Disposing of ancient Apple Macs

[Lordgeous]

G4 and earlier. Anyone any ideas? Are they any use to anyone? Thanks

[oddoneout]

Are they no longer drinkable? Might work for wasp and beer traps?

[Frances_iom]

G4 and earlier. Anyone any ideas? Are they any use to anyone? Thanks

you should be able to install Debian (linux) on them which may scratch someone's itch - (free + very well supported though I have no experience with the powerpc architecture but use Deb 9 on a couple of my laptops) - often Debian with a simpler graphical interface runs remarkably quickly on old hardware - see https://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/install

[Dave2002]

G4 and earlier. Anyone any ideas? Are they any use to anyone? Thanks

You show me yours, and I'll show you mine. I found an old Mac in a wardrobe cupboard the other day - might become a trendy door stop one day!

I'll put up a photo somewhere when I have time.

I have a couple of iMacs too, which I'd probably like to replace with a new one - but then what to do with the older ones ..... ???

[Anastasius]

G4 and earlier. Anyone any ideas? Are they any use to anyone? Thanks

NAS ? Stick your music libraries on it.

[Lordgeous]

NAS ? Stick your music libraries on it.

I'm still a CD and Vinyl man! Dont use computers for music, except professionally/ But thanks.

[Stunsworth]

I'm still a CD and Vinyl man! Dont use computers for music, except professionally/ But thanks.

Off topic, but I found it very liberating when I ripped my CDs to disk. For the first time in years I could guarantee that I could find any recoding in seconds. The ripping process (3000+ CDs) was a pain though.

[Lordgeous]

Yes I can see the attraction in that but I don't think Id have the time and energy. I used to keep a database of all my CDs but I've let it get very out of date. I must admit Ive bought a few recordings only to find I already had copies! The joys of old age...

[Sir Velo]

Off topic, but I found it very liberating when I ripped my CDs to disk. For the first time in years I could guarantee that I could find any recoding in seconds. The ripping process (3000+ CDs) was a pain though.

Amen to that!

Took me approximately a year to rip everything (usually did it by running the program while listening to music so took some of the chore out of it) and now as Stunners says it is a thing of wonder that one can lay one's hands (so to speak) on any recording and any piece of music within seconds. The additional wonder is that you find recordings of works that you never knew you had, as well as performances by artists of repertoire that you had no idea they had recorded (or that you had purchased).

Moreover, ripped with a proper bit of software, hooked up to a decent DAC and the sound will be a significant improvement on anything your old CD player used to churn out.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... it is a thing of wonder that one can lay one's hands (so to speak) on any recording and any piece of music within seconds. The additional wonder is that you find recordings of works that you never knew you had, as well as performances by artists of repertoire that you had no idea they had recorded (or that you had purchased).

This describes my own experience - except with CDs rather than downloads.

[Lordgeous]

Does anyone know if those all in one systems that can store and play your Cds are any good? Cant remember the name. Seen mixed erviews.

[Sir Velo]

Does anyone know if those all in one systems that can store and play your Cds are any good? Cant remember the name. Seen mixed erviews.

I use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) to rip my CDs. This uses the GD3 metadata service which I usually find to be reliable. I also use Sony's Media Go software to manage my library when I want to sync with my Walkman. Media Go uses Gracenote to obtain the metadata for the CDs which I use as back up when GD3 fails to identify a CD (rare). I use Foobar2000 rather than MediaGo to actually play the files for its additional features and audio capability. Foobar2000 allows one to search instantly across all files, so that you can line up anything by a particular artist, composer, work (eg you want to listen to all versions you have of a particular piece you can line them up to play one after the other; great for comparative listening). You can also drag and drop files, thereby instantly changing the default play order of a CD for example.

[Stunsworth]

Does anyone know if those all in one systems that can store and play your Cds are any good? Cant remember the name. Seen mixed erviews.

I think you mean Brennan. I’ve no experience I’m afraid, the latest one seems to be based on a Rasberry Pi.

[Lordgeous]

Thanks for that. Whats a raspberry pi???

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi