I have decided to update the B&W G3 and have decided to replace it with a mac mini 1.66 with combo and would appreciate some advice from those that know.

1. Will my La Cie external dvd burner be compatible with I DVD for burning home movies or should I go with the superdrive?

2. Are there any issues with models etc that I need to be aware of?

3. Who has dealt with Zytech and have they been happy with the service and quality especially with ram?

4. Lastly I do not have the courage to tinker with computers but thought might get out of my comfort zone and have a go at upgrading the B&W G3 and install a larger hard drive and some ram,(yeah very tame I know but not something I feel comfortable with), but the question is, is it worth doing?

Thank you for any suggestions or advice.
Footrot

[quote=Footrot;313368] 1. Will my La Cie external dvd burner be compatible with I DVD for burning home movies or should I go with the superdrive?

As far as I know it will. iDVD never used to support external burners but I believe that Apple changed this.

Only that they are not really the best that they could be at the moment. Rumour has it that these relatively slow machines will soon be superseded or discontinued.

Couldn't say.

I upgraded my G3 B&W with wireless, 80GB HD, 640MB RAM, CD-RW. Worth it? Probably not in monetary terms but the machine is running Tiger and is more than useable. I used it as a backup. Worth it if you want to keep using it.

In my opinion no its not.You can spend as much as you want on it but it will never be as fast as a new mac mini.

Thanks for the replies iSlayer and Atomac.

Currently I use Ti PB G4 and 12" ibook so assume a mac mini will be faster than they are and for what I do they are fine.

It would be nice to know if they are to be superceded or improved but you can play that game forever with computers. They are down around $900 at moment so would be a good replacement for the B&W.

I agree about the cost so will probably not worry at present with the upgrade for the B&W but a hard drive and enough ram to run tiger, I might do it just for the experience.
Footrot

The mac mini will be faster than the other machines you own. I have a 1.83 Ghz MacBook CoreDuo with 512 MB of RAM and I have to say that it is really, really slow. I just wonder how fast the mini will be. If you pan to connect it to an existing monitor etc. then it would be fine.

I would almost be inclined to say "buy an entry level iMac"...the minis are still Core Duo. Sure $949 is cheap but iMac is $1549. $600 means faster, 17" screen, DVD burneriser, more RAM etc.

There are basic hacks that lets iDVD burn to external drives - Google around for it.

As for upgrading the B&W G3, it would make a nice download/email/server. Upgrading it would be dirt cheap; 4 x 128MB SDRAM modules to give it 512MB can be obtained for next to nothing, and an 80GB HD for ~ $50 new.

JB

I am led to believe the amount of ram makes a big difference regards speed so will be getting 2 gig installed.
You are correct though in that it will be paired with an existing 19" Samsung LCD.

That was my thought also.