First In Ten

Last week, I received the inevitable call from my Mom.

“The computer doesn’t work.”

It was an eventuality that I had prepared for: their PowerMac G4 Dual G4/450 was dead. The tell-tale warning symptoms first manifested a few months ago, where Mom noticed a buzzing / clicking noise coming from the machine. The “noise” was intermittent, and I deduced from afar that the G4’s internal HD was not long for this world.

Then, last Friday, the PowerMac (in service for over 10 years) refused to boot. Digitally speaking, Mom and Dad were stranded.

It just so happened that I was scheduled to visit my folks this week. One of the first things they had me do (as their free tech support) was diagnose their Mac. Sure enough, I heard the clicking sounds upon boot-up. The Mac was stuck on the gray screen.

The hard drive was most assuredly dead. Without a replacement drive, and more importantly, any OS installation discs on hand, I couldn’t run any further tests. Their important data had been safely burned to CD a month ago, so losing the drive wasn’t too big of a deal. But without a drive or OS software, we were pretty much out of luck for reviving the machine.

Back Story

I purchased this PowerMac shortly after it was announced in the summer of 2000. It was my first true Apple desktop Mac. My previous machine, a Power Computing PowerTower 180e (a Mac clone), was deader than a doornail thanks to a power surge. At the time, I needed a new Mac ASAP, and the dual G4/450 (the mid-tier Mac desktop model at the time) seemed to fit the bill.

The PowerMac came with Mac OS 9.2 (aka “classic”). When Mac OS X 10.1 was released, I made the switch. Over the years, I’ve upgraded the OS on this machine from 10.1 through 10.5. Quite a feat, given that 10.5 wasn’t even officially supported by Apple.

After I upgraded to a PowerMac G5 in 2003, I gave the PowerMac G4 to my parents. It was a big step up for them. Prior to the G4, they were hobbling along with an ancient Performa 6500 (which now occupies a place in my closet).

The PowerMac G4 was a solid, dependable computer. The family definitely got a lot of mileage out of it. But it was performing slow, dropping frames from video chats, and generally starting to act up. It was definitely time for them to consider the option of buying a new computer.

Enter the iMac

I took Mom to the Apple Store in West Town Mall (Knoxville) yesterday morning. We arrived shortly before the store opened. Mom was eager to get a new Mac, and I was brought along as her technology consultant.

Initially, I had planned to go with the new Mac Mini. After all, Mom and Dad already had an aluminum Apple keyboard and Samsung 19″ display. But after doing some further comparisons between the iMac and Mac Mini, we concluded that the iMac would be a much better choice. Its gorgeous display is really easy on the eyes (perfect for grandparents), it came with 4GB of RAM vs. the Mac Mini’s 2GB. And it also included a built-in iSight camera, which Mom and Dad both use to keep in touch with my sister and my family. After educational discount, the price differential wasn’t too much, and hey – it was my Mom’s first computer in 10 years.

We ended up purchasing a 21.5″ iMac with 4GB of RAM. We purchased AppleCare for the unit. She was also eligible for a free iPod Touch 8GB (via mail-in rebate) as part of Apple’s summer promotion.

Our sales associate, Louie, was knowledgeable, courteous, and polite. He knew his stuff and was a really cool dude. This was my first experience buying a Mac at an Apple Store, and I must say that everything went really smooth. The iMac we purchased came with a BlueTooth keyboard (which we weren’t crazy about). Luckily, Louie was able to provide us with a wired, small Apple keyboard, at no additional cost. In the end, Mom preferred the aluminum “long” Apple keyboard she was already using with the G4, so I got to keep the short one. :)

Set-Up

Setting up the iMac was a breeze. Literally, it was: Take it out of the box, plug it in, and turn it on. The iMac was up and running in a matter of minutes. I was truly in my element (aka nerd heaven) un-boxing and configuring the machine. The iMac came from the factory with Snow Leopard (10.6.2). The first thing I did after powering the machine on was to run a battery of Software Updates to bring it up to date. After running updates, I installed their scanner and printer drivers and a few of my usual “must-have” Mac apps, including OpenOffice.

Conclusion

Mom’s happy with the computer, and I’m happy that they’ve finally upgraded to a modern machine. (It’ll be way easier for me to support.) Dad likes the computer too, although he grumbled about the price. ;) Based on their usage, I’m pretty confident that this computer will last them for at least another 10 years…

-Krishna

Krishna June 24, 2010 hardware, iMac, PowerMac G4