doaks80 wrote:blurks wrote:I have a chance to get a Power Mac G4 in good optical and technical condition for around 20 USD incl. the system installation discs. I have never owned a Mac, is that considered to be a good price? Are these systems worth it? I just realized, they are all over the place on classified ads and eBay and can't really figure out if these systems are good or not. Are they fun to fiddle around with? Do they work out of the box with USB keyboard/mice? Do they require a VGA adapter like these super old Macintoshs? So much questions, so little Mac knowledge... 😵
Did you play mac games in the mid 90s? If not then no, as every popular, normal commercial game on the mac in the late 90s onwards was also on PC.
Loads of shareware games that were only available on the Mac, including some that were included in Apple's official pre-installed software.
But well, PowerMac G4s (and G5s) are the last PowerPC Macs, and are the only factory Macs that can run both 68k code and PowerPC code from within OS X (if it's installed), because PowerPC Mac OS X includes Classic, which can run classic Mac programs.
They work out of the box with USB keyboards and mice, although you'll want to pick up an Apple(-compatible) keyboard for the best user experience. Skip Apple mice, they suck - also only a single button, while thrid-party USB mice with two buttons are supported right out of the box.
IIRC, no VGA adapter required. Some even included DVI ports before they became standard on PCs.