Mac experts - help my mate!

[Rsdio]

A friend of mine is after a Mac and has asked me to give him some help seeing as he doesn't know anything much about what he''s looking for. Despite probably being the most technologically aware of most of my friends, I don't know much about them either having never used one - so I turn to you lot to help us out .

Basically he wants it for Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark seeing as he's a budding artist. So what's the cheapest option for running these comfortably? Looking at ebay's completed items it seems like you can get a used G3 for ?150-?200, would these be too slow processor-wise?

Any advice much appreciated

[muddy]

if he's using older versions of the software, then a G3 iMac will handle these apps well enough. I'm thinking of Illustrator 8, Photoshop 5/6, Quark 4.

If he can get the extra cash, try and get an old G4 dual processor. They're really well made macs, in fact I only retired mine to be a server a month ago. I'd thoroughly recommend one of them. It'll run more up to date versions of these apps, as well as Tiger, the latest OS X system.

Post back if you've got more questions.

mud

[the shape]

If he's already got a keyboard, mouse and monitor, Mac mini is a nice cheap ticket to Apple happiness. Link

[Rsdio]

Aah, I'd forgotten about that Mac Mini. If a G3's gonna not quite be enough I reckon that might be his cheapest route, seems like getting one of those plus the other bits and pieces will still work out cheaper than getting a G4 - plus it gets points for cuteness to boot.

Cheers guys, I'll let him know.

[Paleface]

G3 would be scrimping it, but low-end G4 with *LOTS OF MEMORY* would be fine.

Even an old G4 700mhz iBook would be OK, as long as you bumped it to 512mb at least. Less than 512 and you'll have a job running several apps, especially Quark/Photoshop all at once.

If he's got an old monitor, go for a Mini - it's cheap, and a USB keyboard/mouse can be had easily. If not, look for a decent-ish iBook, preferably a new one. My girlfriend just bought the ?699 12inch and it really does fly, all things considered.

If you only take away one tip, though: OSX likes as much memory as you can afford, and it'll make your friend's life so much easier.