15" or 17" PowerBook G4

eyoungren said:
Yeah, the Blackbooks are rare and popular. £60 is an incredible price for one and the person who saw that jumped on the chance for it. Sorry it wasn't you.

The 17's are great for video editing/browsing. Large screen, but still transportable.

All my glowing reviews aside, though, here are some of the drawbacks. They are heavy. It will take some time to get used to one on your lap. And, like all G4s they get hot. And unlike the 12" PBs, rolling around on the couch with them is not an option.

But for me the positives outweigh everything. Oh! The LCD on these Macs is color rich too. They are just a joy to use.
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I paid $100(in an auction) for my late '07 Blackbook. The seller reported that it would boot but "hang" at the Apple, and that it had been diagnosed as having a bad HDD. I couldn't believe I got it that cheap.

Within about an hour of receiving it, I have a new SSD in it(128gb ones are around $40 now on sale) and had Lion installed with the compute 100% functional. It's actually really peppy with the SSD. Non-unibody Macbooks are-bar none-the easiest hard drive swap of any portable Apple has made.

The person who sold it had been a college professor(I didn't realize that at the time). The HDD would mount but was unreadable. Just for the heck of it, I ran Disk Warrior on it and it was repaired to fully working condition. Frighteningly enough, I found full student details including grades and personal identifying information. Being in higher-level academia myself, I get yearly training on this and it can actually entail jail time for the person who "leaks" the information(in addition to the person who uses it illicitly). Once I realized what was on the drive, I zeroed it then took it out in the back yard for a couple of well-aimed 357 Magnums. I wasn't going to take a chance of having that lying around, and all I can say is that the guy who sold it had better be glad I got it and not someone else.
 
eyoungren said:
I had a 15.1" TiBook 400 from late 2001 to Nov. 2009. Always wanted the 17" when it came out and always was annoyed by the small size of the TiBook. But that's just a personal thing.
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When I started looking at PPC laptops I originally looked at the TiBook but they were always beat to hell and just as expensive as the aluminum models. I'm glad I went the route I did though, as I think this is a much better and more durable design.
 
Man, count your blessings. I see how much people have payed for their PowerBooks and their black Macbooks (some of my favorites) and compare to how much I got mine for. I just snagged an A1104 for $32 including shipping. I have a lady, who a while back I helped with her laptop, who is upgrading and sending me her black book. I only hope its an early 08!
 
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alex.marton said:
Okay thanks! :) Most of the ones I find with 1.67GHz are dented everywhere, they are scratched doesn't have a better or etc. Thanks for your help! :D
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They are out there but you may need to spend a bit of time searching. Go to searching with a budget in mind and a certain specification list that you want. For me, when I was searching, I would not go below a 1.5 GHz and I wanted a backlit keyboard (15" models did not always come with that standard). I searched for over three weeks before finding a PowerBook that I could both afford and that met my specs. Also, I don't care how desperate you get, do not settle or else you will be kicking yourself later. I have a 1.67 GHz 15" SLSD model in great shape and I love it but I am thinking of selling it to fund a 17". In addition to eBay, check out Shop Goodwill as well as online computer recyclers.

eyoungren said:
Let's just let that one go. :D

No offense. :)
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Still a bit curious but it sounds like it is one of those stories that is funny now but not when it happened...
 
Altemose said:
Still a bit curious but it is one of those stories that is funny now but not when it happened...
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It may be slightly funny in about 20 years or so. I doubt it, but who knows? Let's just say I'm not proud or happy about it. Right now it's just extremely embarrassing and a point of contention bound to evoke feelings of rage and induce squabbling.

Sorry, not trying to be a jerk, it's just something I'd rather let lie.
 
eyoungren said:
It may be slightly funny in about 20 years or so. I doubt it, but who knows? Let's just say I'm not proud or happy about it. Right now it's just extremely embarrassing and a point of contention bound to evoke feelings of rage and induce squabbling.

Sorry, not trying to be a jerk, it's just something I'd rather let lie.
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I understand! Hey, I have had my dog decide to pee all over my iPhone before and I know the feeling. That probably gave everyone who read this a good laugh!
 
And then on top of that just recently I accidentally ran over my phone with the lawn mower, so I think I get the award for clumsiness.
 
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