iBook Mania

[eyoungren]

So I give my friend a black 32GB iPhone 3GS that I have that's not being used really, because he's got a malfunctioning 16GB 3GS and needs a phone.

He gives me a few things, one of them being a 1.33Ghz iBook G4 and a spare 1.42Ghz iBook G4 logicboard.

That's cool because my daughter has said to me that she wants a computer (Mac) of her own. So, I get this iBook and it's wonky. The drive drops out, it freezes, etc. My friend, who is a good guy, agrees to look at it and finds out (today) that it's got a damaged data connector (not the cable) on the logicboard. Essentially, this is a brand new logicboard kind of repair. Well, the 1.42 of course won't fit because Apple changed things around.

So, I had him pull the HD, RAM and Airport card. Then I went off to eBay.

And here is what I found.

1.42Ghz for $44, $15+ for shipping. Seems the only thing wrong is the usual flashing ?-mark on boot. In any case, I've got parts (and hard drives). So, all the way around this is a deal and my daughter should be good when she gets this Mac.

Thought I'd share. I love eBay!

MODS! THIS IS NOT MY AUCTION. I BOUGHT THIS ITEM, I AM NOT SELLING IT!!!!

 

[2984839]

Great find! One of these days I'm just going to go mad on eBay and stockpile iBooks and PowerBooks. They're ridiculously cheap for what you get.

 

[Altemose]

So I give my friend a black 32GB iPhone 3GS that I have that's not being used really, because he's got a malfunctioning 16GB 3GS and needs a phone.

He gives me a few things, one of them being a 1.33Ghz iBook G4 and a spare 1.42Ghz iBook G4 logicboard.

That's cool because my daughter has said to me that she wants a computer (Mac) of her own. So, I get this iBook and it's wonky. The drive drops out, it freezes, etc. My friend, who is a good guy, agrees to look at it and finds out (today) that it's got a damaged data connector (not the cable) on the logicboard. Essentially, this is a brand new logicboard kind of repair. Well, the 1.42 of course won't fit because Apple changed things around.

So, I had him pull the HD, RAM and Airport card. Then I went off to eBay.

And here is what I found.

1.42Ghz for $44, $15+ for shipping. Seems the only thing wrong is the usual flashing ?-mark on boot. In any case, I've got parts (and hard drives). So, all the way around this is a deal and my daughter should be good when she gets this Mac.

Thought I'd share. I love eBay!

MODS! THIS IS NOT MY AUCTION. I BOUGHT THIS ITEM, I AM NOT SELLING IT!!!!

Great find! One of these days I'm just going to go mad on eBay and stockpile iBooks and PowerBooks. They're ridiculously cheap for what you get.

The actual connector could be repaired if you are good with board repair. But at the cost of parts it isn't really worth it.

Sadly, on eBay parts are cheap but whole machines aren't

 

[eyoungren]

The actual connector could be repaired if you are good with board repair. But at the cost of parts it isn't really worth it.

Sadly, on eBay parts are cheap but whole machines aren't

My dad was an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry for over 35 years. He got electronic repair training in the Marine Corps while serving during the Korean War and afterwards got an electrical education at Northrop University.

He knows his electrical stuff inside and out and can wield a soldering iron like a master.

His son (me) unfortunately can routinely mess electrical systems up (forgetting to disconnect power when working on batteries or PC cards), can fry electronics with a soldering iron and generally obliterate any small electronic part with ease. I once resoldered a connector back to a monitor. Great, it works! I have video! What happened to the sound?! Oh, man I fried the sound connector with the soldering iron! Damn!

No, $44 for a new iBook is ok by me.

 

[jrsx]

Unfortunately my iBook has not been seeing a lot of use these days. I am waiting for a firewire cable or something so I can clone drives from my PB, but in the meanwhile it's been a Linux testing machine. Have fun with the iBook! It's the same model I have (1.33 GHz). Just be careful when swapping that logic board....

 

[Altemose]

My dad was an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry for over 35 years. He got electronic repair training in the Marine Corps while serving during the Korean War and afterwards got an electrical education at Northrop University.

He knows his electrical stuff inside and out and can wield a soldering iron like a master.

His son (me) unfortunately can routinely mess electrical systems up (forgetting to disconnect power when working on batteries or PC cards), can fry electronics with a soldering iron and generally obliterate any small electronic part with ease. I once resoldered a connector back to a monitor. Great, it works! I have video! What happened to the sound?! Oh, man I fried the sound connector with the soldering iron! Damn!

No, $44 for a new iBook is ok by me.

I keep looking for one that is whole because in honesty, these machines are a royal pain to take apart. Never seem to find an affordable one though.

 

[eyoungren]

Unfortunately my iBook has not been seeing a lot of use these days. I am waiting for a firewire cable or something so I can clone drives from my PB, but in the meanwhile it's been a Linux testing machine. Have fun with the iBook! It's the same model I have (1.33 GHz). Just be careful when swapping that logic board....

