iMac G4 Touch Screen

 

Instead of purchasing a new iMac Dremmel Junkie opted to add some new features to his original iMac G4 such as a touch screen!

"Because the monitor connects to its controller through a proprietary connector its difficult to use with upgraded equipment. My solution was to put a shelf on the back for the connectors. I then upgraded it with a surface acoustic wave touch screen, its high resolution does not distort the image at all."

11 Comments


  1. can someone explain to me what is the point to buy apple comp and install in it windows.
    when you buying apple comp you do not have big options like when you are buying a pc
    and apple comp is not that powerful like some pc.
    sou smart think will be to buy pc and to put inside mac or what ever you want in
    and what is the point in mac it is not fester than windows or Linux
    ubuntu is fester than win and mac
    ubuntu is as safe as mac than win
    sou what is the point to have mac?
    we all know there is not many applications for mac or ubuntu
    90% off software are developed for win
    and only 5% are made for mac and only 5% from 90% are translated for mac.
    go for WIN if you want lots of software
    go for ubuntu if you want speed and security
    sou what is the point to go for mac????


  2. This is Windows 7, which, will NOT run on a G4 CPU…

    This is no iMac anymore…

    mikheil :
    When Ubuntu (or Windows) will have the ease-of-use of Mac OS X, I’ll think about. having proprietary hardware (I’m not talking about Hackintoshes here) make a big plus when it comes to drivers : everything is included in the OS. Less drivers mean they are more stable.
    Once you understand that, you see the point of Mac OS X. Everything just works, if you want to put a linux software which is not in the repositories on ubuntu, you’ll put some shit in the fan, break the updates, and such. Ubuntu is not faster than Mac OS X. As fast, maybe. Understand then, that, again, as a proprietary OS, it has commercial support, which means that you’ll have something else than a wiki to get help. Either for you or for an application developper (like, Curio, Photoshop, MS Office Mac, …)

    Do not think of Mac OS as Ubuntu with an apple, it’s just everything else


  3. what you saying is the mac is better than ubuntu because it has phone support
    and when you install mac on apple comp you do not have to worry about drivers
    and somehow i do not see anything else
    ubuntu is at least little fester than mac
    and a lot fester than any of the win versions
    and for the memo am not mac user i do not see point in it
    i am win and ubuntu user
    i would switch completely to ubuntu if wine had dx9 and dx10 support


  4. I’m also saying that Mac OS X is more stable than Ubuntu, partly due to driver integration.
    I’m also saying that Ubuntu suffers from the dpkg system as much as it gets profit from, if you want to install something out of the repos, you’ll break the update system, partly at least

    Mac OS X is a very good OS, and so is Ubuntu.

    I just don’t see in Ubuntu the cleanliness and fluidity that I feel using Mac OS X.

    For the memo,
    I use Windows XP Pro at work, something like 8 hours per day, mainly Firefox outlook and Publisher.
    I used FreeBSD,Debian,Ubuntu during 7+ years, and liked all of them.
    I switched to a white MacBook some months ago, it fits all my needs, and just is a pleasure to use.

    Once Ubuntu has the same unified clipboard as Mac OS and Windows have, I might reconsider using Ubuntu.

    Ubuntu is a patchwork made from free software, the problem is, it sometimes won’t work together.

    Sometimes life ain’t just about numbers, but what you feel, and I feel Mac OS X is far “sleeker” than anything else.

    It’s like a workshop where you’d had everything where you’d think it is.


  5. i do not feel as mac x to be most stable os.
    first experience i had with it crashed while browsing sys files
    an in did mac os was on one of the apple comp.
    sou if that o.s. can go down which is as you say to be made hardware bios kernel and os by one company while browsing sys files
    why then that think which is made and shaped by thousends of people across the globe for free cant have some problems in it?
    i have ubuntu and i have installed software which is not in ubuntu update reppo and i do not have any problems update works like new


  6. The reason I did this mod was because the iMac’s screen broke and there was no point in paying to repair a G4 machine, yet I still wanted to find a way to keep the iMac on my desk. I like OS-X, but if you like to tinker and mod your computer, OS-X can be hard to work with. The machine this is connected to dual boots as a hackintosh, but I can not use this as my base operating system as one mistaken update may make my computer unusable. Ubuntu is an impressive OS, but for this mod I wanted to try the touch features of Windows 7. I had thought of touch as a bit of a novelty, but the ability to pull the screen close and move the neck so easily actually makes this very functional. Most touch screens are bulky all-in-ones that are unmovable, but this as a kitchen/living room computer works very well. – Dremel Junkie


  7. Mikheil : never crashed Mac OS X. Safari did oops one or two times.

    jberg : agreed, OS-X is not as hacker friendly as open OSes, but that’s not the goal.

    have you pictures of the inside of the mod ? is the mobo in or out ?


  8. Wolf I totally agree there is no one thats better all depends on what you need from that machine. The base of the iMac G4 with the original mobo is very impressively designed. Its convection cooled so the parts literally stack on top of each other. Its a lot smaller then it appears. The drive takes up 70% of the volume of the base. Because there are four metal pillars that come down inside around the drive (the original mobo has holes in it), a mini itx board will not fit without heavy modification to the base. I thought about a pico-itx/atom board but wasn’t convinced this would is any better than a G4. In the end I opted to just put a blu-ray drive in the base connected with a sata to usb converter. The computer is a micro-atx setup outside the imac. So this is really a stand alone touchscreen monitor and external blu-ray drive. I can post a pic but the drive simply replaced the existing imac drive and is not very interesting.


  9. Agreed for the pics,

    The nice thing is, you can hook it up to a Mac Mini to have power and Apple fanatic bonus !

    I haven’t tested Windows 7 yet, what are your thougts about it ?

    Thanks for the reply.


  10. Wolf – I completely agree. While a mac mini won’t fit as is in the case, it may fit if you take it apart. I just don’t want to wreck a Core 2 Duo Mini to find out. I think I may eventually buy a mini to hook up to this and just hide it under or behind the desk. I was also considering using this as a second monitor for a HTPC. Thus, you could easily scroll thru a home movie collection or any internet content and then clone it to the HD TV. Thus, it would become a blu-ray player / touch screen “remote” for an HDTV on an endtable. To be honest, I don’t really see much that makes Windows 7 that amazing for touch. The multitouch pack is a few novelty applications. Windows 7 as a whole is a stable OS and is much easier and less annoying than Vista, but that’s not saying much.


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