Hey guys. I'm a music student and I'm looking into a Macintosh to run alongside my PC for a better computing experience (yay OS X) I have some choices of used macs in my area... G4 PowerMac QuickSilver 733MHz/256m/40g/cdrw/ati agp ($600Canadian) or G4 Powermac 256m, 20g hd, dvd player, zip, 16m ati agp ($400CAD) or Rev.2 Blue and White G3 400. Lots of Ram and disk space. All boxed with manuals! RADEON 7000 video card installed with Quartz Extreme Hack running! 448mb Ram (1x256,3x64), twin harddrives totalling 28Gb, built-in zip drive & original OEM 32x CD-ROM. Running OS 10.2.8 Jaguar (original disks included). Original Blue & White keyboard and hockey-puck mouse included. ($275CAD) (sorry -- I copied the descriptions from their posts) What are the advantages of these machines? Are there any prices that are an absolute steal?(Keeing in mind that they're in Canadian dollars). Thanks guys! -->James

I owuld go for the G4/450, then spend the extra $200 on a 1Ghz processor upgrade; http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm? model=165&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat%28Now% 28%29%2C+&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades

I live in Canada so I understand the quirks involved in buying a mac up here...there's more involved than simply considering the exchange..mostly related to the fewer sources for everything here. My choice would definitely be the 733MH Quicksilver, although i'd agree , somewhat, with Bob, that the 450 MH is probbly the best choice, dealwise..but i doubt that you'd be able to do a processor upgrade in canada for less than 400$ or even more , after exchange, customs (believe me, what customs adds can make it cost more than buying it new here...!) . For 200$ more the quicksilver has almost a twice as fast processor, an OEM burner (double check that it's maybe a DVD burner..you specified a CD-RW but i think they came with DVD-RW..i might be wrong). The 450 has only a dvd player, which, although it will boot a MacOS Cd, won't record anything, and dvd players are pretty cheap these days, but finding an Apple OEM burner for cheap in Canada isn't easy at any of the apple dealers, and we have much less to choose from via private deals than in any US urban center. If you live in, say, Vancouver or Montreal, or other major city you probably would have more luck, if like me you live off the mainland, you'd best look at only what the macs actually have, without taking into account possible upgrades.. If the quicksilver 733 has a DVD burner, i'd shell out the extra 200$- because the others havent got any features this one doesn't.. An xternal zip is easy to get for 20 to 40$, and ram is easy to find everywhere.. If you plan on using it for recording or other audio purposes, then for sure processor speed is much more important than the amount of RAM (as a musician myself, i can attest to that...). I have a 450 MH G3 Blue and White and it could be faster in OSX.. Also, all you'd need to do to make OSX run nicely on it would be add more ram - at leas 512 (should be able to take 2 Gigs...) Re: which price is an absolute 'steal'..the best idea would be to check out www.lowendmac.com.. They have the current best deals on used macs in the states listed, and you can assume that you would never match that in Canada..i usually double the price to see what it would be comparatively up here..(after exchange and customs). HTH