Uh, not swapping boards. That's what I intended to have my friend do, but it's not compatible. So, I bought a 1.42ghz iBook off eBay and will take whatever parts I might need (if at all) from the 1.33.

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I keep looking for one that is whole because in honesty, these machines are a royal pain to take apart. Never seem to find an affordable one though.

Yeah, this is one of the reasons I don't really care for the iBook model. I got an iBook for my daughter in this case because she doesn't need the power of a PowerBook and this model technically has way more power than my son's 1Ghz Titanium DVI. Hell, it has more power than my 1Ghz 17" PB. More than enough for my daughter!

 

[Altemose]

Uh, not swapping boards. That's what I intended to have my friend do, but it's not compatible. So, I bought a 1.42ghz iBook off eBay and will take whatever parts I might need (if at all) from the 1.33.

----------


Yeah, this is one of the reasons I don't really care for the iBook model. I got an iBook for my daughter in this case because she doesn't need the power of a PowerBook and this model technically has way more power than my son's 1Ghz Titanium DVI. Hell, it has more power than my 1Ghz 17" PB. More than enough for my daughter!

They are solid machines but really annoying to work on...

 

[catzilla]

My Ex just gave me the same iBook, 1.33 768MB SD. These things are surprisingly fast running TenFourFox. It actually feels faster than my MDD 1.25 FW800.

 

[jrsx]

Uh, not swapping boards. That's what I intended to have my friend do, but it's not compatible. So, I bought a 1.42ghz iBook off eBay and will take whatever parts I might need (if at all) from the 1.33

Oh oh oh I gotchu

 

[Altemose]

Uh, not swapping boards. That's what I intended to have my friend do, but it's not compatible. So, I bought a 1.42ghz iBook off eBay and will take whatever parts I might need (if at all) from the 1.33.

----------


Yeah, this is one of the reasons I don't really care for the iBook model. I got an iBook for my daughter in this case because she doesn't need the power of a PowerBook and this model technically has way more power than my son's 1Ghz Titanium DVI. Hell, it has more power than my 1Ghz 17" PB. More than enough for my daughter!

Is this the same friend that gave it to you? This iBook never really was anything but problems for him with the hard drive failure and all.

 

[eyoungren]

Is this the same friend that gave it to you? This iBook never really was anything but problems for him with the hard drive failure and all.

OK, I have a tendency to not be clear, so to try and set things straight…

I got a 1.33Ghz iBook G4 and a 1.42Ghz iBook G4 logicboard from my friend last Wednesday.

Since last Wedenesday I have been trying to get the 1.33 to work. And yes, this is the one that my friend had that had the HD problem. Turns out it was that data connector I mentioned. The 1.42 logicboard is incompatible with this iBook.

So, today, I found a used 1.42Ghz iBook G4 on eBay. I am going to use whatever parts I may need from the 1.33ghz iBook and the 1.42ghz logicboard I already have to make this new (used) 1.42 eBay iBook work, should it need parts.

Hope the clears up my mumbling.

 

[Altemose]

OK, I have a tendency to not be clear, so to try and set things straight…

I got a 1.33Ghz iBook G4 and a 1.42Ghz iBook G4 logicboard from my friend last Wednesday.

Since last Wedenesday I have been trying to get the 1.33 to work. And yes, this is the one that my friend had that had the HD problem. Turns out it was that data connector I mentioned. The 1.42 logicboard is incompatible with this iBook.

So, today, I found a used 1.42Ghz iBook G4 on eBay. I am going to use whatever parts I may need from the 1.33ghz iBook and the 1.42ghz logicboard I already have to make this new (used) 1.42 eBay iBook work, should it need parts.

Hope the clears up my mumbling.

Ah yes that makes perfect sense. Are they both 14" models?

 

[eyoungren]

Ah yes that makes perfect sense. Are they both 14" models?

Yes, they are.

 

[Altemose]

Yes, they are.

Nice. I never seem to have luck finding a good one.

 

[eyoungren]

Nice. I never seem to have luck finding a good one.

I use eBay a lot. My friend is partial to craigslist and I agree that craigslist has some great deals, but you have to put up with the shennigans sometimes and you have to be ready to buy.

With eBay you have some time if you don't have the cash right away. My best luck has been using Google to search eBay instead of eBay's own search box. The best deals I've gotten have come from tech liquidators. They need to get rid of stuff fast and typically undersell so they can move the inventory. My son's PowerBook G4 for $25 from a liquidator and now this Mac for $44 from a liquidator. My 20" Cinema Display was $30 from a music store in Atlanta getting rid of it's old studio equipment.

Maybe, I'm lucky, IDK. But eBay's been pretty good to me when it comes to PowerPC.

Not so much on the DVI/ADC converters though!

 

[Altemose]

I use eBay a lot. My friend is partial to craigslist and I agree that craigslist has some great deals, but you have to put up with the shennigans sometimes and you have to be ready to buy.

