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Upgrade Your eMac
Leo Bodnar writes "This eMac upgrade proves that with some effort Apple's entry-level consumer models like eMac can be converted into reasonably serious workhorse system at very reasonable cost. Not for everyone, but some find it useful!"
This isn't the only old Mac that be somewhat upgraded.
Companies like MCETech sell DVDRW drives for the G3 iMac and iBook.
Vonal Declosion
This all goes back to the original Macintosh and Jobs thinking it was a piece of artwork that shouldn't be tampered with. Most people want a computer they can improve, much like people that mod and tune their cars.
Obviously, it's not that big of a deal to most people, or they wouldn't be buying laptops in larger and larger quantities. I expect the old "you can't upgrade a Mac" argument to be history in a couple years.
Then again, lot's of people have no idea OS X exists.
The main upgrade I'm concerned about is the processor; 800 mhz to 1.33 ghz is a huge leap! Could this be done as easily on other models? I have a 1ghz TiBook (not that I'm willing to experiment on it) but it would be interesting to see what it's "full potential is." But, overall, this upgrade is a sweet way to get a over 1.3 ghz machine for around 1100 USD. That's less than a dollar a mhz.
I upgraded my Emacs to 21.2 a couple years ago and I've never been happier. Having icons in X (even though no one ever uses them) brings a more modern feel, and colours in the terminal is nice to have too. Unicode and multilingual support is now seamless.
:-)
By the way, has anyone else noticed how many typos there are on Slashdot these days...
I'm writing this from an eMac right now - but mine is the latest revision with the 1GHz G4.
All of those upgrades were available to me as build-to-order options in the online store @ apple.com
I've got 160GB HD, 1GB of RAM, Superdrive, 1GHz G4 - seems to me I don't need to hack it to make it a decent workhorse out of the box.
Johnny see warranty go RIGHT out the window.
Why not just hold onto it a year, extend AppleCare, and then later when you want to upgrade, sell on eBay for about 80%-90% of the current price, and get a new one.
Sheesh, you don't have to mod everything, use some logic kiddos
Error 407 - No creative sig found
This all goes back to the original Macintosh and Jobs thinking it was a piece of artwork that shouldn't be tampered with. Most people want a computer they can improve, much like people that mod and tune their cars.
I used to sell Macs, and I can tell you this: people who buy eMacs are generally not these sort of people. They might add some extra RAM (which they can do easily), but that's it. If you want an upgradeable machine, buy a G5. eMacs are there for people who want something that will work out of the box, and don't want to take up space with room (or money) for upgrading they will never use. I use an eMac myself for this very reason: cheap, relatively small footprint, and will do what I need for a few years yet.
I've lost track of the number of people I know with Windows towers that still have the exact same amount of empty space in them as the day they bought them, and they will stay that way until the day they are disposed of. They bought them, having been sold the "Well, you might want to upgrade..." line, but never do. Consequently, they end up with a computer that takes up 3 times more deskspace than it needs to, filled with expensive empty space (the hardware for those expansion slots isn't free).
Most people are not l33t b0xen hax0r5. Don't knock the all-in-ones; they fill an important computing niche.
SofaMan -- Occasionally Battling Evil With His Mighty Powers Of Indolence.
Most people want a computer they can improve, much like people that mod and tune their cars.
I wonder if the percentage of upgraded computers is really that high? I know people think they "want" expandability, but I doubt that many consumers actually take the plunge and upgrade anything. Likewise, I wonder how many large corporations routinely upgrade the hardware on their desktops (rather than replacing them with all new models).
As with cars, I suspect that a small minority actually modify their machines. I'd bet that the vast majority of computers get discarded with the same hardware that they came with. I know that most of the old computers that I see at garage sales are factory stock.
Anybody any numbers?
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
For anyone interested in accelerating/modifying/etc your Mac, there is a huge repository of information at www.xlr8yourmac.com. In particular, it has searchable database of Mac upgrades rated by the people who installed them, often with useful comments appended by the Mike Breeden, the site's owner. It also has a fairly extensive FAQ (although it's not always easy to find the answer you're looking for) on a dizzying list of mac system & upgrade tweaks, gotchas, and little known issues that might be relevant to someone mod'ing a Mac. Finally, the site has a daily news page on all manner of Mac related topics, but most typically involving updates, tweaks, compatibility info, etc...
