Apple iMAC G3 266Mhz upgrade

From: d-gordon_at_sbcglobal.net <(d-gordon_at_sbcglobal.net)>
Date: Sat Jul 17 13:00:34 2004

Hello:
    I just bought an Apple iMAC (266 Mhz) w/ 32Mb PC-66 SO-RAM, 528 L2
Cache. I have been a PC person, but have always wanted to learn more about
MACs so that I could add it to my list of skills, since I am already expert
on PC networking and support. Anyways, this little iMAC seems to work pretty
good, but really has memory problems that I was not expecting, but appear to
be normal for the system. I have gone to some of the MAC forums and I have
read many complaints about how they handle memory. Basically, I have to
continually close down programs, because I will get messages telling me that
I need to close other programs in order to open the new one. I have had a
266Mhz PC, and I never had to do that so often, only rarely.
    What I am thinking of doing is adding new RAM, to upgrade it to 128 or
256Mb. Is someone here experienced with this machine. It's the tray
loading G3 type, with OS version 8.51. I am not sure which firmware
version. But the system settings say ROM version 1.5, which may refer to
something else, I'm not sure. Where do I check? The reason I ask is because
someone selling upgrade RAM on eBay told me that I can actually add up to
528 Mb RAM on that system, if I have a firmware upgrade to version 1.2.
Thus, I need to figure out what version I have.
     I have also read in the forums that maybe adding additional RAM can
cause the system to be unstable, if I use faster RAM than it is made for
(for example PC133, or PC100 RAM). My manual says I need to use (2) PC66
RAM SO-DIMMs. The people trying to sell me new RAM say that I can safely
upgrade my system all the way to 528 Mb RAM, and that I can use PC133 and
PC100 type (2) x 128Mb or (1) x 256 Mb, in the bottom slot. This conflicts
with my manual which says I need PC66, and max RAM upgrade is (2) x 128.
This is a rather common computer, I think, so hopefully someone can please
advise me on what to do with it. I have Photoshop 4.O and Illustrator on
it, which are memory hogs. Anyways, my goal is to try and get rid of having
to always shut down programs, and hopefully be able to use Photoshop. I
have v4.0, and also a v6.0 upgrade.
    My last question is in regards to upgrading the OS to version 9.0 or
higher. If I get the RAM upgrade, is this computer any good for upgrading
to a higher OS version? I understand that I can use virtual PC (I have the
software already), and install both. My goal here is not great speed but
simply to learn the newer Operating Systems, maybe even OSX. Of course, I
am trying to learn all about MACs by going through the learning curve of
doing all this stuff, so I am not asking anyone to teach me, but I am only
seeking answers to a couple questions regarding whether its practical to
spend any money on this machine to upgrade it for my purposes? Or maybe
someone has extra RAM they would like to sell me cheap for it?

-Dave
Received on Sat Jul 17 2004 - 13:00:34 BST