Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Been trying to buy an old G4 on ebay

K

KevinRightWing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 15, 2007
270
31
Houston TX
I have been trying to buy a 12in white G4 on eBay to use alongside my white iPad Air. Just felt like the two machines would complement each other well.

However, I have had a hard time finding a good machine without a lot of wear and tear for under $100. Everything has either color discoloration or too many scuff marks for my liking. To those who bought one recently, where did you buy from?
 
its going to be hard to look, if you can increase your price range a little bit more like 150 u can probably find a good condition, and WATCHOUT if you buy on eBay because they might be completely fake or may have malware downloaded. So if you do buy one from ebay before you use ur phone make sure its returnable and then restore the phone one more time
 
Discolouration of the white plastics (usually most prominent on the keyboard and palm rests) can in most cases be cleaned up carefully with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser or a similar product, so keep that in mind.
 
I bought a nice cosmetically nice 12" 1.2ghz with 768mb of RAM off here recently for $60 shipped.

Mine did have a small screen flaw(1 pixel wide line stuck "on") and an aftermarket charger, but was otherwise fine. I spend about $5 to upgrade the RAM to 1.25gb(the model I have has 256mb soldered to the board and one expansion slot-I changed out the 512mb expansion chip to 1gb. Some late models have 512mb on-board so you can go up to 1.5gb).

They are out there if you watch for them.
 
The optimal price for one should be around $50. A few years ago, $100 was around the cheapest I saw them for, but by now, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a 50-dollar one. I'd check on your local Craigslist in addition to eBay (don't use Amazon if you want to buy cheap things).

If you end up getting one, this is the greatest place to ask questions about it/get help!
 
That looks to be a good machine. Take note that the seller only has one feedback, but everyone starts at zero.
 
I agree that it's a good deal for a Powerbook. Since the battery condition isn't stated, just factor in buying a replacement.

Also, you may want to upgrade it to Leopard.
 
KevinRightWing said:
Guys, is this a good deal? Thinking maybe of buying this one.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/191457060891?_mwBanner=1
Click to expand...
Just a little curious…

Your original post mentions you want a "white" 12" G4. You mentioned you were concerned about it discoloring. Someone later on tells you you can use a Magic Eraser on it and that it should clean up if careful.

Then you give a link to a 12" Aluminum PowerBook G4. The Aluminum PowerBooks are gray painted METAL. They are not white plastic. I assumed by your statements earlier that you wanted an iBook G4, one of the smaller screen size models.

So. I am confused. What is it you exactly want? A white, plastic 12" iBook G4 or a gray aluminum 12" PowerBook G4?

On another note, it's interesting that the eBay seller lists this PowerBook G4 as released in 2007, a year after the Intel transition and well after Apple discontinued making PowerBooks.
 
Good point, I should have clarified:

I want a 12in PowerPC mac. I like the white iBooks in appearance but like the keyboard of the PowerBook. I would ultimately be happy with either. Sorry for confusion and thanks for help.
 
KevinRightWing said:
Good point, I should have clarified:

I want a 12in PowerPC mac. I like the white iBooks in appearance but like the keyboard of the PowerBook. I would ultimately be happy with either. Sorry for confusion and thanks for help.
Click to expand...
OK! Then $89 is a decent price for a 12" PowerBook G4 with acesssories. I paid $50 for my wife's 12" PB a few years ago with $25 for a new LCD, so you are right around there.

$89 is NOT a good price for a 12" iBook G4. I bought one of those a few months back for $10 from a forum member here and gave it to a friend for free. Except for the HD which had died, it was in very nice shape after I replaced the keyboard and installed an Airport Extreme card (both of which I had laying around from a broken iBook G4).

I'd think a decent price for a good iBook G4 would be around $30-50.
 
I just bought my iBook G4 off of LowEndMac for $45, refurbished in nice condition... Since he was great to me, I'll leave his link below... He has two different modes for sale, the 2004 1.2GHz model and the mid 2005 1.33GHz 12 inch models and a few 14 inch models.

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/lemswap/2nw1b4sS8MU
 
If you're not in a hurry, decide your price and just wait it out - you'll get what you're looking for eventually. In the UK, PowerPC prices appear to be roughly double those in the US but the variations are wild. For example, last year I auctioned a good condition 1.67 Powerbook, it went for £50. Some months later I auctioned a decent condition 1.33 iBook - that went for £126! Crazy..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back