[jimdad]

My brother has a snow iMac. He has been getting restless with the age of his computer and plans to buy a new one anyway next year when his daughter moves up to High School and give her the old one. I've suggested the new G5 iMac for him.

However, he can't afford that at present and is being swayed by the thought of just getting a new PC now. So I need to find ways of keeping the Mac going. Please help with the ares below if you can.

1. is there a reliable (external) DVD burner which would work with it? If so, how much? cost is obviously an issue.

2. I've got a spare copy of Panther ( I bought new machine so boxed version not needed anymore). Is there any point in putting it on his machine? I think he has 128mgbs RAM.

3. He's into music. I know it won't run Garageband worth a damn but will it run it at all? software instruments are out but he plays acoustic guitar and would be happy with single track recording, I think.

Thanks for any help.

[DMBand0026]

1. External DVD burners are getting cheaper and cheaper. Check NewEgg for a model that will suit his needs. Make sure it is FireWire based, not just USB 2.0, because the Snow iMacs have FW, but not USB 2.

2. Get that guy some more RAM Crucial is an excellent first stop on the quest for more RAM. Regardless of what some people may say Panther will run with 128MB of RAM, albeit quite slow. Get a 256MB module to put in there. RAM is cheap and an excellent way of breathing life into an old system.

Actually, after a quick search of Cruical I found that a 512MB stick of RAM is the best value, you'll pay around $100 for it, and $95 for a 256 stick. Believe me, having that much more RAM in that iMac would be a great thing.

3. GB will not run well, not at all. However, if the iMac has audio input (I don't remember if it does or not), he may be able to pull off single track recording. A big factor there is HDD size and amount of RAM.

I know people that happily use older computers for years after their worth has been well worn out. Put some more RAM in there, and put on Panther, that'll be a brand new system all in itself. Good luck, and be sure to not let your brother buy a PC