Daniel, thanks.

I toddled off and traced the serial numbers. One is this one: MT16LSDT1664AG-10EC7 SDRAM 128MB INTEL SR440BX DESKTOP

The other is 64MB. Probably not much use, right?

I've got 128 on board now. Is 256 even enough for Tiger? The Apple system requirements say yes, but I'm afraid of wasting the slots.

Should I just bite the bullet and buy new memory?

ETA: Oh. Good. Lord. Now I see that Tiger requires a dvd drive to install. I have only cd. The plan was...memory then OS then software THEN drive. Rats. I feel like the MAN is keeping me down. Frak.

Apple did later come out with a three-CD installer set, but if you don't have a DVD drive, yeah. Sigh.

And I would recommend at least 512Mb, more if you can afford it.

What model is your Mac?

My eMac is a 700MHz powerpc G4.

• 256k on-chip level 2 cache
  
• 128MB SDRAM, support up to 1GB
  
• 40GB Ultra ATA hard disk drive
  
• 10/100BASE-T ethernet
  
• CD-RW

Apparently ram for your machine runs around $30 for 256MB sodimms, and $80 for 512MB SoDimms.

For future reference...OWC's page on prices for your model: [link]

Yeah. I'm thinking I need to just go with the 512, but THEN what? Many of the external dvd drives I've seen are just too expensive.

The buckage mounts...100 memory, 200 dvd drive min., 130 Tiger, plus plus.

I was just hoping the upgrade would not cost uphill of $500.

eta: thanks for the link! Sigh.

I've seen specials on external DVD +-R CDRW dual-layer burners with USB and Firewire that are in the $80 range, after rebate.

No WAY! That's a deal I gotta find.

OTOH? Circuit City had a deal going on for a less-known brand with 2 year warranty...fot $89 after mail in rebate ($129 before) just two weeks ago.

Mad Dog Multimedia MegaStor™ External DVD Drive >(MD-16X3DVD9-8XE)

Triple-format: Create music CDs, burn up to 9.4 GB of data on one >double-sided DVD-RAM disc, or burn up to 8.5 GB of data on one >double-layer DVD±RW disc. The MegaSTOR™ Triple Format supports >any single or double layer DVD±RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R or CD-RW media.

Roxio™ software bundle

USB 2.0/FireWire®

[link]

ETA: Rebate seems over, but who knows? I recommended this to a friend of mine, and it works like a charm, he says.

Oh, and keep an eye on the dealnews site for specials: [link]

If you are spending more than about $300 on the computer then you should take a serious look at a Mac Mini. Refurbed models tend to pop up in the $400-$600 range every couple of weeks and it would pretty much upgrade all of the parts of your system at once. You'd need a monitor, but you can probably get one for free if you check Craigslist or Freecycle in your area.

I'd not run Tiger on less than 512MB of memory. Even with 512, if you run more than a few apps you'll feel a slowdown, and on an older machine with a fragmented hard drive or fuller hard drive you'll feel the slowdown even more. I don't like running Tiger on less than 1 GB of RAM at this point.

Also, you can get Tiger on CD. If you go to This Page you can see to the right that there is a media exchange form that you can download and Apple will exchange your install DVD for install CD's.