No Windows for Me

How a Heavily Upgraded Power Mac G4 Pulled Me Back from the Dark Side

- 2008.06.23

Popularity: LEMLEMLEM

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us Slashdot Suggest to Slashdot

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $154 / 2GB kit $94, New 2008 iMac 2GB $46. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 / 1GB $23--Free shipping available.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Burn DVDs, DVD-DL, CDs, DVD-Ram - FAST! Superdrive upgrades from OWC starting from $31.99 with options for nearly every Mac. Models with Lightscribe, Blu-Ray too!

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

MacBook/MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO DDR2 667Mhz 4GB Kit $84, 3GB Kit $60, 2GB Kit $40 1GB $20. Click to Maximize your Macs...

It's been three months since I've written for Low End Mac, and the MacBook I reviewed in my last column is long gone, regretfully. Since then I've gone through four computers to get where I am today - three of them running Windows.

At times, I became indifferent to the Mac. I still posted on Mac forums like I didn't have a life, but I was happy with my ThinkPads and even built a quad-core Q6600 gaming rig - until I decided I needed a file server.

Like any self-respecting Windows geek would, I went over to NewEgg to configure my system. It was late at night, and I was pretty tired. Out of sheer sugar-crash-fueled inattentiveness, I flicked over to a different tab in my browser. Lo and behold, what should appear but the main page of a Mac forum I had open? A thread caught the corner of my eye. It advertised a "heavily upgraded Power Mac G4 with RAID".

"Hmm," I thought. "This might make an okay file server, but shipping would be preposterous!"

It turned out that the guy who was selling it lived 10 miles away from me!

I raced over the next day to check it out and bought it. For $350, I ended up getting a Sawtooth upgraded to 1.4 GHz with 1.5 GB RAM, dual 160 GB hard drives in RAID 0, AirPort, and a 256 MB GeForce 6200 graphics card.

This was geek heaven, especially for me. I'd always had a soft spot for the G4s, having owned more than 10 in the past, but none as souped-up as this one. Another advantage was the fact that it came with boxed copies of Leopard, iLife, Virtual PC, and Windows 98!

Power Mac G4I'm sure I was so eager to get home that the car I was in looked like something out of Need for Speed: Most Wanted the way it was driving.

I've stuck some more hard drives (it's become the dumping ground for any IDE hard drives I find lying around) and RAM in it, and it's chompin' at the bit to start serving - when I'm done using it, that is!

So what's happened to my Q6600 rig? Well, it sits on my desk, uses 500W of power, looks pretty, glows blue, and kindly doesn't crash when I'm trying to write something.

Why am I not using the G4, you ask? It's currently halfway through being modded (not tellin' ya!) and will be put back into service shortly.

I've just posted my Q6600 rig on Craigslist, because I want to try my hand at the MacBook again!

It's truly amazing how a 9-year-old machine can pull me away from being hopelesly entangled in a pile of jagged, broken Windows.  LEM

Benjamin Zalutsky is a recent Mac convert.

Recent No Windows for Me Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum

DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ

Abandonware
   Petition

Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

Open Link