Why buy reconditioned Apple Macintosh equipment?

ORDER SECURELY ONLINE! OR give us a call on the toll free order line 877-639-1543 9-6 CST, M-F (901-759-1543 in TN or outside U.S.) New 901-591-1548 tech support FAX 615-523-1360. Remember our bottom line price includes shipping! We stand behind the products we sell with a 30 day warranty less shipping and handling (90 days on systems). Prices subject to change with out notice. Questions? Try our HELP file first. Need hardware help? Read Bob's Mac Tech Tips. Why use reconditioned equipment? See the Mac Comparison Chart! All large orders have to be signed for. Operator Headgap Systems, Inc.,7181 Autumn Forrest Dr. Memphis, TN 38125 Contact Us.
View our Computer Comparison Chart! So many of you liked the way the chart shows all the different features and prices into one easier to read chart you can now access it from here or the store. Simply close the window to go back to where you were.
Why Buy Reconditioned Equipment?

There are a number of reasons why purchasing reconditioned Macintosh equipment may make sense for you or your organization. The two most common reasons, though are the obvious ones Price & Functionality.
Many older computer systems can perform needed functions as well as the newer, more expensive models. If all you do is do a bit of word processing, cruise the web, answer emails, or balance the checkbook your desktop machine doesn't have to be the latest Intel Mac running quad processors. The same is true for Email Servers, Print Servers, Fax Servers or machines dedicated to printing mailing labels. The purchase of a reconditioned system will save you money while meeting your needs beautifully. We can also recondition and upgrade your old systems should you choose. Some of you have expensive NUBUS cards running your milling machines or other industrial uses. We can help. We can also help move your old data off your older systems so that you can use it on your new one.
BAD NEWS FOR CLASSIC USERS • NEW INTEL MACS WON'T RUN CLASSIC!

Not only can you not boot into 9, you cannot even use classic mode with the new Intel Macs. If you are using old software you will want to pass these systems up. If you are new to Mac or never use old software then they may be the system for you. Keep in mind while Apple says they are 2 times faster that is only true if you are using Applications that are optimized for theIntel processor. Most Pro Apps like any Adobe Product will be slower, until they release an Intel optimized version. If you work for a living you may want to avoid buying one until the software catches up or locate one of the remaining real G5 processored systems. It is kind of cool that you can run Boot Camp beta and boot into XP, if you have a need to gather PC viruses and spyware and don't mind that it expires forcing you to update to the new OSX version when Leopard arrives if you want to continue to use it.
EVEN MORE BAD NEWS FOR CLASSIC USERS • NEW LEOPARD OSX WON'T RUN CLASSIC!