The compatibility database is great because it's really the only relatively complete resource for figuring out whether something like an aftermarket CD-RW drive is likely to be compatible with iTunes, etc... (A lot of drives are clones of one another, or really similar, and Apple doesn't list all of those on its site, so having a reference of actual compatibility reports is especially useful.)
Unfortunately the forum isn't currently accepting new members, and it seems like it has been that way for a really long time. : (
NOTE: I'm not affiliated with xlr8yourmac.com in any way, except that I visit the site and find it useful.
So I buy a PC thinking I can upgrade it when I feel like it.
A while later, I put in some RAM. No problem.
Then I decide I want a new hard drive. But I have the old version of the hard drive controller, and to get full performance out of a new hard drive, I decide to buy a new hard drive controller to plug in.
Then I decide I want a new graphics card. But my motherbord has an AGP x slot, and the card I want uses AGP 4x, so I end up buying a new motherboard.
After that, I decided I wanted a new CPU. But I had a Pentium 3. Nowadays, I can get a P4/2ghz for cheaper than a slower P3. So I have to get yet another motherboard. And then of course I need RDRAM to get the best performance out of the new P4, so I go and buy new RAM to replace the old stuff I got way back at the beginning.
Yessir, upgrading your computer is definitely cost-effective.
They wouldn't be buying Durangos and Escalades.
OK, that's why there are places that will buy your old hardware.
OK, that's why there are places that will buy your old hardware.
Wow, you begin to grasp the Macintosh way of upgrading, sir!
...wouldn't it be easier to build a PC for yourself in the first place? Then you have all the advantages of picking your own hardware, learning how the thing works (so you can fix it when it goes wrong), having seperate warrenties on all the components and being able to install the O/S of your choice. I could understand why the verage Joe might want one of these MACs, but somebody cabable (or willing to learn how to) of upgrading their machine in this way should really not bother in the first place - it's a waste of money for them.
I can't help but wonder if the iMac model can see a similar performance gain. I own that one...should probably tear it down and see if I can find a similar resistor bank. Anyone able to beat me to it and look?
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Personally, my way of upgrading is this: upgrade it as far as it will go, then push it as long as it'll run, and then when it dies, replace it (and sell off working, but unusable parts, and use the other working parts). My Celery box will come back to life as one of the first Pentium M desktops once PowerLeap releases their adaptor for the Pentium M to run on any Socket 478 motherboard. The box I'm typing this on, an old PMMX-233 with 96MB of RAM, has two HDDs - one of which is pulled from my Celery. I don't buy a box, and when it breaks or gets too old, buy a new one. I rebuild boxes (I said I didn't build my own computer on the poll, but I have done all of the steps to do so, just only when they were needed), upgrade them, etc., etc.
I've blogged about this, and I'd like to put more work into it.
Hopefully people are still reading...
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Your argument is based on the assumption that Macs are an inherently inferior platform because they're not as hardware hackable. This simply isn't true. I'll certainly grant that the open architecture of PCs makes them more conducive to hardware hacking, but since my "O/S of choice" is Mac OS X it doesn't really matter.
I very much enjoy doing upgrades and case mods, and I've been doing hardware hacking since before it was called modding (1993). At home I run a mixed networked environment that (at the moment) consists of 4 PCs, a 12" PowerBook (connected via WAP) and the iMac I'm typing this on right now. All but one of the PCs are homebuilt from the ground up (the fourth was a freebie), and I've done some minor upgrades to the iMac (replaced the hard drive with a beefier one- a snap in a PC but a much more significant endeavour on an iMac!). I've also homebuilt PCs for friends who wanted something better than a stock Gateway machine but lacked the ability to do it themselves.
That said, when I want to play Call of Duty I use a PC. For everything else, however, Macs provide a much more enjoyable and productive environment. I can get into the OS nitty-gritty much moreso than I can with Windows, and there's simply no comparison in the user interface.
Cheers,
-Cybrex
Boundless Expansion, Self-Transformation, Dynamic Optimism, Intelligent Technology, Spontaneous Order- BEST DO IT SO!