2x iMac Grape off side of road, which one to keep?

[wardsenatorfe92]

Nice find! I have to agree withe everyone else as well, the plastic on the earlier tray loaders seem to hold up better than the slot loading models. The only problem I've had with the tray loading model is that it seems to make a buzzing noise when the machine is turned off (which is more than likely the flyback transformer going out). I tend to like the slot loading design better myself, but finding one in good condition is very hard to come by.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

So where's the slot loader going to end up? Posting it up on the classifieds here?

 

[Brett B.]

Good call on keeping the tray loader. Yes, they are certainly "limited" in some respects and hard to take apart but they at least have a fan and don't crumble into pieces when taken apart.

I still have my Rev. A trayloader that was purchased a week after the iMac was released in 1998. It must have thousands of hours on it and the screen has needed periodic adjustment to get rid of some fuzziness, and it's had some serious upgrades over the years...but it still works great! Trayloaders rule!

 

[fairchild]

So where's the slot loader going to end up? Posting it up on the classifieds here?

I put it up on craiglist and kijiji here in toronto. Shipping these things would be stupid money!

 

[iMac600]

(Maybe my problem stems from a tendency to conflate "quality build" with "quality design". I suppose other than the stupidly fragile hinged door over the ports the tray-loaders are at least mostly made out of sturdy materials and reasonably "well built". But the internal design is such a hack. Completely, irredeemably, south-end-of-a-north-facing-mule bu** ugly through and through. And it's not just physical; technically the machines are essentially Beige G3s in drag, with most of the weird glitches and gotchyas of that machine plus a few of their own. They work okay under "classic" Mac OS but once OS X enters the equation they just flat-out suck.
For whatever quality problems the slot-loaders have at least they're a clean design.

The Slot Loaders are also a hack, they're just nowhere near as obvious. However the internal design is an absolute garbage dump of electronics (no idea why I went for that phrase, but go with it) and the critical structural components holding them all together will crack, flake and fall apart over time. The Tray Loader's materials are of reasonably quality, being much more solid, and the overall structure is sturdier. They have their faults, but at least they hold together.

Compared to the Slot Loader, the Tray Loader is an absolute gem - although they're still incredibly difficult to work on.

I threw away my Graphite 400MHz Slot Loader after the chassis deteriorated. My Graphite 600MHz is headed the same way. I have a brilliant little 333MHz Tray Loader in Strawberry now though. Although I can't say I'm entirely enthusiastic about it, it is in fantastic shape and it works perfectly.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

It's too bad no one makes aftermarket metal chassis for the candied iMacs, I'd love to do a restoration of one where I could make it even stronger and faster than before, but keep the outside appearance of the original thing. It's a beautiful design in my opinion, even if it's kind of bulky, but I don't think you could really design a computer with such presence without having a bit of bulk.