I prefer Yahoo widgets (Konfabulator) and these work fine on OSX 10.3.

I'm not looking to upgrade to Tiger because of the features, I'm content with Panther as far as features go, but because more and more software is requiring it. If I want to run newer software I need Tiger.

Quote
spacescape
I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Technically I want to hold out for 10.5. However, CS3 requires 10.4.8 or 10.4.9. I'm also thinking of holding out and buying a refurbished 20" iMac when 10.5 is released and selling my Dual 1.8 G5 w/ 4 GB of memory then.

But, if I could get a copy of 10.4 for $25-$40 it might be worth it.

Decisions, Decisions.

Bill

Yep, I'm finding more and more software is requiring Tiger, if you want to be current you need Tiger.