I am considering buying a Snow iMac G3 600 and making it into a home office file server. What do you think? Baucom computers has them pretty cheap with good specs--256 (which I will upgrade) 20gb HD, Combo drive--but is this good enough for file serving and possibly testing web pages/sites that I will be creating? I am also considering a dual G4 450 Power Mac from the same site. I am torn--I am also thinking aesthetics in my iBook G4-laden home office (snow imac would fit in perfectly but it needs to perform). Any thoughts/opinions/WAGs are welcome.
The iMac should work fine, provided you don't have a crazy number of clients connected to it. If running as a Web server, it wouldn't stand a chance if it was Slashdotted, but for what you describe, it should work great.
..since I have never owned an iMac--actually, I have never used a desktop Mac period outside of school--I was wondering how difficult it is to upgrade. I have heard mixed stories of the upgradeability. I would be looking strictly at basic upgrades--RAM, hard drive, adding an airport card etc.
All that being said I am still weighing my options. I am very much still considering something else, such as the dual 450 Power Mac mentioned in the initial post--still giving it more punch through upgrades in RAM, hd etc. I am also trying to consider how my choice will scale--I eventually will want to use this computer as a web server/e-mail server, etc. So if you have any stories about experiences you've had, please let me know.
What type of upgrade are you talking about? on My B/W g3 adding ram was a chinch, Pop out the old pop in the new. The processor upgrade to a G4 500 was really easy. Unplug the old one. Pop the new one in set a few jumpers. But changing out the cdrom for a CDRW/DVD combo was a little bit tricky buit not too hard.
...upgrading iMacs. I have confidence that I could handle any upgrades needed in a Power Mac G3/G4, but I am unsure of my abilities in the Imac's case. Also, if anyone has used iMacs for the purposes that I wish to use one.
RAM upgrades in those are almost stupidly simple. Open small door, stick RAM in. Hard drive upgrades aren't really tricky either, you just have to undo a lot of screws and then there's that dreaded "SNAP!" that you have to endure to take the bottom case off.
You'd be better off with a G4, by the way.
Why not spent a little more and get a Mac Mini?
...snowballs from $479 (student disc.) to about $700 with upgrades to RAM, HD etc. The Mini is great, but I am not even in great need of the processing power that the Mini offers. I have actually ditched the iMac idea and I am going for a Power Mac G4 of some sort--450, 500. I might even go for a cube. Odds are I will end up with a Dual 450 Sawtooth--cheap and easy to upgrade later.
Thanks for the input everyone. Once again you have made my decision easier.