Advice for G4s on Craigslist

[z970]

While on Craigslist for an unrelated topic, I decided to, on a mere whim, make a query for "power mac", not actually expecting to find anything obtainable nor reasonable (old habits die hard, I suppose).

Well, that's not what happened. I discovered that there's someone about 45 or so minutes away selling what seems to be a (going by the heatsinks) 500 MHz AGP Power Mac G4 Graphite and I think 800 MHz QS 2002 Power Mac G4 Quicksilver for $40, for both of them together. Both have what appear to be their stock GPUs and PRAM batteries, but for the most part lack RAM or HDDs. Both are in seemingly good condition overall, and turn on fine. Their backside spec stickers are too blurry to make out.

Ordinarily, this would be an easy decision. However, the trouble is that I can't justify getting them because I wouldn't have any realistic use for them, don't have any real space for them, and am rather constrained on both funds and time at the moment and foreseeable future. And I already have a B&W G3, MDD, and 2 G5s, as far as Power Macs go.

On the flip side though, it would be a difficult task to let them pass by because of these temporary-in-nature reasons, and (more importantly) because of the fact that they're priced so low and have been listed for over a week without any activity, it wouldn't be hard to imagine them eventually getting thrown out due to a lack of interest by the seller or prospective buyers.

Evidently, I'm at an impasse... What should I do?

 

[Amethyst1]

However, the trouble is that I can't justify getting them because I wouldn't have any realistic use for them, don't have any real space for them, and am rather constrained on both funds and time

If I were you, I'd give them a miss due to these reasons. Just gotta be pragmatic sometimes.

 

[Akulareb]

mmh i agree with Amethyst, it's not worth your investment of time/money despite your good intentions of avoiding a possible bad ending for the two towers. I used to save this stuff all the time and now eventually stopped, again is not worth it if you don't need it, they would just gather dust or even if you find to allocate time to set them up you'll prob do not much after because you lacking, time

 

[eyoungren]

While on Craigslist for an unrelated topic, I decided to, on a mere whim, make a query for "power mac", not actually expecting to find anything obtainable nor reasonable (old habits die hard, I suppose).

Well, that's not what happened. I discovered that there's someone about 45 or so minutes away selling what seems to be a (going by the heatsinks) 500 MHz AGP Power Mac G4 Graphite and I think 800 MHz QS 2002 Power Mac G4 Quicksilver for $40, for both of them together. Both have what appear to be their stock GPUs and PRAM batteries, but for the most part lack RAM or HDDs. Both are in seemingly good condition overall, and turn on fine. Their backside spec stickers are too blurry to make out.

Ordinarily, this would be an easy decision. However, the trouble is that I can't justify getting them because I wouldn't have any realistic use for them, don't have any real space for them, and am rather constrained on both funds and time at the moment and foreseeable future. And I already have a B&W G3, MDD, and 2 G5s, as far as Power Macs go.

On the flip side though, it would be a difficult task to let them pass by because of these temporary-in-nature reasons, and (more importantly) because of the fact that they're priced so low and have been listed for over a week without any activity, it wouldn't be hard to imagine them eventually getting thrown out due to a lack of interest by the seller or prospective buyers.

Evidently, I'm at an impasse... What should I do?

Post it up on the Vintage Mac Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/new/

Someone might go after them.

 

[Project Alice]

I find myself in the same situation as you for time to time. What I usually do is wait for the next paycheck. If the ad is still up I’ll message them, and usually end up getting them if the price is relatively low.

 

[dbdjre0143]

There was a time when I jumped all over any reasonably cheap "vintage" computer I found interesting, but these days I really try to ask myself what I'm going to do with it if I buy it.

Sometimes, the answer is that I'll just play with it for a bit in restoration, then sell it on to someone else for a bit of profit. That's totally fine by me, as I've learned with time that the fun for me doesn't come in "collecting-for-collecting's-sake" but often in the restoration process itself.

Most of the time though, I let most things pass me by these days - not because I don't still find it fun to set up a new-to-me old machine and put it through its paces, but rather because the passing it on afterward has gotten a lot harder. Even to sell older (Windows-especially) towers at a loss has become difficult these days, as most stuff I come across is in the category of "too old for most people to consider buying, and too new for most enthusiasts."

