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Welcome to Macintosh
How the G3 iMac Crumbles
- 2008.01.18
Bong! . . . :-) . . . Welcome to Macintosh!
When anyone thinks about the first iMacs, the words cool and colorful automatically come to mind. For those who were die-hard Mac fans at the time, many think of the fact that it was the iMac that saved Apple from extinction.
As years went by, it became known as the Mac plagued with problems. In the earliest iMacs, the tray-loaders - iMacs with a tray-loading CD-ROM drive - the GLOD (Green Light of Death) is all too common. The slot-loaders - iMacs with a slot-loading CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or CD-RW drive - have similar problems. The PAV (Power/Analog/Video) boards are known to be a common failure in G3 iMacs. Many iMacs see an early death because of this.
But that's not the only thing the iMacs suffer from, as I recently found out.

The indigo iMac.
I recently took apart my indigo iMac to clean out the dust inside. I purchased this indigo iMac new in December of 2000, and after five months it developed video problems, which eventually led to me getting a replacement iMac from Apple in July of 2001. Imagine my surprise when I took off the front faceplate to see that the white plastic underneath (covering the CRT) had major cracks in several different places. I've never abused or dropped my iMac. I've always been very careful with it, so I was very angry at this sight. The cracking is so bad that half of it could fall off.
This is disheartening. Apple was once known for above and beyond quality control on most all its lines, save for a few. This type of plastic is no better than your standard issue $3 trash can that can be found at any Dollar General. Apple should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such a shoddy, sloppily engineered Mac.
Have any of you ever encountered this on your tray or slot-loading
iMac? Drop me a line at thomas (at) lowendmac (dot) com if you have and
tell me your story.
Recent Welcome to Macintosh articles
- IBM Model M: The One True Keyboard, 05.12. Many consider the IBM Model M keyboard the finest computer keyboard ever made. Here's why.
- I Still Use My LC, 02.20. An interview with Scott Baret, who has been using the same Macintosh LC since 1991.
- Hooked on Classics (Classic Macs, That Is), 02.02. An interview with John Meshelany Jr, who has been hooked on Macs since kindergarten.
- 25 Years: The Macintosh Legacy, 01.23. On January 24, 1984, the world said hello to a new kind of computer that reshaped the personal computer industry.
- More in the Welcome to Macintosh index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 7 in LEM history: 00: PowerBook Lite dreams - Our first Macs - 01: OS 9, OS X, or Linux? - 02: Xserve for the classroom - 03: Panther on slot-loading iMacs - High capacity Lombard/Pismo battery - 05: Clean keyboard residue from laptop screen with ROR - SeaMonkey - 06: Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet - Turn any Mac into a gameshow buzzer - 07: The transforming PowerBook 1400 - PowerBook 540 on Compact Flash
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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