Now I got them... What do I do with em?

[hcuar]

So... I bought two additional Macs today...

I'm not sure if they were a good deal or not... I got a grape iMac 333 and a PowerMac 6400 for a total of $20.00. The iMac 333 is stock except for a total of 160MB of RAM. The PM has been upgraded with a 40GB HD, not sure of the RAM... I didn't pay attention. The iMac is running OS 8.6, the PM is running OS 9.1.

So... The question is what do I do with them now? I like to dedicate the iMac to letting the baby play with it as soon as she can sit upright. (not born yet, but I can dream ) What free or nearly free software would work on these two Macs? Both are operating in top condition!

 

[Daveway]

You got a great deal. I bought a similar set last month for $50.

I hear the guys on the MR Folding team need some help or you can leave it for the kids to use for the net etc. Remember to have one to tinker with, thats what I say.

 

[hcuar]

So... other than folding... what runs on them?

 

[yellow]

So... other than folding... what runs on them?

What version of the Mac OS are you running?

 

[Brother Michael]

What version of the Mac OS are you running?

iMac =8.6
Pmac = 9.1

I would get 9.1 for the iMac and run iTunes on both machines.

Done.

Mike

 

[yellow]

Ooops, duh, you're right, that was in the original post.

 

[MacDawg]

So... other than folding... what runs on them?

How about games

Look here or do a search for old games on this forum.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[yellow]

I'd hit version tracker (For OS 8/9) if I was you.. You'll find plenty of applications listed there.

 

[wordmunger]

I think have a bunch of edutainment software for my old iMac that our kids have outgrown. I can let you have it for the price of postage.

 

[wdlove]

So... other than folding... what runs on them?

Until you decided and your child is older, folding in the meantime would help society with disease research. Secondly you would also be helping MacRumors.

The second the motion to check out Version Tracker.

 

[LifeOfRyan]

I would suggest and as suggested before, if you upgrade the OS, run one as an iTunes server. I'm contemplating buying a recently old (does that even make sense?!) Mac for this exact purpose.

 

[Macmaniac]

If you wanted to be crazy grab the 40gb out of the PM and format it with Tiger or Panther and throw it into the iMac. It would make a nice email/internet machine. Of course you can keep OS 9 and play games like Starcraft and Warcraft

 

[hcuar]

I think have a bunch of edutainment software for my old iMac that our kids have outgrown. I can let you have it for the price of postage.

I think I'm interested... I sent you a PM...

 

[sacear]

Lots of Good Old Stuff

hcuar, I have tons of System 7 through OS 9 era stuff (hardware, software, books, accessories, etc.). I will sell for cheap if you are interested. PM or email me.

 

[mischief]

The iMac maxes out at 384 MB of RAM and you can put in a fairly large cheap ATA drive (up to 80GB reliably).

You can install up to OS X.3 on it before it gets hanky.

The 6400.......

 

[strider42]

The iMac maxes out at 384 MB of RAM and you can put in a fairly large cheap ATA drive (up to 80GB reliably).

You can install up to OS X.3 on it before it gets hanky.

The 6400.......

actually, the iMac maxes out at 512 megs of ram now that low profile 256 meg ram chips are available for that lower slot.

And every CRT iMac can take up to 127 gigs of formated hard drive size. the only caveat is that on a tray loading iMac like a 333, you have to partition the drive so the OS is on a partition residing within the first 8 gigs of the drive.

http://www.djonmac.com has some good info on doing the upgrades.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Wow you're lucky, I bought the iMac in my siggy for almost $300 from MacAztec - very good seller though, but I was happy with it, till I started using this puppy (see other mac in siggy).

 

[hcuar]

hcuar, I have tons of System 7 through OS 9 era stuff (hardware, software, books, accessories, etc.). I will sell for cheap if you are interested. PM or email me.

Email sent.

 

[hcuar]

The iMac maxes out at 384 MB of RAM and you can put in a fairly large cheap ATA drive (up to 80GB reliably).

You can install up to OS X.3 on it before it gets hanky.

The 6400.......

I'm planning on adding no additional hardware to either Mac... I do have a 20GB HD I could add to the iMac, however I don't have the install CD's for the OS... Which is something I'm looking to buy uber cheap. Not sure I want to run OS X on the iMac (probably 9.x).

So... no updates until I get a install CD for the OS.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I'm planning on adding no additional hardware to either Mac... I do have a 20GB HD I could add to the iMac, however I don't have the install CD's for the OS... Which is something I'm looking to buy uber cheap. Not sure I want to run OS X on the iMac (probably 9.x).

So... no updates until I get a install CD for the OS.

The iMac will run up to Panther.

EDIT: You can download Mac OS 7.5 for free - the entire OS, but I recommend swapping hard drives so that OS 9 is on the iMac and OS 8.5 is on the PowerMac. Or I could send you a CD (if I can find it) its for a PowerMac G3 and it has OS 8 on it. I think 8.5, its a restore disk.

 

[mms]

The iMac *will* run Panther, but not really enough to be usable for anything with 160MB of RAM. I used to have a Lombard (G3 PB, 333mhz, 384MB) running Panther and it ran acceptably for bare bones tasks - internet, email, word processing. It will probably run well on OS 9 or 8.6 however, and you can use it on just about any everyday tasks. You could just set it in a separate part of the house to use as an internet machine, like I did with an old Performa for a while; or you could use it for iTunes as others have suggested.

For old games, you could look at abandonware. I'm not completely sure of the legal standing of this software and I've heard arguments for both sides but I'll throw it out just as another idea.

 

[jeremy.king]

Yellow Dog + MAME = kick ass old school gaming mac

 

[hcuar]

Yellow Dog + MAME = kick ass old school gaming mac

Wow!!! that might be a great idea for the 6400....

 

[hcuar]

The iMac will run up to Panther.

EDIT: You can download Mac OS 7.5 for free - the entire OS, but I recommend swapping hard drives so that OS 9 is on the iMac and OS 8.5 is on the PowerMac. Or I could send you a CD (if I can find it) its for a PowerMac G3 and it has OS 8 on it. I think 8.5, its a restore disk.

Will a PM G3 restore disk work on an iMac and the 6400?

 

[slooksterPSV]

Will a PM G3 restore disk work on an iMac and the 6400?

I dunno on the iMac, it didn't work for mine, but then again my firmware is the latest version for the G3's non firewire, so maybe it will, maybe it won't. It didn't for mine at least, yeah... The 6400, if its a G3 processor, maybe.