The Freebies Thread

[TheShortTimer]

The eBay bargains thread is great but I thought that it would be fun to share photos, details of hardware and software that we've received for free and if you want to divulge them, the backstories of the circumstances behind landing these free items. Just from going exercising in my neighbourhood, I've found TVs, games consoles, computers, computer parts, printers, accessories and much more. Often, people are familiar with my love of technology will get in touch with offers of items that they think might be of use or interest to me.

Please share your freebies - the discussion is not limited to Apple/Mac related products either.

Here's my opening contribution to this thread.

During a scan through the classifieds, I saw this pack being offered for free:

They were even willing to post it provided that they received remuneration. Brilliant! I got in touch, arranged the postage costs and they mailed it to me.

Ah, the days of when printed documentation were provided with products. Unfortunately the other Performa documentation was missing, as were the floppies but no matter. A couple of other user guides were thrown in too:

Any ClarisWorks fans among us? I remember seeing it advertised in the computer press but don't recall using it. I asked the very kind donator to let me know if they come across any other Apple/Mac stuff during their clear out. I was hoping that they might still have the Performa in the loft.

I missed out elsewhere on another freebie by just a few seconds on what was a treasure trove of Apple documentation spanning from the Apple II days through to the late 80s and early 90s Mac era. The poster informed me that someone else had messaged them literally a second before me. Whoever they were certainly made off with a haul of Apple history.

Ah well, you cannot have everything.

 

[B S Magnet]

Just today, I picked up a trio of iBook G4s (two 12-inch models, and one 14-inch) for free from a local MR member who’d posted them over on Marketplace. I haven’t yet gotten to look at them or try them out, but I’m pretty excited about looking at them this weekend, cleaning them out/up, giving them some fresh thermal paste, testing things (including looking at replacing parts which might be iffy), prepping them for eventual cheap SSD solutions, and giving them to folks who I know will definitely use them.

 

[B S Magnet]

The eBay bargains thread is great but I thought that it would be fun to share photos, details of hardware and software that we've received for free and if you want to divulge them, the backstories of the circumstances behind landing these free items. Just from going exercising in my neighbourhood, I've found TVs, games consoles, computers, computer parts, printers, accessories and much more. Often, people are familiar with my love of technology will get in touch with offers of items that they think might be of use or interest to me.

Please share your freebies - the discussion is not limited to Apple/Mac related products either.

Here's my opening contribution to this thread.

During a scan through the classifieds, I saw this pack being offered for free:

They were even willing to post it provided that they received remuneration. Brilliant! I got in touch, arranged the postage costs and they mailed it to me.

Ah, the days of when printed documentation were provided with products. Unfortunately the other Performa documentation was missing, as were the floppies but no matter. A couple of other user guides were thrown in too:

Any ClarisWorks fans among us? I remember seeing it advertised in the computer press but don't recall using it. I asked the very kind donator to let me know if they come across any other Apple/Mac stuff during their clear out. I was hoping that they might still have the Performa in the loft.

I missed out elsewhere on another freebie by just a few seconds on what was a treasure trove of Apple documentation spanning from the Apple II days through to the late 80s and early 90s Mac era. The poster informed me that someone else had messaged them literally a second before me. Whoever they were certainly made off with a haul of Apple history.

Ah well, you cannot have everything.

Back in the System 7/OS 8 days, MacWrite/ClarisWorks were my preferred word processors, but even by then, there was a lot of pressure to migrate to Word 5.1 and Word 6.0. MacWrite in particular was probably the first word processor I ever used, and it would have been on a SE/30 at school.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Just today, I picked up a trio of iBook G4s (two 12-inch models, and one 14-inch) for free from a local MR member who’d posted them over on Marketplace. I haven’t yet gotten to look at them or try them out, but I’m pretty excited about looking at them this weekend, cleaning them out/up, giving them some fresh thermal paste, testing things (including looking at replacing parts which might be iffy), prepping them for eventual cheap SSD solutions, and giving them to folks who I know will definitely use them.

That's fantastic! Will you create a post documenting your restoration work?

I have to admit that in your position, I would've swiped one for myself. To gift all three to other people is the height of selflessness.

Back in the System 7/OS 8 days, MacWrite/ClarisWorks were my preferred word processors, but even by then, there was a lot of pressure to migrate to Word 5.1 and Word 6.0. MacWrite in particular was probably the first word processor I ever used, and it would have been on a SE/30 at school.

Even though I've never used the software, I'm sure that it's not presumptuous of me to conclude that MacWrite/ClarisWorks was superior to anything Redmond were offering.

 

[B S Magnet]

That's fantastic! Will you create a post documenting your restoration work?

I hadn’t thought about it, but perhaps I might. It probably won’t happen until I have the materials I need (for the most part, that entails getting another bottle of 99 per cent isopropyl alcohol for starters, along with the high quality of my five year-old phone camera.

I have to admit that in your position, I would've swiped one for myself. To gift all three to other people is the height of selflessness.

I’m quite grateful for their donation, though it seems they’d been trying to get rid of them for a very long time (as in, years), but with few takers (and none, as far as I could tell, who were local).

