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Mac Daniel's Advice

Beige G3 or 9600?

Dan Knight - 2001.05.14

Q. I need your expert opinion. I have a choice between:

G3/233 Desktop (96/4 GB/24x CD)
9600/200 (128/4 GB/12x CD/Zip)

That's all I know about them. Which would you choose - and why?

A. Assuming they're about the same price, I'd pick the beige G3/233 without a second thought, although that may not be your choice.

Here's my thinking: First, the G3/233 is faster than a 200 MHz 9600, almost twice as fast due to the far more efficient G3 processor. The older 604e was a nice CPU, but the G3 is much better.

Second, the G3 has a 66 MHz system bus, which is not only faster than the 50 MHz bus on the 9600, but also means it will be able to take faster G3 and G4 upgrades and get data to them more quickly.

Third, the G3 has a ZIF socket for processor upgrades, which means that upgrades are less costly than the daughter card upgrades the 9600 takes.

Fourth, the G3 is already set up to take IDE hard drives, which offer a lot more storage space for the dollar than SCSI drives.

Fifth, I already have a Zip drive, so that's not a factor for me. You can probably add a 100 MB Zip drive to the G3 for under $100 if you need it.

Sixth, I don't need a lot of PCI slots. (Fact is, right now I have a TiBook and a Cube, neither of which has any expansion slots.) Of course, PCI slots are the big difference between the G3 and the 9600 - the G3 has three, while the 9600 has six.

Look at what you might put into a PCI slot. With either, you might want to add a more up-to-date video card, which takes one slot. With the 9600, you might want to add an IDE card for about $100, but the G3 wouldn't need that. If you want to add FireWire and/or USB, there goes another slot.

Unless you're running several monitors, I have a hard time imagining the need for more than three PCI slots.

Seventh, I prefer a computer that sits under my monitor, raising it to just about the perfect height. It's not a big point, but instead of using an old IIci or Quadra 650 case, I could put the monitor on top of the G3 - I couldn't do that with the 9600, which is a tower design.

Eighth, if you ever want to run Mac OS X, the beige G3 is supported; the 9600 is not.

Of course, your needs may differ from mine, but unless you need more than three expansion slots, my guess is you'll be better served with the G3.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

Recent Mac Daniel columns

WiFi Hardware Compatible with Desktop Macs Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. USB, ethernet, PCI, and other wireless hardware compatible with Mac OS X.
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WiFi PC Cards Compatible with PowerBooks Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. PCMCIA/PC Card hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
WiFi PC Cards for PowerBooks Running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, 03.10. PCMCIA cards and drivers reported to be compatible with PowerBook running the Classic Mac OS.
More in the Mac Daniel index.

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Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
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November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
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