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Surprising find at goodwill...

FineFuturity

FineFuturity

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 19, 2012
107
71
MA, United States
Was at goodwill the other day and I stumbled upon a 17" PowerBook G4 for only 50 bucks. Despite it having a loose hinge and lines on the screen, everything else seems to be working fine. I managed to install Tiger on it since that's all I had lying around. Hopefully I'll get around to installing Leopard later on.

I'll be getting some pics of it here shortly. In the meantime, how'd I do?

EDIT: Added more pics.
 

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Why oh why, can I NEVER get this lucky!!!!

You have the last CPU update of the 17" series. If you check the Displays setting and see an option for 1680x1050 then you have the Hi-Res Dual Layer Super Drive version. In which case you abolutely need to go get a lottery ticket!

Having had my 1Ghz 17" Mac die on me a few weeks back I am flat out green with jealousy!
 
eyoungren said:
Why oh why, can I NEVER get this lucky!!!!

You have the last CPU update of the 17" series. If you check the Displays setting and see an option for 1680x1050 then you have the Hi-Res Dual Layer Super Drive version. In which case you abolutely need to go get a lottery ticket!

Having had my 1Ghz 17" Mac die on me a few weeks back I am flat out green with jealousy!
Click to expand...

Doesn't look like I have that option.
 

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Sonicdude41 said:
Doesn't look like I have that option.
Click to expand...
You have the standard resolution version then. Still, for 50 bucks at the Goodwill, an awesome score. Congratulations!
 

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ifrit05 said:
He posted that his identifier is PowerBook5,7, the last revision 17" PB.

I have the 5,8, the last revision of the 15" series.
Click to expand...
There seems to be some confusion here.

If by last revision you mean as far as processing power, yes.

But the last 17" model released was the A1139 (PowerBook5,9). Apple simply added a high res screen and a dual layer super drive.

So there are two "last" revisions to the 17" model line, both 1.67Ghz. The standard resolution model and the HR-DLSD.
 

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Sonicdude41 said:
Was at goodwill the other day and I stumbled upon a 17" PowerBook G4 for only 50 bucks. Despite it having a loose hinge and lines on the screen, everything else seems to be working fine. I managed to install Tiger on it since that's all I had lying around. Hopefully I'll get around to installing Leopard later on.

I'll be getting some pics of it here shortly. In the meantime, how'd I do?

EDIT: Added more pics.
Click to expand...

Lucky dog...LOL
 
The closest thing we in the UK get to a Goodwill is a feckin' Red Cross shop.

...The only thing is the closest you come to finding a computer in there is a 20 year old TV, with a remote if you're really lucky.

Great find.
 
Sonicdude41 said:
Was at goodwill the other day and I stumbled upon a 17" PowerBook G4 for only 50 bucks.
Click to expand...

Sweet deal!

I also got lucky late last week and picked up a 15" PowerBook G4 Hi-Def on the clearance rack at a pawn shop for $55 out the door with charger, extra battery, case, and paperwork. They gave up on it because it wouldn't boot... but now runs perfect after a fresh install of Leopard.

I've been hunting for a cheap PowerBook G4 for a few years... so I'm stoked!
 

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joplinG5 said:
Sweet deal!

I also got lucky late last week and picked up a 15" PowerBook G4 Hi-Def on the clearance rack at a pawn shop for $55 out the door with charger, extra battery, case, and paperwork. They gave up on it because it wouldn't boot... but now runs perfect after a fresh install of Leopard.

I've been hunting for a cheap PowerBook G4 for a few years... so I'm stoked!
Click to expand...

Great buy! Why wouldn't it originally boot?
 
That sounds really nice. I got a Power Mac G4 (the full works, like your PowerBook) for $60, but it was a Kijiji ad. Unfortunately, I don't believe they have Goodwill Computer Works in my city and the Goodwill's store pretty much sucked in terms of electronics. Value Village is a lot more promising in terms of electronics; they have original Xboxes and original Playstations and keyboards and record players. On occasion I have seen old laptops such as old IBM ThinkPads but I have never come across a piece of Apple hardware, aside from their hockey puck mice you'd get with an iMac G3.

I'd consider you lucky, of course however, I've got a dual processor setup, don't mean to brag. Before I got my Power Mac G4, I was considering a PowerBook from a sketchy seller, and it wasn't nearly as powerful as yours is.
 
jrsx said:
Great buy! Why wouldn't it originally boot?
Click to expand...

It would freeze before fully loading the desktop. I was able to get it to boot one time and could tell a previous owner ran the OS into the ground. A fresh install of retail Leopard brought everything back.

Funny thing is the PB G4 was literally thrown into a big "broken" clearance bin and all of the other accessories (case, batteries, charger, etc) were laying haphazardly all over the place in the clearance aisle. Clearly the pawn shop didn't think too much of it... but I was able to piece everything back together the way it was meant to be.
 
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