[Tfug] Refurb Macs - which to get?

[Harry McGregor]

While you could play with OS-X with an older Mac, I don't think it's 
worth the cost.

Beyond the cost of the mac and extra memory, you would need to buy the 
latest version of OS-X ($130).

I would get an Intel Mac Mini, and hook it up to a KVM (no need for a 
monitor, keyboard, or mouse then).

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6454002/wo/SaG6T9trGqGu39JED4E1A9Vx314/2.?p=0

You might also want to look at the apple recertified.

I don't know if you can actually buy this, or if it is just for K-12 
schools, but here is a stripped down intel imac:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-800-APPL/WebObjects/K12.woa/6274006/wo/mX1MB9WEplX92CLeSL12SNcWIr9/3.?p=0

                         Harry

Jim Secan wrote:

>At 12:00 AM 8/17/2006 -0700, you wrote:
>  
>
>>Still contemplating getting a Mac to play with OS X, which of these (if
>>    
>>
>any) is 
>  
>
>>a good starter Mac?
>>
>>   Macintosh Desktop Computers, Refurbished Macintosh Computers, MAC PC's 
>>   Cheap
>>   http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=810
>>    
>>
>
>IMHO, none of these.  With anything less than a G4 with 1/2-GB memory you
>are going to have some serious folded-arm-syndrome problems.  Even with a
>G4 you're asking for it.  With Apple now producing Intel versions of all
>platforms, you might be able to pick up some refurbished G5 systems cast
>off by people moving to the Intel systems, but probably not at prices such
>as those shown on the page you  cite.
>
>Are you interested in full-up OS X, or the *nix that sits under the OS X
>GUI?  An alternative is Open Darwin:
><http://developer.apple.com/opensource/index.html>.  I've not had any
>experience with this, but it is supposed to be open-source version of the
>*nix guts underlying OS X.  You might be able to run that on a lesser box,
>but not with the GUI.
>
>Jim
>*---------------------*-------------------------------*
>| Jim Secan           | Northwest Research Assoc, Inc |
>| (jim at nwra.com)      | 2455 E. Speedway, Suite 204   |
>| (520) 319-7773      | Tucson, Arizona 85719         |
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