With eBay you have some time if you don't have the cash right away. My best luck has been using Google to search eBay instead of eBay's own search box. The best deals I've gotten have come from tech liquidators. They need to get rid of stuff fast and typically undersell so they can move the inventory. My son's PowerBook G4 for $25 from a liquidator and now this Mac for $44 from a liquidator. My 20" Cinema Display was $30 from a music store in Atlanta getting rid of it's old studio equipment.

Maybe, I'm lucky, IDK. But eBay's been pretty good to me when it comes to PowerPC.

Not so much on the DVI/ADC converters though!

I am still on the look out though for them for you. Did you get those that I sent you the links to? I didn't know Google could search eBay as a whole...

 

[eyoungren]

I am still on the look out though for them for you. Did you get those that I sent you the links to? I didn't know Google could search eBay as a whole...

Yes, I did, thanks. My problem, again, is justifying the expense. I could get away with buying this iBook today because I'm trying to keep a promise to my daughter to get her a computer (Mac).

$49-99, or even less, for another adapter to power another monitor when we could pay the water bill or a portion of the medical bills or anything else - not going to fly with my wife!

And yes. You can actually search any site through Google. Just enter the site name in the Google search box (including the .com, or .net, or whatever) and then your search term. Googl will search the site first then after that any sites that reference that site and your search term.

 

[Altemose]

Yes, I did, thanks. My problem, again, is justifying the expense. I could get away with buying this iBook today because I'm trying to keep a promise to my daughter to get her a computer (Mac).

$49-99, or even less, for another adapter to power another monitor when we could pay the water bill or a portion of the medical bills or anything else - not going to fly with my wife!

And yes. You can actually search any site through Google. Just enter the site name in the Google search box (including the .com, or .net, or whatever) and then your search term. Googl will search the site first then after that any sites that reference that site and your search term.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[eyoungren]

iSCORE!!!

OK. This was pretty typical!

All this system needed was for the OS to be reinstalled. Whomever had it before it went to the tech liquidators simply wiped the drive before they handed it over. Other than light scratches (visible only under direct light) and some feet missing, which I will replace with the one's from the 1.33 iBook I have, this iBook is pretty perfect.

I booted right from my Leopard install DVD and found a 60GB hard drive! SMART status verified. The iBook may have been used for video editing. The old HD name was AVID.

Installed Leopard and my daughter now has a 1.42Ghz iBook G4 with 1.5GB ram, a 60GB HD, SuperDrive and two finger scrolling built in, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme!

The iBook is riding my wireless right now and I'm typing this on it. Pretty happy!

 

[Altemose]

OK. This was pretty typical!

All this system needed was for the OS to be reinstalled. Whomever had it before it went to the tech liquidators simply wiped the drive before they handed it over. Other than light scratches (visible only under direct light) and some feet missing, which I will replace with the one's from the 1.33 iBook I have, this iBook is pretty perfect.

I booted right from my Leopard install DVD and found a 60GB hard drive! SMART status verified. The iBook may have been used for video editing. The old HD name was AVID.

Installed Leopard and my daughter now has a 1.42Ghz iBook G4 with 1.5GB ram, a 60GB HD, SuperDrive and two finger scrolling built in, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme!

The iBook is riding my wireless right now and I'm typing this on it. Pretty happy!

Glad to hear it worked out. Since you told me to keep looking I ended up scoring a 1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 15" with 2GB of RAM and 80 GB hard drive for $23.50.

 

[eyoungren]

Glad to hear it worked out. Since you told me to keep looking I ended up scoring a 1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 15" with 2GB of RAM and 80 GB hard drive for $23.50.

Nice! Good to hear! The deals are out there, you just have to sift through it all.

Here's some decent pics of the iBook.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

Nice! Good to hear! The deals are out there, you just have to sift through it all.

Here's some decent pics of the iBook.

Shoot, I didn't notice it was a 14 incher! One of these days I'd love to have one, the 12" is a bit small for my liking.

 

[eyoungren]

Shoot, I didn't notice it was a 14 incher! One of these days I'd love to have one, the 12" is a bit small for my liking.

LOL! Yeah, it's a little bigger than the iBook G3s I used at one point. Nice size for my daughter. I've also got a small PC mouse I used to use that will fit her hand just right.

Takes some adjustment for me though. I'm used to my screens at work, my 20" Cinema Display or my 17" PowerBooks. Going down three inches and having to scroll to the right to read is a little bizarre!

 

[jrsx]

LOL! Yeah, it's a little bigger than the iBook G3s I used at one point. Nice size for my daughter. I've also got a small PC mouse I used to use that will fit her hand just right.

Takes some adjustment for me though. I'm used to my screens at work, my 20" Cinema Display or my 17" PowerBooks. Going down three inches and having to scroll to the right to read is a little bizarre!

True! I really love the size of these PPC laptops, but they do get rather irritating when something like Photoshop or web browsing requires a slightly larger screen.