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

Was it worth it?

  • Yes, I think you got a good buy

    Votes: 20 69.0%
  • You paid $315 for THAT?

    Votes: 9 31.0%

  • Total voters
    29

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
To those who've asked, I've always recommended against a lower powered PPC because they are a tad slow for modern day tasks (at least, in my experience). I've been looking for a 1.5 ghz Powerbook 12" in flawless physical condition with a good battery, with Leopard. I finally seem to have found it.

Here is the item that I won.

Do you think it looks like a good buy? My main buying point was how well the item has been cared for. I'm planning to use iWork 09 since it's still compatible with PPC (I'm sick of Word 2004). By the way, how will this handle Flash and YouTube?
 

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
the condition seems to justify the price you payed

and yes it will play youtube with flashplayer 10.1 but dont expect more then 360p or maybe max 480p


btw osx version 10.5.8 is not tiger its the latest update of leopard

and the disc you see in the picture is osx leopard 10.5.6 retail .so if its included , its worth alone about $80 + (looked at ebay.ca)
 

g4 powerbookboy

macrumors regular
Aug 10, 2010
139
0
looks like a nice unit. i probably would have bought it. im still using my first gerneration g4 titanium powerbook 400/512 and it seems more than able to do what i ask it to do. enjoy the powerbook.
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
Is that a retail Leopard install DVD? That alone is worth $130++.

Yes, I do believe it is a retail copy. Even though Mac2Sell.net might disagree, I feel like this was a pretty good value. :apple:

Should I sell the Leopard disk once I get the computer, or is it more safe to just keep it in case I want to reinstall the OS?
 

VespaMatt

macrumors member
Oct 30, 2010
30
0
I'm waiting for my new Air and just sold my iPad so I'm using my 12in a 1.5GHz with 1.25mb of RAM right now. Its been a while since I used it and I'm quite pleasantly surprised with how capable it still is. Flash and YouTube is about the only thing that makes it skip a beat but even then its still pretty decent. Otherwise it runs everything and does light multitasking fairly flawlessly. I think you'll be pretty happy.

I was going to throw this up on eBay after the Air came but I'm not so sure now. It like my old friend who always has my back when my current mac goes on the fritz or inbetween upgrades.
 

Apple OC

macrumors 68040
Oct 14, 2010
3,667
4,328
Hogtown
Looks like a good deal ... seller seems solid and the machine does seem to be very well cared for.

for what you would get for the disc ... I would keep it.:cool:
 

sikkinixx

macrumors 68020
Jul 10, 2005
2,062
0
Rocketing through the sky!
I'm waiting for my new Air and just sold my iPad so I'm using my 12in a 1.5GHz with 1.25mb of RAM right now. Its been a while since I used it and I'm quite pleasantly surprised with how capable it still is. Flash and YouTube is about the only thing that makes it skip a beat but even then its still pretty decent. Otherwise it runs everything and does light multitasking fairly flawlessly. I think you'll be pretty happy.

I was going to throw this up on eBay after the Air came but I'm not so sure now. It like my old friend who always has my back when my current mac goes on the fritz or inbetween upgrades.

Don't sell it. I sold mine when the macbooks first came out and still regret it.

Though the 11" Air might make it not sting so bad ;)
 

California

macrumors 68040
Aug 21, 2004
3,885
90
You purchased the very very last revision of the Powerbook 12" ever made.

There was an earlier version with a sixty gig hard drive and combo optical drive, same CPU speed from 2005. Your version was built through April 2006 or May 2006 I believe.

Good deal.

Now upgrade that hard drive. It's old. That's not good.

Get the 320gb WD PATA or if you are feeling dangerous, get a PATA SSD drive.
 

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
Yes, I do believe it is a retail copy. Even though Mac2Sell.net might disagree, I feel like this was a pretty good value. :apple:

Should I sell the Leopard disk once I get the computer, or is it more safe to just keep it in case I want to reinstall the OS?

ALWAYS keep the install disc , its vital not only to reinstall , for resetting password and for permission repairs too(thats the important bit of having that dvd ) ,
and i would not buy a Mac when it only comes preinstalled but without the disc (on snow leopard that doesnt matter as its very cheap and you can get it everywhere )
so it gives a higher resell value if you ever want to sell the Powerbook again , but give that a second thought when it comes to that point, as like someone said the Powerbook will become a friend , i personally prefer the size and design over the new MacBooks , because i dont like the black keyboards on the new ones , despite the new MBA looks good on the outside and has a nice screen ,but these black keys look out of place like they didn't belong to and got shoehorned in from a cheep dell laptop , while on the Powerbook it gives this "unibody feel" like it was made out of one piece despite it is not a unibody (my opinion)

but back to subject its getting tricky and more and more expensive to get the leopard retail disc now, as everyone wants one now ..for their "only came preinstalled with leopard Mac " once they find out that its a vital part and apple doesn't sell them any longer, and some you get on ebay are not worth the money as everybody tries to sell their totally scratched ones too
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A400 Safari/6531.22.7)

I really would like to upgrade to an SSD, but it sounds really difficult to replace the HDD. Is there any place that I could get it done for me?
 

