Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Daniel's Advice

Can You Add FireWire and DVD to a Tray-Loading iMac?

Dan Knight - 2004.06.25

Q. Thanks for your Low End Mac website. The information you put there has proved really useful.

I own a strawberry iMac (333, 6 GB). Do you know if it can be upgraded to have FireWire?

Also, right now it only has CD-ROM. Can is be upgraded to play DVDs?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A. Yes, there is a way to add FireWire to Rev. A-D iMacs, the Sonnet Harmoni card, which also includes a 600 MHz G3 processor. However, at US$349 it might be more cost-effective to buy a used iMac 400 and sell your iMac 333 for $200-300.

There is a list of four CD-RW options for the tray-loading iMac on our Upgrade Guide for the Tray-Loading iMacs, and prices for them currently range from $135 to $179. There are no DVD-ROM drives as far as I know.

Even if you could install a DVD-ROM drive, I don't think the tray-loading iMacs have the processing horsepower or video support to handle DVD, although it might be possible with the Harmoni upgrade.

You could add an external FireWire DVD drive to a Harmoni-upgraded tray-loading iMac, but I think that goes beyond making economic sense.

Our latest G3 iMac price tracker includes an iMac 450 DVD for $400. That includes a FireWire port.

slot-loading iMac

No G3 iMac was offered with a Combo drive. However, you can add a CD-RW, CD-RW/DVD, or even a CD-RW/DVD-RW drive to the slot-loading models. If you plan on doing that, just pick a 400 MHz or faster model (the 350 MHz didn't have FireWire) and add one of the drives listed on our Upgrade Guide for the Slot-Loading iMacs.

I personally thing buying that iMac 450 DVD for $400 and then turning your old iMac 333 around for $250 or so makes the most sense. Or for the same power as your iMac plus the Harmoni upgrade, an iMac 600 CD-ROM at $479 plus as little as $39 for a Combo drive.

Either way, you get much better video, easier and greater memory expansion, a faster system bus, and a larger drive in a slightly smaller, lighter, quieter case with the slot-loading models. Further, if you run OS X, there's no need to partition hard drives larger than 8 GB like there is on the tray-loading models.

Q. Thanks so much, Dan, for the in-depth answer.

We are leaving the country for a couple months Monday, but when we get back, I think I will take your advice to sell the 333 and get a faster iMac with DVD and FireWire capability.

I am new to your site. Can we buy and sell Macs through your website? If so, is there an explanation on how to do that on the site? Or should we go to one of the used Mac sites listed on your website?

A. We run the Low End Mac Swap List, where subscribers can buy and sell their used Mac and Mac-related gear. It's a free email-based service that we're hoping to move to our website soon. That might get you the best price for your iMac 333.

As for buying, it's always a bit of a crap shoot buying sight unseen. When you buy from an individual, you'll usually get a better deal, but you won't have any warranty to back things up. Macs are usually pretty reliable, but you usually gain a 30-day to 90-day warranty on used equipment sold by dealers.

Which is the better choice? We've had great results both ways, so whatever you're most comfortable with should work for you.

UPDATE: The Sonnet HARMONi card was incompatible with early versions of Mac OS X 10.4. The FireWire port would tie up 100% of CPU resources. This problem was fixed in version 10.4.7 (if not earlier). If you have a HARMONi card that's had this issue, be aware that updating to 10.4.7 or newer should fix it.

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.
WiFi CardBus Adapters Compatible with PowerBooks, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. CardBus hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
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.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 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 .
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, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. 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 Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.