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iMac G3 Slot Loader Upgrades

imac slot front
iMac Slot Front

Original Tech Specs

  • introduced: OCT 1999
  • CPU: PPC 750 (G3)
  • CPU speed: 350/400/450/500/600MHz
  • FPU: integrated
  • Maximum RAM: 1024MB
  • RAM sockets: 2, PC133 SDRAM
  • Minimum speed: 100MHz
  • VRAM: 4MB/8MB
  • ROM: 1 MB ROM +
  • L1 cache: 32 k data, 32 k instruction
  • L2 cache: 512KB backside (1:2)
  • Data path: 64 bit
  • Bus speed: 100MHz
  • System Software: 8.5 - 10.4.11 (10.3.9 for 350MHz model)
  • Slots: 0 PCMCIA CARDBUS SOCKET
  • USB : 2
  • FireWire: 2 in 400MHz and later, none in 350.
  • AirPort: In Later Machines
  • HD: 10 - 40 GB Ultra ATA-66
  • CD: CD / DVD / CDRW
  • Display: 15" CRT 1024x768
  • Ethernet: 10/100B-T
  • Gestalt ID: 406
  • power: 150Watts
  • Weight: 40lbs.
imac slot side view
iMac Slot Side
iMac Ports
iMac Slot Ports
iMac Slot colours
iMac Slot Colours

History

Apple revamped the iMac in late 1999. Both the internal and external components changed greatly. It became a very popular range of machines which sold in the millions.

Internally they went for a whole new logic board with FireWire and Airport sockets on all except the earliest revisions. The motherboard changed to a 100MHz board which accepted the cheaper and larger SDRAM DIMM memory, instead of SODIMMs as used on the tray-loading iMac.

The CD-ROM was replaced with a slot loading version (which became a DVD-ROM and CD-RW on later models).

Later machines were announced with speed bumped processors, more VRAM and some interesting choices of colours.

It was the iMacs distinctive colouration that set it apart from the rest, and is still being imitated today. However some of the outrageous colours, including "Blue Dalmatian" and "Flower Power", did not go down as well as others!

How to Identify these Machines

The iMac G3 Slot Loader is distinctive in its appearance. There were three types made, all with different processors, RAM and colouration.

The G3 iMac series can be distinguished by their optical drives. These G3 iMacs have a slot loading optical drive. The earlier machines have a tray loading CD optical drive.

The vast majority of the slot-loading iMacs had a FireWire port. However the first model, the 350MHz version, does not have FireWire.

Although this page covers a number of versions, all the upgrades available are the same.

If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412, or by email, for confirmation. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.

Memory Upgrades

The iMac G3 slot loader has 2 memory socket available for upgrade. It can accept up to 1GB of RAM in 2 x 512MB chips.
INSTALLATION - RAM in an iMac or eMac£15.00 + vat (£17.62)
Kingston PC100 SDRAM DIMM 256MB£38.16 + vat (£44.84)
Kingston PC100 SDRAM DIMM 512MB£49.98 + vat (£58.73)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 2 / 5 - Easy

Turn off the machine and remove the power cable.

Turn your iMac so that the Display is facing the surface (a soft cloth can reduce scratching).

On the underside of the machine there is a small circle in the same colour as the rest of the iMac. This (with a coin) can be turned to the unlocked position to reveal the RAM sockets. These SDRAM chips will only fit in one way round and are secured, with clips, on the end of each RAM modules.

Apple's fitting guide is here.


CD & DVD Drive Upgrades

The iMac G3 Slot Loaders came equipped with either a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or CD-RW optical drive on the front of the machine. At present we don't stock internal CD or DVD writers for this machine, but it is possible to use an external device via USB or FireWire (FireWire is better if your iMac has it).

There are no optical drive upgrades available for these Macs

Difficulty 1/5 - Very Easy

Install any supplied software.

Restart machine and connect the new device.


Internal Hard Drive Upgrades

This range of drives will work in your iMac G3 Slot loader, although user installation is difficult (see below). Please note that internal hard drives larger than 120GB will not work in this machine.

If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.

Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.

INSTALLATION - Internal Hard Drive in an eMac or Mac mini or PowerPC iMac£34.00 + vat (£39.95)
INSTALLATION - Clone Original Hard Drive£25.00 + vat (£29.38)
Western Digital Caviar 120GB IDE 7200RPM 8MB Buffer£40.59 + vat (£47.69)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 4 / 5 - Reasonably tricky.

WARNING: The iMac has a CRT tube which can store a build-up of electrostatic charge. These instructions assume you know and understand this danger.

