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Powerbook Purchase - Ebay

M

MyLeftNut

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 15, 2002
191
0
Melbourne, Australia
Hi all,

I just wanna check a deal for friend. He wants to get a Macintosh and was looking at this deal on Ebay. Unfortunately I think this is way underpowered for what he wants to do - some video editing and music production... can anyone tell me whether this model has DVI output - ie can you do monitor spanning?? I know you can do it with the newer models...

This is the high end 12" - specs are as follows:
867 Mhz G4 processor
640 Mb Ram (upgradable)
60GB Hard drive
Superdrive (DVD-RW/CD-RW/DVD-R/CD-R)
12" LCD display (1024x768) - NO DEAD PIXELS! (Screenshot included)
9 mth old battery (effectively like new, lasts for over 3 hours)
Airport Extreme
Bluetooth
10/100 Ethernet
Mini VGA Out
2 x USB
1 x Firewire 400
Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Cheers all.. :rolleyes:
 
kretzy

kretzy

macrumors 604
Sep 11, 2004
7,921
2
Canberra, Australia
MyLeftNut said:
Hi all,

I just wanna check a deal for friend. He wants to get a Macintosh and was looking at this deal on Ebay. Unfortunately I think this is way underpowered for what he wants to do - some video editing and music production... can anyone tell me whether this model has DVI output - ie can you do monitor spanning?? I know you can do it with the newer models...

This is the high end 12" - specs are as follows:
867 Mhz G4 processor
640 Mb Ram (upgradable)
60GB Hard drive
Superdrive (DVD-RW/CD-RW/DVD-R/CD-R)
12" LCD display (1024x768) - NO DEAD PIXELS! (Screenshot included)
9 mth old battery (effectively like new, lasts for over 3 hours)
Airport Extreme
Bluetooth
10/100 Ethernet
Mini VGA Out
2 x USB
1 x Firewire 400
Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Cheers all.. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the DVI, but how much is being asked for it on eBay? It might not be quite speedy enough for what your friend wants to do.
 
840quadra

840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,256
5,968
Twin Cities Minnesota
I do light (iMovie) Video, and sound editing on my iBook 600. It is no speed demon, but it gets the job done when I am out in the field.

I think that Powerbook would work well, however prices on ebay are rarely what I would consider fair. He may be better off buying a Refurbished iBook from the Apple store online. You can get them for ~$800 in a 1.2 GHZ in a 12" screen model. These would also have the ability to install Airport extreme, and other features.

I would imagine that the powerbook is going to cost (if equipped near the same) around the same price, and you won't be able to buy Applecare, or have it even come with a warranty!
 
M

MyLeftNut

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 15, 2002
191
0
Melbourne, Australia
Thanks guys for the quick reply. The item is being auctioned and is currently listed at $800+ AUD at the moment. I was thinking that it is a great little machine but if I was doing video I would want DVI out to be able to use more screen for the kind of programs like FCP you would use...whaddya think?
 
SummerBreeze

SummerBreeze

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2005
593
0
Chicago, IL
Looks pretty good, especially if you upgrade the RAM and buy a firewire hard drive, although you might want to see what you can get at the Apple store. With my student discount I got $200 off of a new PowerBook, a free iPod and Office for $100. I'm sure this is to get rid of the PowerBooks before they introduce a new model, but I'm a starving student with a car payment to make and ridiculously high rent, so it works for me.

The only used computer I've ever bought (iMac DV) is still in use today, but it always seemed to have more problems then our other (older) system running the same os (9.2). I'm a bit of a sucker for new stuff though...
 
L

lfielder06

Guest
Dec 5, 2004
193
0
I used the 867mhz 12" PB for around 6 months and created a few idvds with it. As stated before, it works although it is no speed demon.

The 867mhz 12" PB only has vga out not DVI. I know you were looking for DVI so you may want to check out the 1ghz model, which I belive has DVI out.
 
Q

quadrakid

macrumors member
Jul 26, 2005
60
5
refurbished?

840quadra said:
I do light (iMovie) He may be better off buying a Refurbished iBook from the Apple store online. You can get them for ~$800 in a 1.2 GHZ in a 12" screen model. These would also have the ability to install Airport extreme, and other features.

I would imagine that the powerbook is going to cost (if equipped near the same) around the same price, and you won't be able to buy Applecare, or have it even come with a warranty!
Click to expand...


where at the apple online store are refurbished models?

Ah found it in America of course!:)
 
WRXHokie

WRXHokie

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2005
247
166
Gotha, FL
I've been in the hunt for a powerbook myself... and i find the prices on sites like Ebay to be absurd. Used powerbooks/ibooks go for insane prices. Does anyone know why that is?
 
Chrispy

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Dec 27, 2004
2,269
517
Indiana
WRXHokie said:
I've been in the hunt for a powerbook myself... and i find the prices on sites like Ebay to be absurd. Used powerbooks/ibooks go for insane prices. Does anyone know why that is?
Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed that as well as I am looking for a powerbook and actually just bought one from a MR member. People know macs work and they work well even with some age. I just bought a Rev. C powerbook becuase I know it is more than fast enough for what I need it for. The quality of macs helps them retain a high resale value.
 
SummerBreeze

SummerBreeze

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2005
593
0
Chicago, IL
WRXHokie said:
I've been in the hunt for a powerbook myself... and i find the prices on sites like Ebay to be absurd. Used powerbooks/ibooks go for insane prices. Does anyone know why that is?
Click to expand...

PowerBooks (like most Apple products) tend to retain their value better than their Windows couterparts. It's kind of like cars: buy a cheap piece of crap and the thing's worth a lot less after a year, buy a nicer car and your trade in would be worth more. Since the thing doesn't die like Windows machines (you know, stickers falling off, broken dvd drives, broken charger), it's harder to get a killer deal on a Mac.
 
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