Found another PB G4!

[FineFuturity]

Went on craiglist a few days ago, and I saw a 15" PowerBook G4 for $40, and the only real problem with it was the optical drive had died. I decided to purchase this thing since I had a spare drive to swap the dead one out with.

When I met up with the guy, I saw that the PB was a bit dinged up, and the silver paint was somewhat scratched up to the right of the trackpad. It was also gunky as hell, to the point that the illuminated keys barely show through on the brightest setting. I'm guessing the guy saw that and lowered the price to $20 bucks, which at that point, I HAD to have it.

But yeah, I have the PB here with me and it seems to run fine. It's currently running Panther. I can't do a normal install of Tiger since the optical drive is shot, but thankfully i have a firewire cable I can use for a target installation.

Any suggestions as to how I should go about cleaning this thing up? The ports have this weird yellowish color to them and it has this musty smell coming out of it haha.

I'll also add some shots of the PB here shortly.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

A thing I always do when getting a used computer, especially Macs, is I wipe them down with some alcohol or some type of degreaser.

Normally windex can do the trick, but you should use alcohol (the rubbing type) to clean up those yellowish ports.

I also remove every single key on the keyboard and then scrub that out as well but don't forget to take a picture of the keyboard layout before you do that or you may forget where everything went!

So just try and give it a nice scrub down.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

Nice deal!

I would get to tearing it down, use Q tips and rubbing alcohol to clean the ends of ports/the plastic openings in the aluminum casing. I'd also recommend buying some artic silver 5 and repaste the GPU/CPU which should help with heat and make it quieter if noise is a problem. If the screen hinges are a bit loose Altemose made a guide a while back here which should help you in making the screen not be so wonky!

 

[FineFuturity]

Sorry for the delay in getting photos, had to work shortly after posting this. But anyway, these photos show how gunky the keyboard looks. Will I have to remove the keyboard/trackpad housing if I want a thorough cleaning of the keyboard, or can I just scrub vigorously with a q-tip until it's all clean? I know I'm gonna have to take it apart anyway to swap out the optical drive, but I would rather do it when I DON'T have exams coming up, haha.

EDIT: It's looking more like the owner spilled soda on the right side of the keyboard, because I don't see how else a keyboard can get this gunky from normal use. I think it'd be more efficient to just get an entirely new keyboard/trackpad housing and replace it all in one go than to individually clean every key. Plus, I'd get a housing that's much more pristine.

 

[catzilla]

I just replaced a Albook 15" keyboard and SD, KB was NOS $16 shipped, used SD was $6 shipped. Nice little project for a rainy day. Next project: Al Macbook thermal paste replacement.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

Ugh... telling from the photos that was one nasty keyboard. Sometimes I wonder how people can manage to get so much gunk in such a small space!

I took apart an Apple Wired Aluminum Keyboard once, and it was really gross. Worse yet, it was my friend's, so normally we had a small talk about keyboard hygiene if you know what I mean.

 

[Altemose]

Sorry for the delay in getting photos, had to work shortly after posting this. But anyway, these photos show how gunky the keyboard looks. Will I have to remove the keyboard/trackpad housing if I want a thorough cleaning of the keyboard, or can I just scrub vigorously with a q-tip until it's all clean? I know I'm gonna have to take it apart anyway to swap out the optical drive, but I would rather do it when I DON'T have exams coming up, haha.

EDIT: It's looking more like the owner spilled soda on the right side of the keyboard, because I don't see how else a keyboard can get this gunky from normal use. I think it'd be more efficient to just get an entirely new keyboard/trackpad housing and replace it all in one go than to individually clean every key. Plus, I'd get a housing that's much more pristine.

I agree it would be better to replace the top case. Just make sure you get one with the mounting hardware clips in good condition. Most of them don't ship with screws so you will have to re-use those.

I just replaced a Albook 15" keyboard and SD, KB was NOS $16 shipped, used SD was $6 shipped. Nice little project for a rainy day. Next project: Al Macbook thermal paste replacement.

If it is anything like the 13" MacBook Pro, the thermal paste won't be too bad! Just remember to tighten down those screws on the heatsink thoroughly.

 

[FineFuturity]

lol...

I went to local goodwill computer works store and I happened to find yet another PB G4 for 40 bucks! I know I probably shouldn't have bought this one, but what had me sold on it was its condition. This one was in MUCH better shape than the one above: it had a beautiful screen (with no lines on it whatsoever), a battery which still holds a charge, very few scratches on the chassis, and most importantly, a CLEAN keyboard. Even though I literally just bought the first PB, I simply had to have this one.

 

[Altemose]

I went to local goodwill computer works store and I happened to find yet another PB G4 for 40 bucks! I know I probably shouldn't have bought this one, but what had me sold on it was its condition. This one was in MUCH better shape than the one above: it had a beautiful screen (with no lines on it whatsoever), a battery which still holds a charge, very few scratches on the chassis, and most importantly, a CLEAN keyboard. Even though I literally just bought the first PB, I simply had to have this one.

That is a beautiful machine. What are the specs on it?

 

[FineFuturity]

That is a beautiful machine. What are the specs on it?

It's the 1.25GHz model (see screen grab for more info). I wish I had known that before buying it since the gunky PB is the 1.5GHz model, but oh well.

 

[Altemose]

It's the 1.25GHz model (see screen grab for more info). I wish I had known that before buying it since the gunky PB is the 1.5GHz model, but oh well.

Still, the 1.25 is a great machine. Does it have the optional backlit keyboard?

 

[FineFuturity]

Still, the 1.25 is a great machine. Does it have the optional backlit keyboard?

Wait, that's optional? Mine has it, but I thought it was standard

 

[Altemose]

Wait, that's optional? Mine has it, but I thought it was standard

It was standard on 17" PowerBooks and the 1.67/1.5 GHz (A1106) 15" models, as well as the DLSD model. Titanium PowerBooks and 12" PowerBooks never had a backlit option. The backlit keyboard was a custom option available on pre-A1106 15" models.