• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

What to do with a deceased iMac?

M

mpw

Android Expert
What to do with a deceased iMac?

I have a dead iMac, it's a fairly old one; the first of the 'everything on a stick' format.

Rather than just send it to land-fill I'm wondering what I could do with it for little, or ideally, no, money.

I'd love to make it something 'practical', or at least something with a purpose, like a picture frame(boring), lamp, or (my personal favourite) a fish tank, but am worried the depth(front to rear) being just 5cm wouldn't give the fish room to breath.

So; ideas please, on what to do, how to do(I've limited practical skillz) and if there are any particularly agoraphobic fish that wouldn't mind living in it.
 
A fish tank wouldn't be a good idea. 5cm is too small for any fish you could keep it in, not to mention all the sealant to make it water tight (not sure if it is already, I doubt it).

All the cool stuff is likely to cost money to make.
 
Isthmus said:
how dead is dead. What parts need replacing to get it going again?
Click to expand...
The HDD, optical drive, RAM, Airport Extreme and power all seem good, it's the logic board that appears to have shat itself. It may just be capacitors, but I'm no expert. My local Mac shop guy says it's not an economic repair (unless I could do the work myself, which I'm not confident of, and the desktop has been replaced already) I guess I could donate to a willing charity, but in my experience many charities just don't want old gear!

Sad as it is the innards do seem close to worthless.

Pryomancer said:
...5cm is too small for any fish you could keep it in...
Click to expand...
Little bit of research does seem to support your theory, even forgetting their rights it would appear they'll just die, and replacing them would be a bore.

Am now thinking lava lamp???
 
Right, liking the lava lamp idea; but where do I get a ~37x27x3.5cm heat resistant glass tank with an airtight seal??
 
Build a MAC into it, replace the tube with an LCD monitor, if you wish to stick with a Mac, use one of their Mac Minis to supply the horse power.
 
PGP_Protector said:
Build a MAC into it, replace the tube with an LCD monitor, if you wish to stick with a Mac, use one of their Mac Minis to supply the horse power.
Click to expand...
It isn't the original CRT iMac, it's the first of the G5 17" LCD, and it's already been replaced with a brand-spanking-new 21.5" iMac.
 
mpw said:
It isn't the original CRT iMac, it's the first of the G5 17" LCD, and it's already been replaced with a brand-spanking-new 21.5" iMac.
Click to expand...

Turn it into a Secondary Monitor, Replace the MB & turn it into a web server, Make it into a TV Monitor for watching TV while you work.
 
CRPercodani said:
A twitter feed?
Click to expand...
Some sort of bird feeder/table? It's not such a bad idea...

I'm afraid if you're talking 'social networking' twitter, then you've probably already lost me! Still struggling seeing a point to twitter (and don't 'do' Facebook either!)

...still, I kinda like the idea of making a nesting box out the case, and mounting it in a tree :D Probably one of the technically least challenging too!
 
PGP_Protector said:
Turn it into a Secondary Monitor, Replace the MB & turn it into a web server, Make it into a TV Monitor for watching TV while you work.
Click to expand...
Okay, space and need, pretty much rule out any kind of computing purpose, and I somehow seem to have acquired more redundant TVs than I have nipples.

So right now lava lamp and nesting box are the front runners.
 
Haha yeah I meant Twitter as in social networking. I think your bird feeder idea would be even better and pretty simple to make.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom