Getting the most for dead iBook

[ThatSoundAgain]

Hello,

My 12" rev. a iBook G4 just died on me. After searching the forums I found a description of what happened from someone else, and he was told that it was a textbook example of a logic board failure.

It being Sunday, I can't contact Apple, which of course I'll do and try to get it repaired. I don't have Applecare, but in my country the law actually requires 2 years of warranty on parts / manufacture. Thing is, it's on me to prove that the computer is dead due to some latent defect in the hardware that was there from the start.

Now, I was actually negotiating selling the computer to a friend at the time because I want to upgrade anyway. As such, I was going to sell it cheap, It's been in nearly constant use for 18 months and shows wear & tear. I would be happy to recoup the equivalent of $300-400.

So my question is: Is that realistic? Should I sell it whole, or part it out? If it is truly the logic board, these are the remaining parts:

- 60GB HDD (that I could use myself).
- Airport Extreme card.
- 512MB stick of RAM.
- Bluetooth module (not removable?)
- New screen, changed 5 months ago and pixel-perfect.
- Keyboard.
- Battery (ca. 110 cycles, IIRC).

BTW: I wasn't sure wether this should go in the marketplace, as I'm not selling yet. Hope it's OK.

 

[skubish]

If it is a logic board failure you may be able to get it fixed for free by Apple.
Check here. for details.

 

[ThatSoundAgain]

Yes, I know about that program. Unfortunately, my computer is not covered, as it's not one of the models listed (it's a G4).

 

[shadowmoses]

I think you would be ebetter off paying for the repair rather than selling the bits off, i am not sure how much a replacement logic board costs, i am guessing around $300 which is better than buying a new laptop...

Shadow

 

[iDM]

This is just a thought, but if you were happy with the speed it appears with those specs that the iBook has not come a very long way. Apart from maybe a faster processor and some of those little upgrades(rapid shift harddrive, 2 finger scrolling) you still have a dead pixel free monitor, AE, 512 ram and so forth, in my opinion i'd look into seeing the cost of a new logic board, hopefully get it fixed for whatever it costs and then picking up a new(crosses fingers) cheaper intel PowerBook or intel iBook whichever they release first.

 

[ThatSoundAgain]

Actually, I wasn't happy with the speed, so I was going to upgrade anyway. Now, the iBook CPU has progressed to a 1.33 GHz with double the amount of on-chip cache in comparison to my old .8GHz, and, more importantly, it has a core-image capable video card. This time around, I can afford 1GB of extra RAM, bringing it to 1.5 instead of 640MB.

So I get: 166% the clock speed, double the cache, better vid-card (which is important since I VJ), and more than double the amount of RAM, all at around 2/3 of the price I paid last time (because of maxing it out and paying for AP & BT separately).

This is not taking into account what's released next wednesday. I might have the cash for a PB instead.

Bottom line, I had made the decision to upgrade. Now I just want to recoup some of the value of the old iBook, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time battling Apple in small claims court etc. If they want to repair it free, fine, but if not I'll try to get the most for either the parts or the whole package.

Now, if I were to get it repaired for around $300, how much do you think I could sell it for?

 

[coolbreeze]

If it is a logic board failure you may be able to get it fixed for free by Apple.
Check here. for details.

Thanks for this post. I forgot about this program, and my G3 900 iBook died last week (logic board). Just called Apple and they are sending me a return box so it can be fixed! Awesome.

Do you think they will fix it or just give me a new iBook? I imagine they don't have too many G3's in stock? Or will they just fix the logic board?

And to think I was going to list this on eBay tonight "as-is." I would have only got like $200 for it!!