Turn off the machine and remove the Power cable.

Turn your iMac so that the display is face down (a soft cloth can reduce scratching).

The bottom case is secured with two screws which are located near the feet of the stand. Remove these two screws.

The next screws are hidden beneath the VGA port cover. To the rear of the machine there is a cover dotted with holes. With a flat blade screwdriver this can be gently pried out. This reveals 4 screws. Remove the outer set of screws. With a gentle tug you can then remove the bottom case of the iMac.

This reveals a metal grill which covers the whole machine. This grill is held in place with 6 screws dotted around the base of the metal grill. WARNING: these screws have a habit of falling into the case when being screwed in or out - if this happens you must remove them before restarting, or you risk damage to your iMac. Once the screws are out the grill can be gently lifted out.

The next job is to remove the RAM which is housed in the long black sockets secured with clips at either end.

The hard drive is connected with 2 cables, one coloured and one of a ribbon type. Remove these cables.

The drive is held in place with 4 screws (flat Phillips head) gently remove these and the drive will release. Replace drive and reassemble machine.

Start from CD (hold down 'C' key on startup) and initialise the drive.

If you are unsure we can install the drive for you. Please contact our team for details.


Graphics Card Upgrades

The graphics card in your iMac G3 Slot Loader is part of the main logic board. Unfortunately therefore it is not possible to increase or change the graphics card. It may be worth expanding your memory to its maximum to try and compensate, although this will have a limited effect at best on your iMac's 3D capabilities.

There are no graphics card upgrades available for these Macs


Expansion Card Upgrades

Your iMac G3 Slot Loader has no available PCMCIA or PCI sockets for connectivity expansion.

There are no expansion cards available for these Macs


Keyboards & Mice

The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.

Macally Pebble USB 5 button laser mouse £14.20 + vat (£16.68)
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (UK) Wired£28.97 + vat (£34.04)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy

Keyboards plug into the relevant port on your Mac. Mice can either be plugged into your keyboard, or they can be plugged directly into your Mac.

Power Supplies & Batteries

Listed below are power supplies, batteries and related products we supply for this Mac.

3.6V (half AA type) Lithium PRAM/Clock Battery for Mac£9.00 + vat (£10.58)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Cables & Tools

Listed below are power cables, tools and related products we supply for this Mac.

Screwdriver Set - 20mm Phillips #00, #0, #1 - Flat 1.4mm, 1.8mm, 2.4mm£7.00 + vat (£8.22)
Anti Static Wrist Strap£7.50 + vat (£8.81)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.


External Hard Drive Upgrades

Versions of this Mac which have FireWire can use any of the following external hard drives. If you don't have FireWire then unfortunately your only option is to use normal USB - this is a very slow connection for data storage, and is not generally recommended.

3.5" FireWire 400/eSATA & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 500GB Hard Drive£82.82 + vat (£97.31)1
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 750GB Hard Drive£100.40 + vat (£117.97)1
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1TB Hard Drive£106.94 + vat (£125.65)1
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1.5TB Hard Drive£123.53 + vat (£145.15)1
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 2TB Hard Drive£158.02 + vat (£185.67)1

3.5" FireWire 400/800/eSATA & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 500GB Hard Drive£99.87 + vat (£117.35)1
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 750GB Hard Drive£121.54 + vat (£142.81)1
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1TB Hard Drive£129.83 + vat (£152.55)1
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1.5TB Hard Drive£146.41 + vat (£172.03)1
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 2TB Hard Drive£180.90 + vat (£212.56)1

2.5" FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 250GB 5400RPM Hard Drive£68.36 + vat (£80.32)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 320GB 5400RPM Hard Drive£74.15 + vat (£87.13)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive£85.18 + vat (£100.09)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive£107.82 + vat (£126.69)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive£69.89 + vat (£82.12)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive£74.75 + vat (£87.83)1
Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive£94.73 + vat (£111.31)1

3.5" Drive Enclosures

Macally G-S350SUA External USB 2.0/FW400/eSATA Enclosure for 3.5" SATA HDD£52.65 + vat (£61.86)1

2.5" Drive Enclosures

Macally PHR-S250CC External FireWire & USB 2.0 Portable 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure£38.45 + vat (£45.18)2
1Not compatible with the 350MHz model.
2Requires 9.2 or later or 10.1.5 or later.

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy

Install any supplied software and connect the new device.

You will need to format the drive before use. This is done with the "Drive Setup" utility, which can be found in Applications > Utilities.

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