So I have this PowerMac 7500 sitting in my garage under a giant 20" Radius CRT. I haven't booted it up in at least five years. I was planning to clean it up and sell it on eBay until I realized that they're selling for a whopping $45 - not exactly worth my time. But yesterday I stumbled across something interesting at http://lowendmac.com:
You can run OSX on a 7500.
Not out of the box, it seems, but according to several sources, if you buy a couple of upgrade cards, you can turn a 7500 (and other PCI PowerMacs) in to a G3 or G4 and run OS 9.2 or OSX (even Panther). Here's what it looks like I would need at a minimum to upgrade this thing on a budget:
| Item | Street Price (including eBay) |
|---|---|
| Sonnet Crescendo G3 400-500Mhz | <$100 (G4 cards seem to be >$200 right now) |
| ATI Radeon 7000 PCI | <$45 |
| Firewire or USB 2.0 PCI Card | <$30 (I already have an extra one that might work) |
| Firewire / USB2.0 Drive Enclosure | <$35 (I already have a spare drive) |
| Max Total | ~$210 |
That seems like a good bargain to get an OSX machine up and running. But with Mac mini's now available for about twice the cost of an upgraded 7500, I just can't figure out why I would bother doing the upgrade, other than for pure geekyness.
