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4"ft Drop 12 " Powerbook - Should I buy it???

B

Bozola

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 18, 2002
235
0
So close to Redmond, I can smell it!
So I have the chance to buy a used powerbook 12" for very cheap

The only problem.. it's been dropped (from a moving car roof :eek: :eek: )

I have checked it out.. it's beat up a bit.. but it seems to work...

It's REALLY cheap... :D :D

1) Should I buy it?

2) What can I do outside of just running it/ watch a dvd cd etc to ensure that it works..???



Thanks
 

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No warranty, no hope of buying Applecare, a hard drive that will probably @$^% out shortly.... I wouldn't touch it.

However if it is cheap enough -- run the Apple Hardware Test CD repeatedly on it. Look for any disk errors and any problems on the screen.
 
I'd consider buying it if it was cheap enough that I could part it out. But it looks pretty badly beaten. Too much so to really use.
 
How much is it? It'll give us a better idea of if it's worth getting involved in. If it's over or close to $400, I would say no, just because it could die tomorrow.
 
If you personally know the person ask to pay half and keep it for a week before deciding to pay the other half or something. I'll buy it. :D
 
When you get it, take more pictures of the top. I suppose it was closed when it had the fall right?
 
That was a great deal. If the hard drive fails, it's cheap to replace. As long as the screen isn't damaged, you made out great!

You might find case parts on eBay... then again, there's always the Handyman's Secret Weapon :D
 
Yeah I was looking at the picture long and hard and I bet you could hammer than back into shape a bit, but just think: you don't need to worry about getting is scratched or getting a dent in it right? No need for an insleeve case. With that said, I'll give you $300 for it. :eek: :p
 
ITASOR said:
Yeah I was looking at the picture long and hard and I bet you could hammer than back into shape a bit, but just think: you don't need to worry about getting is scratched or getting a dent in it right? No need for an insleeve case. With that said, I'll give you $300 for it. :eek: :p
Click to expand...

I'll offer $325 :D
I wouldn't mind another 12" ... :cool:
 
Hello!

I have never owned a Mac or anything, so I'm probably wrong, but couldn't you replace the damaged part with parts from here?

Good luck, and have fun with your PowerBook! :)
 
You would really have to take it apart and gut it out to replace the casing. I think its a great buy though and I'm so jealous, I would have tested it and bought it as well!
 
You got a bargain. You can just feel the jealousy in other's posts. So what can the rest of us do?.......

Lesson to be learned: Find a friend with a Powerbook, push it off the roof of a car when they're not looking and buy it off them from $200. It'll help keep sales strong for Apple too! :D
 
I'd really like to see how your work on it turns out. The 12" models are crammed inside and I have a feeling that the hard drive may die soon (perhaps within a few months) if not other components.

My 14" iBook was thrown across an office by accident. The previous owner was trying to pull a manila folder out from underneath it, but the rubber feet decided otherwise. The iBook was open at the time.

I had no problems for the first month of use, but then... ta-da... the hard drive suddenly died. I was able to backup a little of the data before it totally quit (there was a multi-day period when the hard drive would begin clicking after it was running for a length of time, as soon as I noticed that I started backing up). Luckily, the iBook still had some remaining AppleCare; very luckily. I took it to an Apple tech on campus and had it back in two days with a new hard drive.

Good luck with the PB and I want to see some pictures!
 
It depends on a lot of things with HDs - the first thing is, if they're running, they're very fragile. That said, if the machine's off, the HD is not spinning and the heads are parked, they're actually pretty resilliant. My PowerBook took several falls over the course of it's life (though actually, it didn't look half as beaten up as that one) and the HD that was in the PB for most of it's life (an 80gig Hitachi model) is still going strong in my Mac mini.
 
You SCORED!

Now, if everything works the way it should, you have a laptop for your travels... and if it's dropped (again), oh well... No sweat, you gotta good deal.

You lucky guy! ;)
 
To me, it looks like cosmetic damages nothing internal, but i'm not an apple genius nor am i close to being one ;)
 
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