Still useful, despite its age
Written: Mar 07 '04 (Updated Mar 07 '04)
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Pros: Brilliant case design and fast (for 1999) architecture, runs OSX Panther
Cons: No AGP video upgrade
The Bottom Line: Still a speed demon with OS 9, and most likely the least expensive way to put OS X on your desk with decent performance.
90-day tech support expired YEARS ago.
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| lawman67's Full Review: Apple Power Macintosh G3 (M7555LL/A) Mac Desktop |
The Power Macintosh G3, affectionately known as the Blue and White, or just B&W by the Mac faithful, is considered the first modern Power Macintosh. What makes it modern is the inclusion of USB and FireWire ports on the motherboard, the case's drawbridge design for easy access and finally, the adoption of the iMac's translucent colors and styling. Of course, there were even greater things going on under the hood, such as a 100MHz system bus, the first use of fast IDE drives and a PCI architecture optimized for high data throughput. What this means in English is that the Power Macintosh G3 B&W, unlike the original Beige G3, was extremely fast in its day, so fast that Photoshop filters cowered in fear when a B&W G3 was used.
That was 5-years-ago, an eternity in the computer world. How does the B&W G3 hold up today? Well, let me explain that, along with why I'm reviewing a 5-year-old Apple desktop computer.
My last Apple desktop was a Power Macintosh 7200/75 purchased new in 1995. That computer was roughly double the cost of a high-end PC, but half the price of the high-end Macs of the time. The high end, meaning the 7500/8500/9500 series had upgradeable processors, which the 7200 lacked. Well, that 7200 was replaced in 1998 by a desktop PC for my wife, to compliment the laptop PC that replaced my own Apple PowerBook 5300c, itself an expensive and slow 1995 alternative to a laptop PC. Over the years we upgraded and replaced those PCs a few times, while on the side from my real job, I did troubleshooting for computers with a service that is now kaput.
That service loved me because, while I was expensive, I was knowledgeable about both Macs and PCs, and many businesses employed both and tried to share them on networks. Networking Macs and PCs together is child's play today, but back then it was complicated and required special software. It was at one of those clients that I first saw the B&W G3, and to say that I was impressed is an understatement.
OS 8.6, half a gigabyte of memory and a real, live CD burner were impressive to behold in 1999, and to say that machine was fast was an understatement. I had never seen ANY computer render graphics that quickly! I wanted one, but of course it was both expensive, and my family had gone Windows.
Fast forward 5 years. Viruses (Virii?) and worms are daily threats to PC users' sanity and even with the latest security software, I was forced to rebuild my laptop's software installation five times in the last six months, plus twice on the family desktop. I've lost data and overall, simply consider the time and effort required to keep my PCs secure as too high a cost. I sold my ThinkPad and bought a PowerBook, and I've now also sold the family desktop PC and bought a desktop Mac. Which one, you ask? Well, the Blue and White Power Macintosh G3.
Money was definitely an object, as I had just shelled out $1400 on my 12" PowerBook, not to mention another $150 for the Mac version of MS Office, $100 for a RAM upgrade and another $120 on utility software and an OS X book. I wanted my wife and daughter to be able to surf without worrying about worms and virii, but couldn't afford the cost of a new G4 iMac. What I could afford was a used G3 B&W with 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive and CD ROM for $300. Looking through my "PC junk" box, I found a pair of 128MB PC100 RAM modules from two desktop PCs ago, while inside my current desktop PC sits a brand-new 7200 RPM 40GB drive and a 52X CDRW that went right into the old Power Mac without any effort. Since my G3 is the Rev 2 version, it has a bay for a second hard drive, giving me a total of 60GB.
I installed OS9.2.2 on the 20GB hard drive, and OS X 10.3.2 "Panther" on the 40GB drive. OS 9 is clearly outdated and lacks the stability of more modern systems, but configured as it is on the G3 with minimal add-on software and plenty of RAM, it makes for a very fast and stable platform for my 9-year-old daughter to play edutainment CD-ROM games. Most of her games, in fact, were purchased for Windows, but are dual platform Win/Mac discs that run under the "classic" Mac OS, or in the classic environment under OS X.
OS X, on the other hand, is a state-of-the-art operating system that in past versions was something of a pig when run on older hardware. Well, Panther is much improved, and is quite lively on the old 400MHz G3. No, the graphics don't snap like they do on my G4 PowerBook, and many of the cool eye candy features aren't enabled as this machine doesn't come close to the standards required for Quartz Extreme (AGP graphics with 16MB VRAM, 32 recommended), but the ATI PCI graphics card with 16MB of VRAM does work well in Panther. Its not AGP, so no rotating desktops when switching users, but windows open quickly and the machine doesn't get bogged down rendering screen elements.
This machine does not support AGP graphics, and never will, meaning that if you are looking for a bargain machine for graphics work in OS X, you need to save a few more pennies and get a "Sawtooth" based Power Mac G4, which has an AGP slot. If you want to do graphics or even video work in OS9 (bonus, the older apps are VERY inexpensive on eBay), then a B&W G3 will likely be every bit as fast as a more modern G4.
So how is it in operation? Well dual booting is a snap, so long as you install OS 9 first as I did. At startup, simply select which OS you want, and the computer will then boot up as though only a sngle OS was installed. Despite its outdated technology, I have found OS9 to be fast and stable, though I try to limit the number of open applications and allocate plenty of memory to each. I also try to work slowly when in OS9, as the OS doesn't multitask well. Within its limitations, this old G3 under OS9 actually feels faster than the 1.8GHz Athlon XP PC running Windows XP that it replaced,and gives my PowerBook running Panther a good run for its money.
In OS X, it shows its age, but not annoyingly so. Panther is every bit as stable on the B&W G3 as it is on the PowerBook, only the eye-catching visual effects aren't present. Windows don't get sucked into the dock with the "Genie Effect" as they do on a Quartz-Extreme capable Mac, but the funtionality is the same.
To put things into perspective, a 5-year-old PC would likely have a 300MHz Pentium II processor. Such a computer will run Windows XP just fine, with a slow boot-up, but operating performance will be fine so long as you have enough ram and avoid truly processor intensive functions like video editing or game play. The B&W G3 is in the same boat with OS X. that OS X is much more demanding of its hardware than Windows XP is a testament to how powerful the G3 B&W really was back in 1999, and how useful it remains today.
Yes, I see the B&W as an interim solution, and will eventually replace it with a souped-up Sawtooth G4 at about 1GHz with a Quartz-Extreme capable video card. Still, for the way we use it, mainly office productivity tasks and educational games (all of which are OS 7/8/9 applications), the B&W is every bit as useful as a more modern and more expensive G4. Perhaps that upgrade will take a while.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor speed: 301-400
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
lawman67
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 in Computer Hardware |
 - Top 200 |
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Member: Andrew F
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 213
Trusted by: 64 members
About Me:
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say.
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