One major gotcha for many folks is that Leopard does NOT HAVE A CLASSIC MODE. If you must run an older program you can boot back into 9.2 on dual bootable machines and use your programs. If your computer is not 9 bootable then you had best keep Tiger around a while longer. I think some folks will probably keep a second drive with Tiger and classic installed if they must run a classic application and they have a system that only boots in X.
THE NUMBER ONE REASON: Are the programs you use mostly in OS9 or older? The latest machines no longer boot into 9, and many programs do not work properly in classic mode. Many of our later custom upgraded systems are equally at home running in 9 or the latest version of X. You can still use your old Pagemaker or Quark or earlier versions of Pro Tools, yet still have the ability to boot into X and use the latest software.
THE NUMBER TWO REASON: Hardware incompatibility. If you've made equipment upgrades with your current system, you may find that these upgrades will be incompatible with a new machine. For example, if you have an older Mac with big bucks invested in a SCSI scanner, SCSI externals, they won't work in the new Macs that lack a SCSI port (you could add a card but that's another expense). Perhaps you have a nice large monitor. To adapt it to the output of the new Macs may make you reconsider. Perhaps your expensive Laser Printer will not longer be supported. Have your backups on floppy, or deal with folks who bring you files on floppy? Plan on spending another $60 or so for an external USB floppy and then buy a powered hub because you are out of USB ports and then what do you do when you get an 800K floppy? The USB models only read Hi Density disks.
Actually, some older Macs may perform functions that newer ones won't or it would be too expensive to equip the newer machines for the purpose. For example, the Beige G3 Tower has always been a favorite as a File Server. It has a G3/300 upgraded to a 500 mhz processor, can handle two or three internally mounted hard drives, has two SCSI buses for a total of 14 SCSI devices, boasts 3 SDRAM sockets, and, to top it all off, it has EIDE bus allowing low cost PC drives, CDRW's etc to be inexpensively added. Compare these specifications to a new system, then look at the cost of the newer system!
Reconditioned equipment isn't always the answer. But, before you buy new, you owe it to yourself to compare.
QUESTION: I am musician who uses Pro Tools and other music software. Many of my plug ins run in OS9 only and I have quite an investment in software. I want a faster system but all Apple has only boots into X. Can you help.
ANSWER: We upgrade standard G4 Sawtooth or optionally Digital Audio, or Quicksilver model systems with single and dual upgrade processors. We also install new faster larger hard drives (for increased performance) and new optical drives (DVD/CD Burners) along with more ram. These units are designed for you and others who still need to boot into 9. With OSX software installed you can also boot into X if you want to try some of the newer software that only works in X. We have quite a list of musicians who use our systems. I guess being here in Memphis has probably helped us be aware of what musicians are needing.
I can't tell you how many folks including print shops, graphic designers, and more, who need to use software that only works in 9. We are here to help providing fast thoroughly reconditioned systems that perform at high levels.
QUESTION: I am a graphic designer/AD. Opening my own business asap. I'm confused about the new Macs and all the software compatibility problems and vendor issues. I need something really powerful that will not be out of date tomorrow. What's your advice? What do you have for me?
THE LONG ANSWER: Depends on how much money you have to spend. For heavy duty use we recommend our custom upgraded G4's, but the G3 Beige Boxes or the Blue & White Towers depending may do what you need for less money. The G4's have to run 9.2.2 and up to Tiger OSX10.4 but the Beige or Blue and White G3's can run OSes as early as 8.6. I usually run 9.2.2 on them. What is nice about most of these Macs is that you can also install OSX on them. There may be some limitations so you should check before buying. That enables you to use new software on the same machine as well as keep your old investment.
I like and am still using the Beige G3 boxes. You probably are already familiar with them. They come in a Tower and Desktop model. There main limitation is a 66mhz bus speed which is relatively slow by todays standards. That being said, what I like about them though is they are dependable (that built in ROM doesn't get fouled like a software rom), have a built in floppy, SCSI external and internal, use IDE devices so large drives, CDRW's and DVD's are relatively low cost since they share the market with PC's. Our upgraded G4 Towers are also a good choice as they can be updated to 1.8Ghz Dual Processors and have 100 or 133mhz buses. These machines all will boot into 9 but can also boot into X when the need arises and give good performance for the money.
We sell Hitachi (IBM) Deskstar & Seagate 7200 rpm Hard Drives and prefer them. We have never seen a bad one, and while they are a few dollars more I think they are worth it. We stock 80/120 sizes. The Mac OS has a problem with anything over 132GBs. I won't talk bad about Maxtor or Western Digitall, but see what goes out in my trash. If dependability is important to you then the Hitachi or Seagate drives are worth the few dollars difference.
We like the latest from Pioneer for $89.77. We have iTunes drivers included and use it with Toast 5.2OEM that works with 9 and X. Use these with Toast or if you run X buy the iLife package and get iDVD. You need a good graphics card with at least 16MB on board to playback DVD's so count on the extra expense of a card and using a slot on the beige boxes. Most Blue & Whites and G4's have a good enough video card to playback DVD's, though on the Blue and Whites you may need to run the patched DVD player.
The Beige Tower Models (and now some Desktops) we sell can have an A/V personality card, so that you can do Analog Video input and editing and of course with added Firewire you can also take Digital input. The best of both worlds. If you have a lot of video on tape and or an analog camera this is the one to buy. We actually sold a heavily upgraded box to a famous Hollywood producer. Of course you can buy a $200-$300 conversion box but they don't work as well as a Mac with the built in hardware in terms of dependability. We have a local eye doctor who burns his finished productions from an Analog video camera out to CD's. The format is called VCD and you need Toast Titanium (full version) to burn these but they play on modern home DVD players. This allows his clients to view the material rather than read from a pamphlet. Since it burns on 20¢ CD's his cost is minimal and you can get about an hour and 15 minutes on one CD! Plus he burns at 52X on CD's not a 4 or 6X on expensive DVD's.
