Today you can buy a brand new 1.25 Ghz G4 eMac for $799 list or less if you shop. The speed comes in handy especially if you are using FileMaker Server 7 because most of the processing happens on the server. There's a nice review over at MacWorld. I like this machine for FileMaker 7, in particular, because it:
- is fast
- is cheap
- doesn't waste your money on an expensive monitor
- is self-contained so can be put in a minimal space: corner or closet
Another option would be an *old* eMac running at 1 ghz or even 800 mhz. Depends on how many concurrent users you are expecting. If you are a small shop with 5 or 6 users, I would go with the 1 ghz.
If you don't need the FileMaker Server software, these are still great little machines as dedicated FileMaker application servers running plain old FileMaker in small installations.
I like lcd displays for human beings who work in front of them all day because they don't radiate you like CRTs. But servers tend to just sit there without a user the vast majority of the time, so the CRT doesn't hurt you.
If you are a bigger firm with more than 10 concurrent users, you might want to look into a G5 box of some kind.
Don't forget to add at least a 512 mb RAM upgrade (not from Apple) to make this baby sing. You can get one for less than $100. As I write, one of my favorites, Other World Computing, has this RAM for $89.95.