Another project

My wife's got an iMac DV, one of those ruby-colored CRT G3 computers Apple sold the heck out of back before they shifted over to the oddly lifeless flat-screen incarnation of the same. I bought it for her as a present the Christmas of 2000, and it's proved itself to be a durable little computer. When we moved from Temple, though, it pretty much lost its place in the hierarchy of the household, and while I set it up in our bedroom, it was never connected to the internet and Lisa started doing most of her work on my PC downstairs.

That's about to change. With my upgrade to DSL back before Christmas, I invested in a WiFi base as well. I did some checking up, and I'm more impressed than ever with the G3 iMacs. They're designed to work with WiFi networks, and although they're smaller and slower than the modern Macs, that only really impacts high-end utilities and projects. For surfing the net or working spreadsheets and word processors, it's still just as good a machine as it ever was.

So I've begun a reclamation project. First up, getting a new operating system disc. Our old OS 9.0.4 disc disappeared somewhere along the line, and a backup was a priority. Enter eBay, where not only did I get that OS 9.0.4 disc, but I got a diagnostic disc and a system restore disc as well for $5. Not bad. Now we're in a position to upgrade the OS, maybe even jumping to OS X someday. I also picked up a 256MB memory card which is something I should've done ages ago--as it was, the little thing only had a 64MB card, which meant you couldn't effectively run more than one program at a time. There are 512MB cards available for it as well, and someday I hope to pick up two to boost the available memory to 1024MB--that'd be more than enough to run pretty much anything Lisa needs.

The most problematic addition, however, was the Airport card. This is the iMac's wireless receiver, and although they're advertised as "Airport ready" in fact you need an adapter card in order to use one with the old G3s. Only Apple stopped producing them a few years back, and the current Airport Extreme cards aren't backward-compatible. A quick check of eBay showed many of the original Airport cards going for $70-plus, which is crazy when you realize there are G3 iMacs identical to my wife's that can be bought for that same amount. And I've seen the adapter cards go for $20. Sheesh. After much trial and error (and getting outbid more than I care to admit) I finally won a card for $55, and an adapter for $5. The secret, apparently, is to find one at auction that will end in the wee hours either Sunday or Monday morning. I figure everyone was either asleep, out partying or playing World of Warcraft and too busy to bother bidding at the last minute.

So now all the additional components have arrived, save the Airport card. It's been a drawn-out process, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result. The Ruby iMac's been easy to work with, and durable as heck. In fact, I'm seriously thinking that in a few years, when Calista and Keela need/want computers for their own, with which to do homework and various internet surfing on, I'll get them G3 iMacs as well. The price is right, and for their needs and use, I can't see dropping the kind of money a PC would demand, and dealing with all the security headaches Windows brings with it.

Besides, Calista's already informed me she wants a green one.

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