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We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser. Home / Editorial / Apple Archive Stepping Up from a Beige G3 to Blue and White 2004.02.16 I'd been using a 266 MHz beige G3 for the past year or so as my "non-work" machine (mainly for Internet, instant messaging, a bit of recording, and some basic photo editing). It got the job done fairly well. While it wasn't exactly speedy, it wasn't too slow, either. It did, however have several major shortcomings which preventing me doing some of the things I wanted. First of all, the video card was a 2 MB card -- not enough to show millions of colors at 1024 x 768. iTunes visualizations wouldn't display smoothly at all, although I was surprised that QuickTime movies seemed to display fine. The video card could be upgraded to 6 MB, but I felt that wasn't really enough. There was always the option of a newer PCI video card, but that runs into money. The beige G3 didn't have USB or FireWire, which prevented me from using both my iPod and my USB webcam (which I couldn't even use on my 12" PowerBook, since the webcam doesn't support OS X, or my Dell, since it doesn't support Windows XP, either). I thought about adding a PCI FireWire/USB card, but they don't "officially" support the iPod, and I didn't feel like playing around to try to make it work. 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 It looked like what I needed was a machine of about the same speed with built in USB and FireWire, as well as a better video card. Everything seemed to point to a blue & white G3. I managed to do a trade for a 350 MHz blue G3 tower with a Zip drive as well as a SCSI card installed. I had already upgraded the RAM in the beige G3 with a 256 MB module and the hard drive with a 40 GB Maxtor, so I moved both over to the blue G3 and started it up. It hung on the startup screen, so I reseated the RAM. This time it hung just before the login screen. I left it for few minutes, and when I came back into the room the screen had shown up. I logged in, and everything seemed normal. I opened some applications, and then it hung again -- for about 30 seconds or so. I restarted, and it gave me a system error. Restarted again, logged in, and the second partition didn't show up on the desktop. After the next restart half my files were gone or had names like &@x~y3." I knew the hard drive didn't have corruption problems on the beige G3, but I moved it back and booted that machine just to be sure. It worked fine. I opened the b&w G3 again and looked at how the drives were set up inside. Like the beige G3, the blue G3 has two hard drive controllers, one for up to two hard drives and the second for the CD-ROM and Zip drive. "Why do I really need a Zip drive?" I thought, remembering that I had used the one in my beige G3 only once. I disconnected that, and, using a spare hard drive bracket, set up the hard drive in the space above the CD-ROM drive (Apple suggests not using the Zip drive bay for hard drives). I set the hard drive to master and the CD-ROM to slave and then connected everything up using a longer IDE cable from an old PC. It booted and ran perfectly. The Rev. 1 Problem Of course, I was curious as to why my hard drive had given me problems with the other controller, so once I got the machine up and running, I went online to find out. Apparently, revision 1 b&w G3s have a hard drive corruption problem if you use certain drives with the built in controller. I guess my 40 GB Maxtor was one of those drives. This reminded me of the problem I was having with my dad's 400 MHz b&w G3, where half the time the newly installed 80 GB drive wouldn't be recognized, data would disappear from it, or it would ask to be reformatted. I'll bet his is a revision 1 and the drive would work just fine if he connected it to the other controller. In terms of performance, the blue G3 is definitely faster. Even QuickTime movies, which seemed to play fine on the beige G3, play more smoothly on the blue G3. I'm now able to use a standard VGA monitor without an adapter, and the video card supports high resolutions -- so I chose to use the 19" CTX monitor from my PC. Startup time is about the same, but general responsiveness is quicker. I don't plan on running OS X on it just yet -- maybe at some point in the future, as it's nice to know that 10.3 is supported on this machine. Right now I've got everything just the way I like it in OS 9, so I think I'll keep it that way for now. After all, it's what about half of all Mac users are still using. Good-bye to a Good Friend Also, I'd like to mention my friend Matthew Hunt, who died last Wednesday at 18 years of age. He was a Mac user, a Web designer, a photography enthusiast, and just generally an awesome person to be friends with. I'll miss him greatly. Check out his site, The Lost Asylum: Fairfield Hills State Hospital, an unfinished documentary on the Fairfield Hills mental hospital in Newtown, CT. His girlfriend, Sable, and I plan to finish it in his memory. <this article available in a printer-friendly format> Low End Mac Reader Specials 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: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here. Other World Computing has the Upgrades, Enhancements, and Accessories for getting the most from your Mac. Quality Products, Competitive Prices, Expert Support Staff - www.macsales.com 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. New MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $104 / 4GB $172 / 8GB $338. Click to Maximize your Macs... Recent Apple Archive articles iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it. Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods. Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini. More in the Apple Archive index. Recent Content on Low End Mac The Macintosh Portable started a notebook revolution, Carl Nygren, Classic Macs in the Intel Age, 07.03. Before Apple introduced the Mac Portable, notebook computers were text-based and ran MS-DOS. Ever since, graphical interfaces have been the norm for laptops. Mac of the Day: 'WallStreet' PowerBook G3, May 1998 - WallStreet offered 3 screen sizes and CPU speeds from 233 to 292 MHz. List of the Day: System 6 is the email list for those who choose System 6. Turn your old Mac into a website server with free open source software, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise, 07.02. By installing Linux without a GUI, your old Mac can dedicate all of its resources to running Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Depreciation game a gamble, best OS for 12" PowerBook, Opera 9.5 fast with unique features, and more, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 07.02. The depreciation game requires educated guesses, Tiger the best OS for a 12" PowerBook, why Opera rocks, and a Mac using sci-fi writer who loves the free market. Best Intel iMac deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.02. Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $699; 20" 2.0, $845; 2.16, $899; refurb 20" 2.0, $949; 2.4, $1,049; 24" 2.16, $1,199; 2.4, $1,399; 2.8, $1,549; 3.06, $1,899; more. Best 15" PowerBook G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.02. Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $600; SuperDrive, $650; 1.5 Combo, $650; 1.67 SD, $700; hi-res, $800. Best Apple TV deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.02. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $224; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $322. More links in our archive.

Mac of the Day: 'WallStreet' PowerBook G3, May 1998 - WallStreet offered 3 screen sizes and CPU speeds from 233 to 292 MHz. List of the Day: System 6 is the email list for those who choose System 6. Email Lists Consumer  advice, reviews  guides, deals Apple History Best Used Mac Buys Used Mac Dealers Video Cards Macspeak About Low End Mac Contacts Apple Archive articles copyright ©2000-07 by Adam Robert Guha. Entire Low End Mac site copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to the webmaster.   LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.   Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.   Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.   PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.   Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Computer. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, and PowerBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.