Ive just purchased a Blue & White G3 350 tower with 256 mb ram, modem, and a capture card (nokb or mouose) from eBay - going to collect at weekend.
it has no HD and a "slightly" faulty dvd drive
what should i do with it? turn it into a pc or replace parts to make it nice again, i have a spare apple pro keyboard and mouse as i upgraded my imac g4 with blutooth ones
has anyone had experience with this system in the past, are normal pc ide drives compatible with it etc.
Thanks
BYE BYE
Normal PC Ide devices are supported.
Remember though that sometimes *this has happened to me* that the IDE devices like cdrom/dvd/cdr/rw have problems when used to try to install OS.
(happened alot with my Imacs) :rant:
Use standard ide hard drive,dvd or cdrom and get the machine up and running would be the best bet, the B&W case with a PC in it, makes for a project to which you have to decide. Modifications to mounting pads;areas, loss of some pci slots (due to nature and shape of case and way in which motherboard mounts) and usage of third party heatsink,fan combo due to power supply mounting conflicting with standard cpu fan (warning for you AMD users out there). Add this all together and you a little bit of work, but not to hard if you take you time. I will say that almost 99% of people would put the system back together as a apple though, as the QUICKSILVER case makes a much better PC then the B&W.
In the end it comes down to personal choice on your part. You could have a nice good little Internet machine,jukebox, audio box if you put back together as an Apple at less then $100 if you pick the best buys for HD and DVD.
(Y)
for good deals on stuff like hard drives/dvd drives, check out edeals info
thanks
il probly keep it as an apple then, im glad it takes normal pc hds as ive got a few small ones layiing around anyway.
i'll network it to my iMac to share itunes etc, also ive yet to upgrade my imac to panther 10.3 so ill be able to upgrade them both - this presents another question, does the 10.3 disc install from scratch (blank hd) or is it an upgrade which needs an earlier mac os like with windows xp upgrade, the g3 im getting has no software cds with it, so i hope i can.
Well, first off, my dad has a Power Mac G3 B&W With System 9.1 and it runs slow. I'm not sure that putting System X on that box will be a good idea! It may run like crap! About the CD problem (if you go ahead with System X.3), it should work fine from a blank hard drive.
If installing OS X make sure your installing 10.3 since it boasts much better GUI responce (especially for older machines).
i dont mind if its slow, if i want to do something productive ive got this system, it will most likely go in front room for internet and music, definetly not games or dv editing (although the capture card that is with it may have some use)
Also ram for it is cheap, it takes up to 1gb of pc100 so thattle help, and if it is a load of slow poo ill try the pc conversion
I had an idea about putting a mini ITX motherboard in as this would avoid a lot of the cutting and chopping needed to fit a larger board in (this also could be a solution to turning the awkward g4 "MDD" case into a pc, not that ive got one - just an idea)
Bye
Panther will function as an update from the Install CD if you boot from disk, its options ask if you want to do a full blank (partition;format) or an upgrade.
As for speed, while it may not be the fastest, Panther on the machine will give great response and it not dead slow as people make it seem. Panther even functions on an Imac 333 mhz G3 just fine ( This is my slowest apple I have and am currently running panther without any problems, I do have an ata 133 40 GB hard drive and 256 Mem, so maybe that might perk it up more then normal)
As for the Mini-ITX thought you had, I have made an Mini-Itx Imac out of my second oldest mac, an original 350 DV G3 blueberry.
Specs of the converted mac to pc:
3.06 P4 - 533 mhz FSB
LV-670LVDS BVM Mini-Itx SBC Motherboard
1 GB 333 mhz DDR
Intel 845G Built-in Extreme Graphics -Onboard
Intel PRO 10/100+ NIC -Onboard
Agere IEEE 1394 -Onboard
Intel USB 2.0 -Onboard
5.1-Channel Audio -Onboard
AV / S-video TV-out -Onboard
DVI-ATIVATOR - reverse LVDS to Apple convertor
Wiring harness from dedmacdance - I loved that place, gonna miss ya!!
120 GB Hard Drive (room for 2 more if I get lucky, kinda cramped in there)
Not so damn cheap but feels cheap UJ-815-B DVD Burner -Slot
Imac modifications include:
Dismantle of Imac, sand grey/white areas on inside of machine, painted pure white for maximum lighted effect. 2 sections of 9" white rope light wired to inside of front casing of imac.
3 Cheap Shaving .99 cent mirrors from osco drug store for inside of translucent areas of case.
2 Blue neon case light kits mounted in inside of each side near motherboard near mirrors. 1 Mini Blue neon light kit for rear.
Total Imac/PC cost = too much for me say with a straight face. 
Time to build = 3 1/2 months :banging:
Was it worth it? = Yes, but it is a very expensive nightlight that is so bright you cant leave the damn thing on at night!!!! :staffs here:
Would I do again? = Hell yeah!!! (Y)
Have fun!!!
Ive now got the system, i was supprissed as it was in original box had a keyboard, original software cds and manuals etc and its in excellent condition.
The only bad thing is ive realised is its a "rev 1" model which means any hard disk other than the original 6gb one (which it is without) will get random data curruption as the IDE controller on this model was flawed, ill probably have to find an scsi card and drive instead.
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