Picked up a 17" iMac G4 on craigslist

I always loved this form factor - I think this was the peak of Apple's industrial design

So, even if it wasn't functioning, I wanted one as a collector's item and for nostalgic reasons (I've owned several in the past)

Turns out this one works fine. It had Panther installed which I upgraded to Tiger yesterday

There's no Airport card installed, so no wifi, but ethernet does work

I don't believe it has bluetooth either

USB, firewire and ethernet ports are working

The optical drive also doesn't seem to be able to read discs, though I haven't tested it extensively

So, does anybody have any thoughts on what I can do with this? Or, should I just marvel at its incredible design and be happy with that?

Thanks

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My music blog: [www.auditorymusings.net]


The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado

I've been using my originally purchased 15" as a music server for a dozen years now. I've replaced the HD once and now the optical seems to be dead, but I'll probably replace that, too. It's got the prefect screen to adjust for viewing when using it in a cramped location, as I do. My music is stored on external FW drives, but I'm tempted to just splurge for the OWC ssd conversion so I can ditch those.

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Mischievous and Deceitful
Chicanerous and Deplorable

Quote
mrbigstuff
I've been using my originally purchased 15" as a music server for a dozen years now. I've replaced the HD once and now the optical seems to be dead, but I'll probably replace that, too. It's got the prefect screen to adjust for viewing when using it in a cramped location, as I do. My music is stored on external FW drives, but I'm tempted to just splurge for the OWC ssd conversion so I can ditch those.

Is it a later model with USB 2? I would think running music thru USB 2 is more than fine.

Nice portable USB drives are cheap... no power needed, less heat, less noise, 1/4 the size...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I already have an always on Mac mini that serves as my primary computer and media server (Plex, etc.), so I don't think I would use the iMac for any server-type duties

@jdc it's this model: [everymac.com]

It has 512MB RAM and an 80GB hard disk

Recipe / music server for kitchen. Consider a wall mount, such that the LCD hangs downward and at eye level.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

I ran one as a photo slideshow for a few years. Worked great and looked great. Eventually replaced it with a raspberry pi and a bigger display for the slideshow.

Quote
PeterB
Recipe / music server for kitchen. Consider a wall mount, such that the LCD hangs downward and at eye level.

Huh, never thought to wall mount one. They gotta be close to 25 lbs.

Im in the same camp as you guys -- I have my moms in the garage -- its a 15" G4 1 Ghz w/USB 2 -- one of the last/fastest ones.

No idea what to do with it.

I have a 2006 20" and 2007 24" sitting that are for more capable... but not the same adjustment...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Photo frame and music station

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

I've got the original version of the 15" G4 iMac, and it weighs around 21lbs.

Obviously the bigger versions will weigh significantly more.

It was another two generations before it got USB 2.

When my friend had it, he used it to run iTunes all the time.

I've never run it from an external HD, but if that were a problem for ALAC music, I'll try an SSD inside.

That may be a project.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Yeah not sure any 15er had USB2. But a ssd could solve some of the typical lag one sees even from a FW drive.

Edit I guess the last iteration did!

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Mischievous and Deceitful
Chicanerous and Deplorable



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2020 02:24PM by mrbigstuff.

The last gen 15” with a 1 GHz CPU had USB2. I think using such a machine with an SSD would be an example of diminishing returns, though cool for sure.

Apple Pi:

[m.youtube.com]

A clock.

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Thanks for all the replies

Looks like maybe a screensaver/slide show type device could possibly work for us

Quote
jdc

Quote
PeterB
Recipe / music server for kitchen. Consider a wall mount, such that the LCD hangs downward and at eye level.

Huh, never thought to wall mount one. They gotta be close to 25 lbs.

Im in the same camp as you guys -- I have my moms in the garage -- its a 15" G4 1 Ghz w/USB 2 -- one of the last/fastest ones.

No idea what to do with it.

I have a 2006 20" and 2007 24" sitting that are for more capable... but not the same adjustment...

25 lbs is not that much to wall-mount. The advantage of this is that the body of the iMac is not taking up valuable counter space, and the screen can be conveniently placed at or near eye-level. The disadvantage is that the optical drive will no longer be level with the floor, but few people actually use the optical drive any more anyway. It makes a definite design statement.

Not quite wall-mounted, but you get the idea:

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

You want to actually put it to work, as opposed to turning it into a neat sculpture?

Find someone who needs an old Mac for Pro Tools.

Audio guys collect ancient plugins and refuse to spend money on upgrades. They always seem to need old Macs.

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The last gen 15” with a 1 GHz CPU had USB2.


That would be the third gen of G4 iMac.

I do like the idea of a music machine + flip clock.

Could be tough on the screen though.

I've never found an app that would create Lissajous patterns from left and right audio output.

My Marantz 150 tuner does that but for tuning.

Looks exactly like:



There was an iTunes plug-in that came close, but I think it stopped working early in OS X.

I don't know if I have it on one of my old drives, or where I could even find it.

It would be the only 'visualizer' I'd want to use.

I suppose I could go way back old school and actually get an o'scope, but that's just too clunky.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 03:55AM by RAMd®d.

Before our office closed, I kept an old one on my desk running some Brian Eno software, 77 Million Paintings.

[en.wikipedia.org]

[longnow.org]

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