Occasionally though, I'll see something that I have a use for, even if its a dedicated use that I could solve another way with emulation or the like - and in those cases, if the hardware is interesting enough I'll make space to keep it. This is why I still have the first computer that I learned to use (a Pentium II MMX Gateway tower from around 1996), even though I have other slightly newer machines that can do everything it can do better - its just special to me. Its also why I use my iBook G4 as my OwnCloud server, rather than something like a RPi, because 1) I thought it was a fun and interesting project to run a web-connected server on PPC, and 2) That computer is really special to me because of my mom surprising me with it as a birthday gift when I was about 16, after bringing it home for me to fix for someone she worked with, and seeing how much I enjoyed using it.

That said, with the machines you're looking at, you have an obvious interest in Macs, so the "have some fun restoring and sell on" strategy could work well for you, as I generally find the online Mac-sales market to still be quite strong.

 

[z970]

I did some thinking, and I came up with a compromise. I still have the empty Quicksilver case. If I let the Quicksilver case and G3 go toward someone else, then the Graphite and complete Quicksilver wouldn't ultimately take any more space than what I have now.

Besides that, although I might not have a specific use for those machines now, I do actually use most of my machines on a semi-regular basis, meaning they get rotated every once in a while. In fact just a few days ago, I fired up the eMac after keeping it storage since July, and used it for performance testing.

And I have entertained thoughts about getting a Graphite since about 2015, when I first took interest in the sub genre.

So ... we'll see what happens.

 

[eyoungren]

I did some thinking, and I came up with a compromise. I still have the empty Quicksilver case. If I let the Quicksilver case and G3 go toward someone else, then the Graphite and complete Quicksilver wouldn't ultimately take any more space than what I have now.

Besides that, although I might not have a specific use for those machines now, I do actually use most of my machines on a semi-regular basis, meaning they get rotated every once in a while. In fact just a few days ago, I fired up the eMac after keeping it storage since July, and used it for performance testing.

And I have entertained thoughts about getting a Graphite since about 2015, when I first took interest in the sub genre.

So ... we'll see what happens.

Some time last year there was a guy on the Vintage Mac reddit that was looking to get rid of his G4. He was in PHX, so I took him up on the offer (free).

That G4 has been serving as my glorified NAS for the past year. 1 250GB SATA boot drive and 2x 3TB WD Greens. Been rock steady. I didn't have a use for it before I got it, but it's an important part of my backup process now.

 

[ervus]

... $40, for both of them together.

I still use my powerbook, but if you consider these computers a hobby then you can think of it as entertainment. How else could you spend $40 on entertainment? Dinner out? What if you got them, tinkered with them for a weekend and then dumpstered them. Would you get your money's worth?

 

[z970]

@ervus No, because that would be the exact opposite of the objective here; to prolong their life for as long as possible while having fun and / or being productive doing so. The more use you get out of an acquisition, the better of a value it is, especially in relation to the initial cost.

I understand what you're trying to say, though.

 

[ervus]

That's my point. What if the objective is purely entertainment? If you think of it this way, would you get $40 worth of entertainment from them?

 

[Slix]

If you see the ad up in a week or two and it hasn't changed, maybe send them a message and just say you're not super interested in having them for your own uses, but want to make sure they won't get disposed of if no one buys them, so to send you a message if they want to just get them out of their house. You might even get a better deal, and then you'll know more confidently that they are going to a good home regardless.

 

[z970]

@Slix That's a good idea. I'll probably do that.

Thanks, Slix.

 

[m1maverick]

@ervus No, because that would be the exact opposite of the objective here; to prolong their life for as long as possible while having fun doing so. The more use you get out of an acquisition, the better of a value it is, especially in relation to the initial cost.

I understand what you're trying to say, though.

At $40 I would probably buy, restore, and, if possible, try to sell them for what I paid. If I were unable to find a buyer I'm sure I could give them to someone who would be interested in having them. It's entertainment plus I would be saving them.

 

[AL1630]

I agree with @Slix idea. There's fewer PPCs in the wild every day as they die or get trashed, so it's important that the remaining ones are saved. If you get them you can at least make sure they go to someone who will appreciate them and take good care of them so they don't end up as more e-waste. I'm not sure about your area, but around here old computer stuff sits on Craigslist forever so I can normally get a deal because the people just want it gone after a while.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Offer $20 and say you have to factor in fuel costs - even at 40 though they seem a steal, much better than UK prices.

 

[z970]

Well, the seller never responded to my reply and then removed the listing.



Hopefully someone else nabbed them.

 

[eyoungren]

Well, the seller never responded to my reply and then removed the listing.



Hopefully someone else nabbed them.

I would guess the seller either sold them or did something else but forget they had left the listing up. That happens a lot.