Should I upgrade this machine?

[TempeMacUser]

Folks, I've got an old iMac, and I'm trying to decide if I should cheaply upgrade it, or just buy a new machine. My iMac is the post-Summer of '01 budget iMac with the 500 mhz processor, 64 mb of ram, 20 gig hard drive, and I'm running 9.2.2 (though I have the OS X that came with it). All I use the machine for is light web surfing, email, word-processing and downloading the occasional song. Junk it? If not,

1. How high should I go with the OS?
2. How much memory should I add?
3. Should I stick to dial-up or, once upgraded, could it handle a cable modem?
4. With upgrades, can I get a couple more years out of it?

Thanks. I know there are a lot of people hear with good advice, and I'm looking forward to what you have to say.

[Turboladdade]

The state of Mac OS 9 browsing usefulness is pretty much almost nothing. Even the newest browsers for OS 9, such as Netscape and iCab, are not compatible with many sites, and there will be no further development of any of them.

I have an older 350mhz version of this computer, and a friend of mine has a newer 700mhz version of this machine. You can buy some PC100 or PC133 memory to put in it, up to 1 GB, rather cheaply. I would get a copy of Mac OS X Tiger (it will not run Leopard) which will let you use Safari (and Firefox if you must). These computers run that system just fine, and will greatly enhance your experience even doing web browsing (but also in many other areas). My Mac Pro 2.66 is with me at college, but when I'm at home I happily rely on this 350 MHz iMac and it gets the job done well.

It's also time to lose the dial-up - your iMac has a built in ethernet port just like every Mac mac made since the early 90s and has always been able to handle cable modems. You'll find the experience much more enjoyable, even if you stick with Mac OS 9.

Alas, while Mac OS 9 is just terrible, 64 MB of memory will not do Mac OS X. You need at least 512. You can find quality memory for your computer here. Your iMac can take two sticks, and probably has two 32 MB modules in it currently (it may also have just one 64).

Of course for only a few hundred dollars you can get a much newer, much more powerful Mac Mini (new or used), which is also a very good choice.

[madmann]

Dans right get os 10.3 or 10.4 on that machine
up the memory 1 gig if possible.
and then get firefox going its great
safari if you must as it sucks

michael

[Turboladdade]

and then get firefox going its great
safari if you must as it sucks

Safari 3 runs much better on slow systems, like 350mhz iMacs, than Firefox. It also looks better, and is better integrated with Mac OS X technologies. It requires 10.4 Tiger however.

[mrkramer]

upgrade the RAM to 1GB then upgrade the OS to 10.4.