LF 512MB PC-133 SO-DIMM SDRAM for iMac G4/800

[Jabberwocky]

I finally acquired my daughter's iMac G4/800. I thought that adding RAM would be easy (preparatory to upgrading the operating system.)  I did this for my eMac, which is about the same vintage.  But the user-accessible memory slot for the iMac needs a 144-pin, PC-133 compliant, SO-DIMM SDRAM module.  This is physically smaller than the 168-pin DIMMs used by the eMac.  The stores nearest me don't stock it anymore.  Does anyone have one for sale, or can you recommend a reliable on-line supplier?

[Dan Millar]

You could try Mac Pro Online at this page:

http://www.macproonline.com/iMac-G4/c179525//page/1/checkForLanding/true

They have a good rep and have been around for a while, and they have your RAM in stock.

Happy Mac'ing!

Dan

[sean de]

I have used www.canadaram.com for this type of issue before, quick and painless, i ordered both for mine.

[Dan Millar]

Thanks for the tip - I forgot about these guys and they are FANTASTIC, and CANADIAN!

Happy Mac'ing,

Dan

[Jabberwocky]

Found one for a reasonable price at the Mac Group.

[Jabberwocky]

As an aside, Mac Group said they will no longer replace the internal PC-133 DIMMs on the hemispherical iMacs of this vintage.  They can no longer get parts, so will not take responsiblity for opening one up even to replace a memory card.  So what do I do when the internal battery needs replacing?  Look for one of those internet sites that tells DIYers how to disassemble an iMac? 

[sean de]

Hey Jabberwocky,

You supply the parts, i'll supply the time, i have one of the 700mhz lampshades, i have no fear, i like to play.

Sean

[Dan Millar]

I think you can safely replace the internal battery in your "lampshade" iMac, but you will need some tiny torx, a good set of jeweller's Phillips screwdrivers, and some thermal paste - very important and available at the Source. Check out ifixit.com for instructions. Hey, while you have it apart, you may want to upgrade the HD or CD/DVD  - both insanely inexpensive, and add more RAM to the internal RAM slot - the one which is not a SO-DIMM, and easier to source, though you're capped at one gigabyte on those machines. Good luck, and beware of static electricity!

Happy Mac'ing!

Dan

[Smashedbanana]

That's crazy about the mac group, but systemic of the service I've always received there.

The DVD is a normal IDE one, it can be replaced by any LG DVD-RW (IDE). You just need to take the faceplate off it (the LG). Once upon a time you needed to make sure it was too long but now they are all shorter. The hard drive is a standard IDE. Any hard drive up to 137gb is support is just plug and play. Larger hard drives can be installed but the partitions must be split. Also the memory is still available from Kingston (both modules, the long sdram and the short sodimm).

[sean de]

Officially you might be right about the HDD size, but unofficially i have a 750Gb HDD in mine as a single partition.

[Dan Millar]

Yup, Sean de is right - only the first iMacs(PowerMac4,2)-700/800 MHz) did not officially support large drive sizes (>128GB), though users have reported success using larger drives irregardless of Apple's spec. Not until the 1 GHz model did Apple spec an ATA6 interface - the first ATA spec capable of supporting drives larger than 128GB.

If it doesn't work, partitioning is possible, but all reports indicate that a drive >128GB will work in your iMac!

Happy Mac'ing,

Dan