For something like this, I think it helps to live in the same area, and this area also happens to be well-populated. Given this consideration, there are often freebie things which may not be easy to reach because they’re some five or six hours away by car, or else they’re just way too far away (such as needing to head over to the opposite end of the province for something like a free, pre-unibody MacBook Pro or late iMac G3 posted on either CL or kijiji, but said location is either 18 hours away by car, or is way out in some area two or more hours away where they’re poorly served by regional transit).

But yes, I’m glad they still had these around, some two or so years after they posted them, and I’m glad I was able to take them off their hands. I got the impression they repair Macs for either a side-gig or a main living (à la Louis Rossman-style), so these old iBooks were probably just taking up space which was needed for other things.

EDIT: The iBooks are still in my book bag from earlier, but I just happened to notice how two of them are literally in sleep mode right now (the third might have been in the same boat, but there appears to be a lid latch issue keeping it from locking closed). I hadn’t noticed the sleeping lights before because it was, like, -17C with the wind chill and I was more focussed on finishing my appointments and errands and getting back home where an anthropogenically-induced warmth awaited.

EDIT of EDIT: Only now coming around to look at the iBooks at a glance. The 12-inch model in sleep mode lasted four days in sleep before the battery ran out — meaning, a really good battery. That iBook is an A1133. The 14-inch iBook’s sleep last almost three days, and its case it really scratchy. I’m pretty sure it’s an A1055, but I haven’t yet powered it up to see which one it is. The last 12-inch iBook, with the lid latch issue, is an A1054 and will need working parts from some of my other spares. I don’t think that battery is functional.

Even though I've never used the software, I'm sure that it's not presumptuous of me to conclude that MacWrite/ClarisWorks was superior to anything Redmond were offering.

In hindsight, I have no doubt.

MacWrite and ClarisWorks were a breeze to work with, and they also maintained FileMaker Pro, which I began using around 1995 for simple and personal tasks like cataloguing my music library (which seems quaint now, in light of Discogs). I think my entry into GUIs and using MacWrite, ClarisWorks, Aldus’s Freehand, and PageMaker, were what got me into using Macs pretty much always. Soon after, I began using Photoshop 2.5.1, then 3.0, then Illustrator 5.5, then 6.0, and so on.

I admit how around that window of time, I used to pity folks who’d assiduously format their word processing in WordPerfect 5 for DOS. Doing so looked (to me, at least) like a nightmare. But then again, I was young and probably snobby about that kind of thing, so hey.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Another freebie arrived today.

From what I've read, this contraption doesn't charge your MacBook's battery, it just provides power to the laptop. Does this mean that the CPU will throttle to a lower speed?

 

[r34per]

Not an apple but i did recently get two sun blade 150's for free along with a sun branded keyboard and mouse! A few years ago I got a powerbook g4 titanium 800mhz for free from a client's office we were cleaning out. Was the first powerpc apple I ever got and what got me interested in collecting them.

 

[mectojic]

Got a free deal recently.
Bought a ‘working’ Power Mac G4 Sawtooth (base 350mhz), no HD but everything else, with the promise from the seller that I could return it if it didn’t work.

Well, I did want to return it, because the CD-rom doesn’t work, and it seems to have trouble booting sometimes (and makes loud squealing / shrieking noises sometimes??).

But the seller just refunded me the money and let me keep it.

Now I’ve got time to try and fix it! Funny how getting something for free can make you more inclined to keep it.

Maybe someone who has worked on Sawtooths/Graphites knows what the problem may be?

 

[MBAir2010]

Any ClarisWorks fans among us?

we used that software to paginate our newspaper in 1990,
i challenged to paste up better and faster with type on blueboards then a machine, and won!
then lost my job years later
but after using and learning that program, and Photoshop as well!

 

[omeletpants]

Here is the ultimate "freebees story":

Around 2005, my 5 year old autistic son and I were in an Apple store in Schaumburg Il. My son was attracted to anything with lights and computers. I was a sales manager at HP and received free HP equipment for work so that's what we used. But my son had a habit of coming into my office and randomly adjusting settings on my MS based computers. It was becoming a problem

While in the store they had demo area called Just For Kids, where they had computers with games the kids could play while their parents shopped. The computers were restricted to being turned on or off but no settings could be adjusted. It was a Sunday and when I got home I decided to try and contact Steve to see if I could buy the software. I sent an email to steve.jobs@apple.com and described my request. 20 minutes later I get an email back from Steve. He says that one of his VPs would call me the next day to arrange something. People might say how did you know his email. Well, I just guessed. I already knew that people like Mark Hurd and Carly Fiorini CEO and other execs at HP just used their names in their email. Guess they want some contact with their customers without some executive secretary filtering content

Next day Apple VP calls me and says that Steve wants to help. Tells me that they would have to get license clearance from the game providers and that would take a few months. 2 months later a new apple computer shows up at my front door with the software, all free. I send a note to Steve thanking him and he says I'm not allowed to repeat the story, which I never did while he was alive. My son used it for 7 years. We became an Apple household that day. I eventually retired as an HP VP and and even now receive a yearly stipend for HP equipment a but just give it to relatives

 

[MBAir2010]

Here is the ultimate "freebees story":

great scenario!
Steve did things out of the box!


