Second Class Macs are Apple's somewhat compromised
hardware designs. For the most part, they're not really bad - simply
designs that didn't meet their full potential. (On our rating scale,
the more brown apples, the worse the hardware.)
When Apple introduced the slot-loading iMacs in October 1999, it was
the first time the iMac sold in multiple speeds. To keep the cost down
(it sold for only US$999), the blueberry
350 MHz entry-level iMac was slower than its 400 MHz siblings, had
a CD-ROM drive instead of a DVD-ROM drive, and didn't have the FireWire
port that was standard on the faster models.
In July 2000, Apple refreshed the iMac line with new colors and more
options. The fastest model ran at 500 MHz, and the slowest was the indigo 350 MHz iMac, but it now retailed for
an even lower price - US$799. (It was the least costly Mac until the
Mac mini shipped.)
The 350 MHz iMacs aren't bad computers, and they offered a lot of
value. For many users, they still do today. They are supported through
Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and can handle 1 GB of RAM. They handle drives up
to 128 GB without the need for special third-party drivers. And the ATI
Rage 128 graphics with 8 MB of video memory is competent, albeit
dated.
So why do we label the 350 MHz iMacs Road Apples? Because Apple left
out one very important feature that made these two models incompatible
with iPods and FireWire Target Disk Mode: They don't have FireWire, a
feature that would not have impacted price, as the motherboard was
already designed for it. It was a marketing decision pure and simple,
leaving these machines with no high speed interface for backup.
A second reason to recommend against these is that more and more
software is shipping on DVD-ROM these days, and these came with CD-ROM
drives as a cost-saving measure. (We're not arguing that it didn't make
sense at the time, nor was this a factor in awarding the 350 MHz iMacs
the Road Apple label.)
As was often the case, there was really just one factor that argues
against picking up a 350 MHz iMac. Of course, if you don't need
FireWire and are content with a CD-ROM drive, these are very affordable
iMacs than handle Mac OS X 10.3 quite nicely. 
