[Richard Kimball]

I agree, but I tend to believe that a serviceable Mac with a long life span will come in somewhere north of $500. That's why I haven't made any suggestions. I would prefer not to get a non-Intel, as most new software is written for the Intel line of products.

I think like the jump from OS9 to OSX, the Intel changeover was a dramatic line in the evolution of the Mac, and I wouldn't buy a g4 for that reason.

[dayglored]

> I agree, but I tend to believe that a serviceable Mac with a long life span will come in somewhere north of $500. That's why I haven't made any suggestions. I would prefer not to get a non-Intel, as most new software is written for the Intel line of products. I think like the jump from OS9 to OSX, the Intel changeover was a dramatic line in the evolution of the Mac, and I wouldn't buy a g4 for that reason.

You're right -- I've got two Intel Macs and one older PPC, and it's definitely the outsider. The only thing that runs on that that doesn't run on the Intels is Z-Term. ;-)

Also, I do a lot with VMware Fusion (running WinXP, Vista, Linux, etc. on the Mac) and that's only available for the Intel Macs.

[dayglored]

> a serviceable Mac with a long life span will come in somewhere north of $500.

Not if she gets a used Mac Mini and uses the old PC's keyboard, mouse, and video display. Hell, brand new they're only $600 or so. And they work great. I've seen used ones in good condition for around $400.