Q. I have an older iMac, and it seems compared to the newer
(and much cheaper) iMacs, it's very slow. What can I do
about this?
A. There are several things you can do to bring your iMac up to
par with the snazzy new ones.
The first solution is the obvious one: add more memory! Adding
memory lets your computer keep more programs open and do more
things at one time. The price for memory is always dropping, so you
can get cheap memory for your iMac at your local Best Buy or
CompUSA, or check out sites like eBay and ramseeker for
even better deals.
Another solution is to upgrade your hard drive. Upgrading your
hard drive doesn't have to be a huge, involved project if you're
looking for space but not speed. It's very easy to find an external
USB hard drive that you can connect to your iMac, but that will be
a lot slower than replacing the internal hard drive. Every day the
prices for hard drives seem to go down, so you can always find some
sort of a hard drive for under US$150. Checking out DealMac.com
will help you get the best buy for your money. The best deal I've
seen so far is a 13 GB drive for $199.
The last solution is a little bit more work: a total processor
upgrade. Power
Logix offers the iForce. The
iForce is a completely new processor for your iMac. To make it
work, you open up your computer (which completely voids your
warranty), pull out your old processor, and put your new one in.
For a base price of $299 you can turn your slow 266 MHz computer
into a fast 400 MHz candy colored speed demon.
If a 400 MHz G3 isn't enough for your iMac, you can get even
more. Newer Tech offers the
iMAXpowr G4, a 433 MHz G4. Yes, this will make your Bondi Blue
Bombshell faster than some new iMacs. However it will cost you
$549, so for the price of this, you could probably buy a new iMac
and sell your old one.
Of course, both of these processor upgrades come with some form
of instruction manual to pry apart your computer.
Now these upgrades still won't give your iMac the glimmer and
glitz of a new one, and it won't make it smell just like new.
(iMacs have a new smell don't they?) But it will still give you a
much fast computer.
Evan Kleiman has been writing for Low End Mac since January
1999. He also runs his own site, Evansite. Evan uses an iMac,
along with some vintage hardware. You can read more about his
computing experience in The Many Macs of
Evan Kleiman.
