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Best Buys in Used Macs

Power Macintosh 7500

1998.04.09. Updated 2001.09

We're sorry, but these are very old, very dated articles. Best buys in used Macs is such a moving target that we simply can't keep up to date and have given up even trying. Please read these in their historical context, as some of these articles were written in the early years of Low End Mac.

Although introduced with a 100 MHz Power PC 601 processor, the Power Macintosh 7500 and it's faster siblings, the 7600 and 7300, accept CPU daughter cards, allowing incredible speed boosts - up to 500 MHz ! (Comments apply to all three models, although I will refer to them as 7500 for the sake of brevity.) At present, 300 MHz G3 cards are available for under US$150, so upgrading on a budget is a real option. (See G3 Daughter Cards and G4 Daughter Cards for a detailed listings of upgrade options.)

In addition to the processor upgrade, the 7500 case has a second internal drive bay for an additional internal hard drive (or an internal Zip or Jaz drive, DAT tape drive, etc.). Memory can be expanded to 1 GB!

Of the three models, the 7500 is the best buy if you intend to upgrade the CPU, because you won't be paying a premium for the ancient 100 MHz PPC 601 processor. Upgradability kept 7500 values up for years, but they have now dropped to the point that often close at $40-80 on eBay unless they include a monitor or G3 upgrade. The 7600 (120-200 MHz) typically sells for $60-125, and the 7300 (166-200 MHz) for $75-175. (Note that eBay prices will usually be lower than local prices, since shipping can easily add $20-30 to the final cost.)

The 7600 and 7300 remain somewhat more expensive, due to the more powerful 604 and 604e CPU, but may also provide the horsepower you need without the expense of a daughter card. Of the three, the 7500 represents the best buy; the other are two good buys. (Note that the 7300 is the only one of the three without video input.)

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