How to get started with Retro Computing!

This guide will help you find a good Apple Mac that will be reliable and fun to use as a vintage machine.


  1. The iBook G4 is a great place for beginners to start, because they are:
    • Easy to find/buy
    • Cheap, usually under $75
    • Fast!
    • Still usable (with browsers like InterWebPPC you can send emails, watch YouTube, and more!)
    • Great "coffee shop" computers, because they are old, usable, and not as valuable as your new iPad Pro, gaming laptop, or MacBook Pro.
  2. Another great option if you want 80s vintage Macs is a 68k SE/30. It's nostalgic, has a cool 2-color grayscale display, and you can mod it to your liking :)
  3. The third great option is a Power Mac G5 because it's super fast (great for light and heavy tasks!!), not too expensive, and easy to use and set up, as long as you have a decent monitor (i use an old lcd tv with a vga port) and a usb keyboard & mouse.
  4. Last but not least, the eMac (education macintosh) or iMac G3 are both lower-end PowerPC macs. The iMac G3 is still very capable, and it makes a great OS 9 mac. The eMac is a great Mac for light browsing on vintage macs, and maybe playing some retro games like Doom.