Pachang

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2009
236
0
If you've got the money to buy a ssd and get it put in for you then don't you have the money to buy an intel mac o.o?
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
If you've got the money to buy a ssd and get it put in for you then don't you have the money to buy an intel mac o.o?

Powerbook + 32 gb SSD from eBay + Installation = $315 + $150 + $35 = $500
Macbook Air 11.6" (only other one w/ similar form factor) = $1150 after tax
 

kellen

macrumors 68020
Aug 11, 2006
2,385
68
Seattle, WA
Changing the HD is not hard at all. Just go to ifixit and follow their instructions.

I was worried when I changed mine out, but it is simple. Just need the tools.

If you are even slightly handy you can do it. I just got 3x5 inch cards and pushed the screws through it with a number corresponding to the ifixit tear down page.

It can be done in less than an hour the first time.
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,520
I think you paid too much but who cares? If you're happy, why do you care what anyone else thinks?

Since I got my iPad, my PowerBook (titanium) hasn't been turned on. Maybe I should sell it.
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
I think you paid too much but who cares? If you're happy, why do you care what anyone else thinks?

Since I got my iPad, my PowerBook (titanium) hasn't been turned on. Maybe I should sell it.

If you don't use it, sell it fo' sho. You could make a couple hundred bucks, and the laptop would actually go to use.
 

farmermac

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2009
779
11
Iowa
i wont comment on the price but you did get about as good a configuration as you could have gotten. I just got a 12" PB in similar config from craigslist and i love it. Enjoy it. :apple:
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
That's excellent to hear! I personally prefer the form factor of the Powerbook 12" over the Macbook Air, so it's exciting to be finally getting one.
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,520
If you don't use it, sell it fo' sho. You could make a couple hundred bucks, and the laptop would actually go to use.

I know. I just sold my original iPhone this morning. Now I haz a sad. Sod it because I would rather see someone use it rather than it sit in a drawer.
 

Davy.Shalom

macrumors 6502
Dec 23, 2008
465
1
PowerBooks are cool...I have a 12" 1.33 from 2002. I just hate how old they're getting. It really makes me sad that I'll have to put this computer on the shelf for good after a couple more years.
=(
 

Pachang

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2009
236
0
Powerbook + 32 gb SSD from eBay + Installation = $315 + $150 + $35 = $500
Macbook Air 11.6" (only other one w/ similar form factor) = $1150 after tax

lol now get a measure for the performance of each one and divide by the price you just found to give you performance per dollar.....
 

Epsilon88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
327
0
lol now get a measure for the performance of each one and divide by the price you just found to give you performance per dollar.....

But the point is that I don't have $1000 to spend, so if I used your method of calculation, I would get 0 performance for dollar (since I couldn't afford to buy) vs a higher value for the Powerbook. ;)
 

sjinsjca

macrumors 68020
Oct 30, 2008
2,238
555
Changing the HD is not hard at all. Just go to ifixit and follow their instructions.


+1. There are lots of little screws, and separating the keyboard from the bottom case takes a little care (hint: use a flexible, non-snappable type of plastic picnic knife), but it's very do-able.

We have one of these. Still going strong. It needed a repair about a year ago and a woman at the Apple Store raved about the machine and said it was regarded as one of the most desirable. I agree.

The slow OEM hard disk is one of its few weaknesses. Upgrading to a faster hard disk or SSD will give it a real shot in the arm. Stuff as much RAM as it'll hold while you're in there (IIRC 1.5GB). The system-board battery is likely to fail at some point so if it hasn't already been replaced, you should do that while you're in there lest you lose all your settings between reboots (bit of a nuisance, but you could live with it too). IIRC they're not cheap, something like $100 for the requisite subassembly. In general, parts are getting scarce for this machine, so anything that's marginal is best replaced or upgraded sooner rather than later.

It has more than enough power to do everyday browsing and watching videos, email, etc. It multitasks quite well. Its portability is awesome.

The last OS X version that supports this or any PowerPC Mac is Leopard. It runs very well.
 

OrangeSVTguy

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2007
4,127
68
Northeastern Ohio
You got a pretty good price on that. I would have expected you to get the box and all original accessories too but that Leopard disc is a pretty good bonus. Enjoy your 12" Powerbook, it's a damn good machine :D.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.