*Skip to the bottom if you don't want to read my novel. It lists the oddities when buying this iMac.*
Background
I saw an ad for an iMac Core 2 Duo 17', at my college(animation degree) for $400 last week. I thought "Good deal". I called the number listed & got ahold of a guy that I knew from the college, let say his name is "Mike". Mike does smoke pot but has never been rude so I don't care what he smokes.
He told me that the iMac belonged to a friend of his that he is helping to sell. Mike told me the iMac ran fine, but there were no OS disks. Also the keyboard was missing 2 keys(Caps lock/F9) & the mouse was pretty unusable. The iMac did have a few cosmetic scratches to the finish but nothing that was damaging.
So I told him I was interested in buying the iMac. A keyboard & mouse can be replaced easily. Mike called up his friend who said he would bring it by the college in 20 mins. So I went out to an ATM & got the money.
When the guy arrives he sets up the computer so that I can test it out. Nothing seemed wrong with the machine. I checked the "About this Mac" & saw that the ad listed the wrong machine. Strange. The iMac was really a Core Duo(first Intel iMac). That made me pause for a bit, but I had already checked ebay listings for both types of iMacs. At the time they were both selling for $700 or more.
The guy begins to tell me that it was his girlfriends computer, but that she didn't want it anymore. He also said he just wanted to get rid of it quickly & didn't want to spend time on an ebay auction. Odd. I check the computer out a little more & found nothing blatantly wrong, so I agree to buy it.
I get the iMac home & begin to look more deeply into the system. This was at night, so the Apple store in my area is closed. I find about 100 songs, all heavy rock, some porn, & few pictures taken with iSight in the last 5 days, but that is about it. Nothing was in the Address Book & I didn't find any other contact info.
When I tried to change some settings, I got the User Name & Password box. The name listed was Spike. The guy that sold me the computer has a name starting with a "B" & he told me it was his G/F's computer. Odd. But ok.
I called Mike back & asked if his friend knew the password. Mike said the guy didn't know about a password when asked & told Mike to tell me to just reinstall the OS. He said to just use my G5 OS disks or download the OS. Now I know that Intel Tiger is not available for sale & I wasn't about to steal the OS. But Mike's friend kept insisting that I just reinstall over 7 over.
So anyway I go to the Apple store the next day & get the iMac refresh for free. I know a guy there. I didn't get the OS disks, just a refreshed OS. But after thinking about all that happened I get the feeling the iMac was stole.
I know girls can have names like Spike, & look at porn, & listen to heavy metal/rock but it didn't feel like a feminine machine. The pictures were of guys & girls taken from the iSight. Did they just find out about Photo Booth?
What can/should I do? Anyone else have an idea. If it is stolen then someone is out a thousand & an iMac. i live in Boca raton, Fl so this iMac could have come from anywhere along the coast. There was no work related/personal files that I found but they could have been deleted before I bought it.
Oddities,
Price $400. (Cheap for an 1st gen. Intel iMac)
Guy didn't even know the correct computer type. (listed in an ad)
Guy didn't know about a password even though the account name listed is Spike. (Guy's name started with a "B")
No OS disks.
Scratches all over casing. (iMac was handled quite roughly)
Persistent in telling me to reinstall the OS.
Pictures were all taken within the past week using Photo Booth.
The computer didn't have a g/f touch to it. (Even though I was told it as a g/f's iMac)
- Scott
Background
I saw an ad for an iMac Core 2 Duo 17', at my college(animation degree) for $400 last week. I thought "Good deal". I called the number listed & got ahold of a guy that I knew from the college, let say his name is "Mike". Mike does smoke pot but has never been rude so I don't care what he smokes.
He told me that the iMac belonged to a friend of his that he is helping to sell. Mike told me the iMac ran fine, but there were no OS disks. Also the keyboard was missing 2 keys(Caps lock/F9) & the mouse was pretty unusable. The iMac did have a few cosmetic scratches to the finish but nothing that was damaging.
So I told him I was interested in buying the iMac. A keyboard & mouse can be replaced easily. Mike called up his friend who said he would bring it by the college in 20 mins. So I went out to an ATM & got the money.
When the guy arrives he sets up the computer so that I can test it out. Nothing seemed wrong with the machine. I checked the "About this Mac" & saw that the ad listed the wrong machine. Strange. The iMac was really a Core Duo(first Intel iMac). That made me pause for a bit, but I had already checked ebay listings for both types of iMacs. At the time they were both selling for $700 or more.
The guy begins to tell me that it was his girlfriends computer, but that she didn't want it anymore. He also said he just wanted to get rid of it quickly & didn't want to spend time on an ebay auction. Odd. I check the computer out a little more & found nothing blatantly wrong, so I agree to buy it.
I get the iMac home & begin to look more deeply into the system. This was at night, so the Apple store in my area is closed. I find about 100 songs, all heavy rock, some porn, & few pictures taken with iSight in the last 5 days, but that is about it. Nothing was in the Address Book & I didn't find any other contact info.
When I tried to change some settings, I got the User Name & Password box. The name listed was Spike. The guy that sold me the computer has a name starting with a "B" & he told me it was his G/F's computer. Odd. But ok.
I called Mike back & asked if his friend knew the password. Mike said the guy didn't know about a password when asked & told Mike to tell me to just reinstall the OS. He said to just use my G5 OS disks or download the OS. Now I know that Intel Tiger is not available for sale & I wasn't about to steal the OS. But Mike's friend kept insisting that I just reinstall over 7 over.
So anyway I go to the Apple store the next day & get the iMac refresh for free. I know a guy there. I didn't get the OS disks, just a refreshed OS. But after thinking about all that happened I get the feeling the iMac was stole.
I know girls can have names like Spike, & look at porn, & listen to heavy metal/rock but it didn't feel like a feminine machine. The pictures were of guys & girls taken from the iSight. Did they just find out about Photo Booth?
What can/should I do? Anyone else have an idea. If it is stolen then someone is out a thousand & an iMac. i live in Boca raton, Fl so this iMac could have come from anywhere along the coast. There was no work related/personal files that I found but they could have been deleted before I bought it.
Oddities,
Price $400. (Cheap for an 1st gen. Intel iMac)
Guy didn't even know the correct computer type. (listed in an ad)
Guy didn't know about a password even though the account name listed is Spike. (Guy's name started with a "B")
No OS disks.
Scratches all over casing. (iMac was handled quite roughly)
Persistent in telling me to reinstall the OS.
Pictures were all taken within the past week using Photo Booth.
The computer didn't have a g/f touch to it. (Even though I was told it as a g/f's iMac)
- Scott