The Beige Boxes use SDRAM PC100 and can hold up to 768MB. It is important that you buy the correct configuration of ram. We carry top quality ram that is capable of running with the fastest processors.
The processor in these units are ZIF (Zero Insertion Force, they simply pop out) so you can easily upgrade. Sonnet has G4 Processor upgrades up to 1 Ghz for these models. I would consider any machine that had a ZIF socket will be very expandable. We of course have G4 upgrades from Sonnet in stock if the software you run takes advantage of the Altivech sub-processor the G4 offers. The new Dual 1.8 ghz model although a bit pricey gives top performance to the older Sawtooth, Gigabit, Digital Audio and Quicksilver G4's. If you need maximum horsepower and still boot into 9 these are the way to go.
On Beige G3's graphics wise they have 2MB ATI Rage Pro Graphics built in and are expandable to 6MB (the 4MB expansion chip is only $20 and worth adding). That's enough for most folks and gives decent performance. Two options are ATI Rage Graphics Card 16MB (used, when we can find them) for $?? (PC output), or the ultimate for this model is the ATI Radeon 9200 with its 128MB of on board ram with DVI, & HD15 PC style etc. The Radeon can be "patched" to run in OSX's Quartz Extreme mode for more speed. They run around $150.
For monitors we recommend you either buy our adapter ($14.77 shipped and works with almost anything) or if you get one of the upgrade cards they work straight up with PC monitors. Go down to the local discount office supply store and catch a 17" Flat CRT Screen for less than $100 after rebate. These units work fine with LCD's as well. No reason to buy a 4 to 7 year old Apple monitor. We have quit handling anything over 15", since they are heavy to ship.
We add usb and firewire via the PCI slot either with separate cards or save a slot with a combo card. If you plan to use more than the 2 root USB ports make sure you purchase a high quality POWERED USB Hub. We carry a good one. If you are bucks up we recommend the Sonnet Trio Card which has Firewire/USB and ATA 133 on one card. This will improve the performance you get from those fast 7200 rpm Hitachi Hard Drives. USB2.0 cards are available for the Mac but there are no drivers available prior to OSX. Firewire is faster and better anyway so avoid USB2.0 products unless you are going to be running OSX.
If you have DSL or Cable Modem or are on a fast network we sell and recommend the Realtek 8139C chipset 10/100 Ethernet Card. We sell the card and include the Mac driver for less than $20. We also now have 1000baseT Gigabit Ethernet Cards for the Mac for 8 6-X and are fast and reasonably prices should you be on that fast of a network with an older machine.
Most of these products are available in the premade models we make up, but we can build to order. For servers you may want RAID for dependability or UltraWide SCSI or even the Serial ATA for speed. We carry the components to build these and do so frequently for a lot of our customers. Your larger graphics and print houses like these components, but anyone needing high reliability may want to consider the extra money it costs to add these components.
We also do about the same things to the Blue and White Towers. They have 100 mhz buses but you lose the floppy and built in SCSI and serial ports. They use software roms and you are more likely to have trouble with them under some circumstances. In fact you can booger these up to where they are darn near unsalvageable. They are fast though and with a processor upgrade and up to a Gigabyte of ram, fast large drives, and CDRW's or DVD's they make great little work stations and servers. We have internal modems for these and can add SCSI and external floppies. Serial ports are more of a problem but if you have a USB printer or a network printer this is a good choice. Serial Cards are kind of pricey and are not always compatible with all printers. We get a used one every once in a while but can special order on if you need one. We like and personally use the KeySpan Card in one of my systems.
The G4 towers are now more affordable to upgrade. We are buying them and upgrading them with fast Hitachi Hard Drives and Pioneer SuperDrives as well as new larger ram chips and in most cases faster processors. You do lose the serial and scsi ports and of course it doesn't have a floppy. These all can be added though if there is something that you can't live without that uses them.
All the Native G3 and the G4 upgrade machines we sell will run OSX, although Panther (and Tiger) requires a system with built in USB ports. Perhaps a patch will be forthcoming that will allow us to run Panther on Beige, but Beige G3 owners should stick with Jaguar 10.2.8 or earlier.
We think many folks who work for a living have better things to do that to hunt down printer drivers and figure out who has permission to install a driver when you find one. I know eventually we may all be using it but for now we choose to stick with OS9 most of the time. We saw an editorial in MacWorld where the guy was saying that he installs X on friends G3/500 laptops and it runs alright, but he wouldn't do any photoshop editing with it. What the knothead doesn't realize is that a G3/500 is really adequate when running 9 for just about anything and where we come from it would be great to have a G3/500 for that type of work. It's amazing how fast your Mac is when the operating system doesn't take up most of your computers resources. X continues to improve and Apple continues to add killer apps, so it probably won't be too long before us luddites convert to OSX.
Take a look at our model comparison page. http://resale.headgap.com/compchart.html
It shows what we build and price at. We do customs anytime though if you want something different.

Apple, Apple Macintosh, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, iTunes, iLife, iDVD, Disc Burner, Quadra, Centris, Performa, LaserWriter and StyleWriter and the multi-color apple graphic device are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their prospective owners.
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