Apple Power Mac G4

I am extremely impressed with my PowerMac G4 and have completely switched over from Windows to Mac. Overall my experience with this computer has been stressful but has payed off.

I got the computer cheaply at £2, i bought it for the sheer hell of it hoping to scavenge parts for other computers, turns out it only needed £30 or so to turn it into a running machine, and a relatively quick one at that. 1GHz Processor and 512MB of RAM. I am impressed by its speed when running OSX Tiger 10.4 and it is quite reliable and quick. i will stop telling a story and carry on with a more in depth review.

Speed:
The overall speed of this computer is fantastic for me, although i know its not the best of computers, there is minimal lag, and because i am a media student Mac is a big help, meaning no tricky file crossovers between college and home. The boot time is a little over 18 seconds and fully logged on is just over 35 seconds; far speedier than any other computer I have used.

Speed: 7/20

Operating System:
Apple really did ace the operating system at Tiger level, 10.4 is the maximum operating system you can run on a G4 and is reasonably new, giving the modern looks of OSX Leopard but with less RAM usage, The software is a bit of a problem to get but programs like Photoshop and Illustrator run blazingly fast thanks to the Velocity engine.

OS: 9/10

Design:
I personally dislike the design of the G4, its by far not the worst looking computer in the world but it does feel very plastic, saying that the build quality is spectacular, the handles are a good feature aswell as looking good and the side door is extremely helpful for cleaning the inside and quickly changing parts.

Design: 7/10

Problems:
My experience with OSX has been slightly less impressive, i have had a few incompatibility issues which have left me with a long time spent at the computer shops locally, because in my haste i couldn't wait to order an Airport Wireless card i decided to be Gun-ho and buy any old USB wireless card. after 3 or 4 cards i ended up with a working one which is actually good. other problems have included underpowered USB’s and driver issues, also the hard drive isn't particularly quiet

I wouldn't expect much for £30 and this computer really delivers what I payed, even if it lasts me 10 months I will be happy with myself and the computer and to be honest some of the external components have cost me almost more than the whole computer.