68kMLA Classic Interface
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| Picked up a couple of pristine PowerBooks | |
| Posted by: ried on 2022-05-04 21:23:15 First up is the PowerBook G3 (PDQ / 300MHz), which had not been powered on since 1999. Fired right up into Mac OS 8.5 and I found someone's files on the desktop. Was a medical business of some sort, and this was a doctor's machine. Files were all dated late 1999. I immediately shut it down, removed the hard drive and installed an SSD. Now happily running Mac OS 9.2.2.Absolutely no wear on the palm rest, trackpad or keyboard. Clean as a whistle. Pretty neat!   Will share the next one later on. | |
| Posted by: CC_333 on 2022-05-04 23:33:56 That PDQ looks immaculate! It reminds me of my distant memories of my mother's Lombard when it was new, except 10-year-old me made sure it didn't stay that way for long... 😉 c | |
| Posted by: AndyO on 2022-05-05 04:53:15 That PDQ looks truly amazing! I thought mine was as good as I was likely to see after cleaning the dust off it, but that one looks like it was barely used! Great find! | |
| Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2022-05-05 06:20:28 Awesome PowerBook, great find! Be careful with the hinges though, the actual metal wears out and they’ll go floppy, my PDQ has this problem. Enjoy it! | |
| Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2022-05-05 08:24:15 WOW! | |
| Posted by: rollmastr on 2022-05-05 08:49:35 What a time capsule! | |
| Posted by: ried on 2022-05-09 11:29:29 Here's the 12-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz machine, which came in its original packaging. I installed an SSD and Sorbet Leopard R15 this weekend. Mint case, basically an unused machine. Battery only has 11 cycles and still reaches its original 4400 mAh capacity:        | |
Posted by: ried on 2022-05-09 11:37:23Awesome PowerBook, great find! Be careful with the hinges though, the actual metal wears out and they’ll go floppy, my PDQ has this problem. Enjoy it!Good advice, thank you! I'm very gentle with it. Funny story... when I was in college, a 266MHz was my first laptop and a major expense at the time. I proudly brought it to a friend's dorm room and sat it next to his Rev. B iMac G3. Going to leave, I picked it up with one hand and raised it about waist high. I wasn't holding it very well, though, and the 7+ lbs machine slipped through my fingers. I tried to grab it but only succeeded in raising it even higher and causing it to open up, then cartwheel end-over-end as it tumbled to the concrete floor below. It felt like that happened in slow motion, jaws were dropped. Miraculously, it did not break and survived unscathed. To this day I do not know how that is physically possible. It was dropped, display open, cartwheeling from a good 3-4 feet in the air to an unforgiving surface. They were tough machines! | |
| Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2022-05-09 13:05:51 For sure! Only weak part on those is the metal hinges themselves, everything else on them is rock solid. Well, except for the rubber finish. It scratches easy and scratches will reveal an ugly green material underneath. As long as you don't throw it in a bag with a bunch of other junk you should be fine. Sweet 12 inch G4 - that's the fastest of them I believe? I recently picked up a good (but not mint) DLSD 15" with a dead battery for $110 - I thought that was lucky! Can't fathom finding one of those mint - the aluminum scratches ridiculously easy on those. Where on earth are you finding these in such great shape? | |
Posted by: max1zzz on 2022-05-09 13:32:03Miraculously, it did not break and survived unscathed. To this day I do not know how that is physically possible. It was dropped, display open, cartwheeling from a good 3-4 feet in the air to an unforgiving surface. They were tough machines!When I was much younger I had a 12" iBook (600Mhz '01 Dual USB), one day I was running up the stairs at home holding the iBook in both hands and tipped on the top step and smashed the lid of the iBook into the corner of a radiator at the top of the stairs. Much to my amazement on opening it back Up I found the LCD was totally intact! Laptop's where built differently back then 🙂 | |
Posted by: ried on 2022-05-09 15:27:51For sure! Only weak part on those is the metal hinges themselves, everything else on them is rock solid. Well, except for the rubber finish. It scratches easy and scratches will reveal an ugly green material underneath. As long as you don't throw it in a bag with a bunch of other junk you should be fine. Mostly eBay and Mercari, which is a surprisingly good source of these old things. I'm new to Mercari and have only bought a few items there, but the experience has been very good so far. | |
| Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2022-05-09 15:28:48 Hey, that's where I found the DLSD! Took forever to ship but it got here. How much did these cost you? | |
| Posted by: ried on 2022-05-09 15:31:09 Someone made out like a bandit with this TiBook the other day. Looks like it's in excellent shape, and you can't beat $60. 
Mercari: Your MarketplaceMercari is your marketplace. It's the perfect place to declutter and discover items that are uniquely you. Say 'goodbye' to your old go-tos and 'hello' to one-of-a-kind treasures.
www.mercari.com
Was sold the same day it was listed, so people are onto that website. The PDQ was $80 and the 12" PB was $250, in my case - both eBay. | |
| Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2022-05-09 15:39:45 Super lucky on the PDQ - $80 for one of those would usually net you a trashed one with current prices. I also "made out like a bandit" with my TiBook - $40 + shipping and tax and it's in nearly as good of shape as that one, but not perfect. Paid the same for the PDQ - good shape but bad hinge. Great finds, 12" was a lot but for the condition, battery, and box definitely worth it I'd say. | |
| Posted by: Johnnya101 on 2022-05-09 16:02:33 Guess I got lucky with mine going by this discussion. Nothing beats a friend giving it to you! 🙂 | |
| Posted by: CC_333 on 2022-05-09 22:58:25 When my iBook clamshell (the first laptop I could call my own) was my main machine (1999-2004), I dropped it often, and I even once left it outside in the rain by accident, and it never died! The CD drive's tray got all wonky and wuldn't latch closed, but if I wanted to use it, I'd just get a block of something (an eraser, say), jam it into the slot (the bezel went missing) and tape it on as needed. It finally did die, but it was partly my fault, as I botched my attempt at repairing the DC-in board first by tearing the trackpad cable, and then by misplacing the screws (I eventually found them, years later). That was sad, but I did eventually come across another one about 5 years later, in decent condition, for $35. The logic board and charger/clicker board got weird (it wouldn't recognize or charge a known good battery), so I reused the ones from my original, so in a sense, it lives on in a new body. c | |
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