The XMEN Clan Forums

Ok - I found 2 iMacs sitting in the alley today near someones' garbage, (The City will not take them.) So i snag them, and see if they're salvageable. I don't have the Mac keyboard or mouse, but found a USB set here and plugged them in and gave it a go. Well, I get the Happy Mac face, (A Good sign.) but then a question mark like there is no system folder. I haven't dug inside to make sure the HDD and CDROM are hooked up, but if I need to install the system folder, does anyone happen to have or know where to get cheaply an OS 9.x disc? I'd love to be able to run 10.3, but I dunno what kind of hardware I've got yet,. and don't know if it would be worth it.

Thanks!

What shape and color are these iMacs? If it's one of the original 'Bondi Blue' (they're GREEEEEEN, dammit!) one-piece iMacs... you can run OSX on them, but it'll be painfully slow. I had one of those set-ups at DxR. Bleh.

As for OS9, you can find copies on Amazon, used.

They're green and Pink.. The Mfgr date on the CDROM was 1999, and they were the original "egg" shaped iMacs. I started to dig into them a bit, and realized someone else had already tried to make 2 into 1, and didn't do a very good job of it... So I took them back to where I found them. I'm still gonna keep my eyes open for 1, as it'll be a good machine for the kids to play on with minimal hassles.

Yeah, you can very easily have an iMac of that style as a learner machine. Just keep a spare USB mouse and keyboard around for spills and you're set. You don't even need Apple-brand mice/keyboards, either.

I've been looking on craigslist, and for a while I was seeing a lot of older iMacs for around 450 - $100, and now I'm not seeing much of those.. Mostly people are trying to dump mid range enthusiast machines so they can build new machines for Vista... (Stupid people) There are a few Macs on there, but they're all the G3 - G4 towers, and I just need something simple for the kids.. However, with the announcement of the new iMacs, I may get one for myself.. There's something sexy about the 20" iMac I just seem drawn too... And for $1100, that's not too much to ask for a starter Mac. or mabye get a mini. I've got enough monitors and such to make one of those fit on my desk somehow.