Upgrade a mac? what are my options

uberwolf

I have three imacs and two g4's that I've been given responsibility for. They all run 9.2.2 (I think there's a second 2) and are a few years old now. I'd like to upgrade the OS in them to the latest offering 10.3 and I'm pretty sure that the hardware is compatible. I'll be able to get the edu discount and all. Does the Compustore on Kildare st. do this discount?

My main Q is what sort of flexibliity, if any, do I have for hardware upgrades? Bit o Ram. HDD, CPU, etc?

Thumper Long

as regards the edu discount go through the website apple.com/ie the apple store on kildare street don't give the full discount. for ram prices go to crucial.co.uk and use their ram selector to find the appropriate modules for the different machines, as rgds hdd's ive never done one but i presume they are standard ide.

uberwolf

how do i tell which models they are? and how much ram etc they have already? The only Apple OS I've used at all is OS X, but it wasn't as easy to navigate 9.2.2 to see what specs I was running

btw. it's crucial.com but it looks a good link

flywheel

hi
you can open the the apple menu and choose Apple System Profiler, this will give you the specs of the machine

would suggest you also do a little research on the specs of the machines yourself so you know the background on each model - knowing the machine's model / revision can help you check you are getting the correct RAM etc...

it is very important to check if any Firmware Updates need to be applied before going up to OS X

BrianG

Hugh_C

uberwolf wrote:

I have three imacs and two g4's that I've been given responsibility for. They all run 9.2.2 (I think there's a second 2) and are a few years old now. I'd like to upgrade the OS in them to the latest offering 10.3 and I'm pretty sure that the hardware is compatible. I'll be able to get the edu discount and all. Does the Compustore on Kildare st. do this discount?

My main Q is what sort of flexibliity, if any, do I have for hardware upgrades? Bit o Ram. HDD, CPU, etc?

RAM, RAM and more RAM - max out on RAM if you have the budget. OS X is RAM hungry and will perform better and better the more you put in. The G4s will be fine with OS X, the Imacs, on the other hand, may be a bit disappointing in terms of performance if the processor speed is below 400MHz, to be honest. You'd be better off leaving them a OS 9.2.x

System Profiler in the Apple menu should tell you all you need to know. A regards drives, you could go here and try to figure out their product matrix, find an appropriate drive (or drives), copy the model numbers and find them somewhere locally for sale.

good luck.

PS you reach a stage of diminishing returns if you start upgrading old kit that won't last too long - don't bother of the machines are approaching 5 years old in my opinion, it'll be a waste of €€€s

SouperComputer

if you upgrade the HD's in the iMacs, be sure to get a 5400RPM, otherwise you will have overheating problems.

this is assuming you have G3 iMacs

deevey

Dont forget theres also processor upgrades for all the mentioned computers

Think you can get a up to a g4 1.5 gig upgrade card for the g4's and a g4 900 for the imacs - depending on the type they are originally