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99 cent eBay TiBook
Posted by: kb3wmh on 2018-03-10 08:54:27
I got this back at the beginning of 2015, but I thought I'd share it here now.

I bought a 99 cent 400 MHz PowerBook G4 off eBay that was billed as not working. The pictures weren't very good, but it looked like the hinges weren't cracked, so I bought it hoping that the issue was a dead pram battery.

When it arrived, I plugged it in and tried to start it, and as the description said, nothing happened. Before I ripped it apart to unplug the pram battery, I thought to try a power cord I knew was working. And it fired right up!

Even better, the case was in really nice shape! The only major thing I replaced was the bottom panel, which was peeling apart. I scavenged an AirPort card and 512 MB of RAM from a broken TiBook I have, along with the keyboard (the original keyboard worked and was in nice shape, it was just dirty and I didn't feel like cleaning it.)

There is a small crack under the DVD drive, but it is almost invisible. Other than that, my 99 cent PowerBook is great! I even get ~3 hrs of battery life!

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Posted by: MOS8_030 on 2018-03-10 09:58:27
An intact, working TiBook for .99. It really doesn't get much better than that!

That faulty PS probably saved this laptop.

Almost every TiBook I've ever seen that was subjected to any long-term use pretty much fell apart.
Posted by: CC_333 on 2018-03-10 12:14:13
Neat find!

I have a similar story, where I recently got myself a $34 PowerBook G4 17" A1052 that was also billed as not powering on (I've checked, and every other A1052 I found was selling (as "for parts or not working") for at least triple that price! *NOT* including shipping!!). I tried it with one of my own chargers (works fine on my A1106), and it powered right on without any trouble! The only issues are no sound from internal speakers (headphone out is OK) and a dead Superdrive (I replaced it with a spare Combo drive temporarily while I figure out how to afford a $2.50 replacement :lol: ). The battery is iffy, but as a quality replacement would cost at least $60, I think I'll live with it for now.

So, yeah. Good deals on this stuff can still be had, if you're in the right place at the right time.

c
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