My 4400 was great machine for the amount of time I had it which was around 6 months. It was replaced with an 8500 and I haven't looked back. My 4400 only had 32MB of RAM but it did have the 200MHz 603 in it which helped.
Since I was just getting into Mac's at the time, the speed of the machine never really bugged me as I knew it was just a trainer model for me. I got it for free and it helped me to scour e-bay in search of the machine I wanted. A friend of mine had an 8600 which I really enjoyed using, but did not like how big the case was. That is why I got an 8500. Roughly the same hardware and one of the cutest little cases I have come across. I did change my mind on the 8600 style case as I love my BeigeG3. That being said I still prefer to use my 8500.
Since I was just getting into Mac's at the time, the speed of the machine never really bugged me as I knew it was just a trainer model for me. I got it for free and it helped me to scour e-bay in search of the machine I wanted. A friend of mine had an 8600 which I really enjoyed using, but did not like how big the case was. That is why I got an 8500. Roughly the same hardware and one of the cutest little cases I have come across. I did change my mind on the 8600 style case as I love my BeigeG3. That being said I still prefer to use my 8500.