You guys think this is a real PB prototype?

[California]

http://cgi.ebay.com/PROTOTYPE-Apple-PowerBook-G4-Mercury_W0QQitemZ260023507067QQihZ016QQcategoryZ14909QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

What do you think? That 14.1" screen id badge could be off a Pismo which I believe was still in production in late 2000? Wish I could see more of the black plastic to see if it is really plastic, or nicely painted carbon fiber. Weird color combo if it is real -- Macbook black and Titanium!

[tvguru]

I doubt they'd be in the wild to be able to buy off of ebay and the likes, but I have been wrong before. :o

[liketom]

weird cos the pic with the specs on the front right say 20GB Fuji but inside the batt it say's 6GB ?

[Rapmastac1]

Well, if you read the product description, he aknolodges that and is curious at it too. This looks pretty cool, but man it looks like it's been to heck and back.

[treblah]

I'd have to say yes. And if I had the cash, I would definitely bid on it.

[yippy]

It looks exactly like a Titanium Powerbook only with part of it painted black. They were 15" and the spacing is even exactly the same around the keyboard.

Look familiar? (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/macdan/images/tibook/tibook.jpg)

[atari1356]

Looks real enough...

Apple might have been using the black plastic temporarily until they had the material that was actually used finalized.

Or... it might just be someone goofing off with black paint and trying to scam people. :D

[tristan]

Looks like a 400mhz TiBook to me with some detailing... i don't think its worth much.

[hadleydb]

I once bought a blue dalmation iMac off of ebay, and it had a sticker that said do not sell this prototype. It may not be FCC compliant or something. I don't know if that helps, but I've bought a prototype before.

[applefan1997]

Might I remind everyone of this? Many people were convinced it was not a prototype, and that the ones with black plastics are the real deal, but there can be two prptotypes, cant there?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=219408&highlight=prototype+g4

I suppose it was more prototype because:
a. screen badge like pismo
b. test batteries
c. pismo-type apple logo, not right side up, etc....
I bid on it but didnt get it.

[Mammoth]

If that is a real prototype, all I can say is wow! :eek: That is quite a collectors item and I'd love to have it.

[dmw007]

If that is a real prototype, all I can say is wow! :eek: That is quite a collectors item and I'd love to have it.


Same thought here- not sure if it is a prototype, but if it is, I would love to have it. :)

[Mammoth]

Same thought here- not sure if it is a prototype, but if it is, I would love to have it. :)
Either way, it looks pretty cool. I like the keyboard.

[apfhex]

It looks EXACTLY like a TiBook with part painted black. That's not to say it's not a prototype—just that I don't think it's really possible to tell from looking at it (but it does look like it's been beaten up like other prototype electronics I've seen pictures of).

[discounteggroll]

Well, if you read the product description, he aknolodges that and is curious at it too. This looks pretty cool, but man it looks like it's been to heck and back.

event horizon style :D

[thegreatluke]

It'll be released next Tuesday!

[Arcus]

Every sticker shown has the corner peeled like it was taken off of something else and restuck on. That looks real suspicious to me.

[wwooden]

I don't see any difference between this and a TiBook with black painted around the frame. I really don't think this is a prototype.

Maybe I am wrong, but I have never seen a 14" widescreen display.

I have to agree with the person above me, the inside sticker looks like it was applied over another and the edges are peeled back a bit.

I think this is totally fake. But that is just my opinion.

[ejb190]

It bothers me that a couple of the top lines on the hand rest sticker have been blurred out on the close-up photo. What's he hiding?

[Mr. Mister]

If it's legit, he's probably hiding some kind of serial number Apple uses for internal prototypes.

[Warbrain]

I think it's just a fancy TiBook with a black-painted casing. So no, I don't think it's a prototype.

Definitely looks like that Dev sticker has been pulled up and placed oddly.

[Cross]

Hard to call either way... either an elaborate hoax or real prototype.... I like it but not enough to pay that much. Maybe if it had the 667 Board in it. maybe

[G5Unit]

Can't anyone see? It means PowerBook G5 on tuesday!

[Cross]

I would buy a G5 Prototype over a MacBook any day.... never going to happen since I doubt they ever made it happen themselves but I still would like to buy one. :D

[mkrishnan]

They seem to show up every once in a while. As an ex-engineer it's funny to think about people hawking prototypes years later just because... they're usually such "just barely get the job done" POS's.... :D

[Mr. Mister]

I'm pretty sure they did make some Powerbook G5 prototypes because they had to prove that it was and impossible task, although considering there was an iMac G5 they might have gotten close.