it depends where the OP lives with intel iMac's as here in the uk for example you can pick up a G5 iMac in working condition for just about £200 + and for that kind of money you hardly get a G4 mini at this time of year couple month ago you could pick them up for around £120-150 , working intel iMac's start at about double that price if working and good condition
and even the early intel mini core solo 1.5 still reach way beyond £250 and the 1.66 core duo and 1.83 core duo mini's sell usually not much less then £400 more often even far more , while a near brandnew one 2010 basic model can be had for about £500 with still apple warranty on it ,
thats why i never bought a mini intel used , as its not worth the money really considering you get for just about £100 -150 more a brandnew mini from the nearest apple store ,even less if you find a apple refurbished one or you get a early intel iMac for less then a mini would cost you , the highly overpriced mini (used) makes me think about why would anybody pay more to receive less
and i sold my iMac G5 for £100 (bad caps , sometimes freezing ) now ,
the buyer relisted it straight away for £250 on the day i sold it to him before i even had time to get it delivered to him and sold it as working without changing caps , so the one who bought it payed more then i initially bought it for and received the same broken(still bad caps inside ) iMac G5 and surprisingly listed it for sale again after couple weeks (i guess after he found out whats wrong with it ) for 210
so read all old listings and feedbacks from the seller you buy from , because its tempting for a seller to make real big money with a G5 (buying for 100 , selling for 250)
i could have sold mine too for more if i would not be to honest , after all it was still working with one blown capacitor , only occasional freezing , so with luck the buyer would have dicovered the problem after he could file a case via ebay , so lot of people take the chance as you can easy double your money if you sell a broken but still just working iMac G5 as long as it boots you can always sell as untested but booting fine
so i would not buy a G5 iMac if i want to be sure i get a working iMac
really i would bite into the sour apple and spend the money on a iMac intel (early core duo 1.83 like mine )
i bought it as you can read in one or the other post of me for £370 from a certified apple repair technician , just out of apple care , but had replaced nearly all internals (logicboard, display, harddrive , superdrive,psu ) within the last month of apple care , so is actually brandnew inside and despite 4 year old is still a very capable computer ,
or get a iMac G4 1.25 still capable of basic computing ,
but dont gamble on a iMac G5 as it is a gamble that could get expensive
so better if you really want a G5 (the early 1.6/1.8 are fantastic because so easy to upgrade, just 3 screws , then even a child can change harddrive, optical drive , PSU ) buy a iMac G5 that is listed as broken , but with details exactly about whats broken , then find out where to get or how to fix it economically and you got yourself a nice working iMac G5 , everything else is a big gamble , as to many want to get rid of their G5 iMac's with all the various faults they have , and they all will look nice and only some might mention a little "problem" which could turn out to cost you as much as you payed for the iMac initially
