> > The difference isn't between spending a few hundred dollars for a >> used G3 DT and a monitor and then upgrading that, it is getting the >> G3 266 DT for nearly free with the monitor I would assume. >> >> At that point you put in a Radeon 7000 ($100), a couple of 60 >> gig/7200 hard drives ($170), an ata controller pci card that will >> operate your drives at 100 MHz $50, a CDRW ($90 for a 40 X write; >> slightly slower w/ DVD for $130), some extra memory ($80 for two 256 >> sticks ) and a firewire/USB pci card for $50 (Sonnet just came out >> with a combo card that does the ATA133/Firewire/USB for $180; costs >> more than the separate cards, but you end up with an empty PCI slot >> for something else later) and a G4 zif, for around $250. >> >> For around $800, you get a G4/500 MHz/>512 MB/w/CDRW/dvd and 120 GB >> of disk storage machine that will handle OSX and just about anything >> 98% of college students will want to do for the next four years. >> >> I don't know that you can get a G4 machine with all that plus the >> monitor for $800. > >Actually you just justified getting a Sawtooth machine over a beige G3 >:-) > >If you look on ebay you'll see that G4 400 Sawtooth machines are >selling for around 800 bucks (sometimes less). And if that's too rich >for your blood try for a G4 350 sawtooth (just make sure it's a >sawtooth and has AGP graphics). This you can hold off on upgrading for >a while. And when you do you can put in a G4 800Mhz or G4 1Ghz >upgrade. You're also getting ATA-66 and AGP 2x. With jaguar coming up >with quartz extreme I'd really suggest getting a machine with at least >AGP 2x and upgrading the vid card to a really nice one (I'm getting the >ATI radeon 9700 when it comes out...it should increase performance >REALLY nicely with quartz extreme and leave lots of processor bandwidth >for doing other stuff)
Maybe, but at this point does the Sawtooth have a 500 Mhz G4 with over 512 MB of memory and 120 gigs of *fast* storage, and the monitor? A CD/RW/DVD that writes at 32 X? And if something stock on it breaks, he can walk over to his Dad's company and scavenge the part... Buying the Sawtooth gets him a little faster system bus, AGP, and an internal modem, but a slower chip. Upgrading the system to the above specs and getting a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse, plus then having to get the system sofware, and pay shipping... that all adds significantly to the cost. But the Sawtooth looks nicer. The reality is that for school and internet the G3/266, which will run System 9.2 well and System X passably will get him through all four years. Arguing the rest is just bells and whistles. Unless he is heavily involved in digital video, rather than writing and researching papers, and surfing the internet in his spare time, playing mp3's like most college students. The G3/266 does all of that well, and he can save all the money. -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