My ex-neighbor ran the production facility at HP last century.
i asked him in 2019 if he would buy a HP, he said "no!"

 

[omeletpants]

great scenario!
Steve did things out of the box!


My ex-neighbor ran the production facility at HP last century.
i asked him in 2019 if he would buy a HP, he said "no!"

I'm now a retired HP executive and they pay me a pension and health insurance every month. Otherwise, my only loyalty to them is that I buy their printers for my home. I don't pay attention to their progress anymore.

I will say that in the 90s HP was one of the world's greatest companies. My teams were able to create fabulous technology and innovation was encouraged for all employees.

There was even something called "the HP way" which existed from 1940 to 2000, where employees were treated with dignity and people were encouraged, then recognized for their performance.

 

[bobesch]

Two years ago I was donated a fully working Macintosh Classic. ?

Here's the whole story ...: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-macintosh-classic-localtalk-ethernet-ppc-project.2214695/

 

[B S Magnet]

That's fantastic! Will you create a post documenting your restoration work?

So it begins, very slowly!

First up is the A1133 12-inch iBook G4 1.33.

Externally, there are some corner scuffs from typical wear but is otherwise low on abrasions (relative to the way this clear plastic invites scratches with hardly a provocation). All the foot pads and display bumper pads are still intact, which is increasingly a rare sight these days. The build label indicates this was sold in standard 512MB RAM, with the usual Combo drive and 40GB HDD. I threw in what I think is a 1GB stick of OWC RAM I had buried in my spare parts bin.

I left it to recharge last day and, despite it being a battery contemporary with when it was manufactured (the date codes hint how this may be the original battery, having been manufactured the 34th week of 2005, with the iBook manufactured on the 35th), appears to have a lot of life left (if sleeping for at least four days is an early indicator). This unit appears to have all original parts, as the keyboard (US) was made during the 33rd week. The new-to-me factory codes I found on the battery and keyboard have just been added to the Apple product origins WikiPost.



As expected, the insides are dirty from past use, but remarkably, nothing is yellowed. Any perceptual yellowing in the attached pics is the warm-K lighting in the room. Once I pick up a bottle of 99 per cent isopropyl alcohol and can clear aside some space from my repair desk for disassembly (currently working on fixing a part from a disassembled film SLR camera), then I’ll get to work on taking this one apart. I might even wait until I can throw in a cheap, low-capacity SSD solution.

The person who generously gave these three iBooks to me appears to have thrown on retail installs of Leopard, and the expected shuffle beat of the welcome animation appears (at least on this one). I haven’t decided what to do with this one just yet — whether to make it a second testing setup for SL-PPC or something else.

I’m tempted to encourage a 10-year-old kid in my extended family who’s really into gaming to take up a challenge of putting a working operating system of any sort onto a vintage Mac, without any of my help, and to try to do so within, say, a month, and if he’s successful, he gets to keep it. I expect he’ll kvetch how an iBook is super-old — older than him! the nerve! — and slow or whatever, but maybe I can encourage him a little by adding how if he’s successful, I’ll help him put Minecraft on it and maybe see whether that Super Mario Bros.-ported game from @alex_free can be put onto it.

Anyhow, I’ll post on more as I do more with this unit and the others. It’s a nice wintertime project.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Anyhow, I’ll post on more as I do more with this unit and the others. It’s a nice wintertime project.

Thank you for sharing further details of the machines and your plans for them. I look forward to seeing the updates as you progress with the restoration work and yes, the winter is the perfect time to focus on such activities.

 

[B S Magnet]

Thank you for sharing further details of the machines and your plans for them. I look forward to seeing the updates as you progress with the restoration work and yes, the winter is the perfect time to focus on such activities.

I took a quick peek at the other two earlier this evening as I charged their batteries (both with seemingly weaker capacity).

The 14-inch, a late ’04 1.33MHz unit, is one of those “super-used, very aged” iBooks — missing all foot pads, tonnes of base scratches (wearing off all the Apple etching), and a super-yellow keyboard, many with their letters worn clean off. The other 12-inch, despite not latching shut, has what appears to be a pristine keyboard — except the A-key is mostly worn clean. It’s early ’04. The build sticker says the G4 is not a 1.0GHz, but a 1.064GHz. A bonus 64 MHz, amazing.

In other words, a whole lotta dog’s breakfast going on around here with this trio.

 

[TheShortTimer]

For ages I've been eager to regain my soldering skills because I have 80s/90s hardware which needs attention and the electrical engineers who I would've paid to carry out this kind of work are no longer available to me. In particular I needed to practice on through-hole components but I didn't have anything disposable at home and a trip to the local recycling centre - which should have been the most logical place to obtain some was fruitless due to health and safety regulations and bureaucracy.

The staff member that I spoke to intimated that he's under constant surveillance and would be reprimanded even if he looked the other way whilst I helped myself to whatever I needed. Just great.

Anyhow, fortune smiled on me during an early morning jog through my neighbourhood when I spotted a 25" CRT TV dumped outside someone's home. Without any hesitation, I picked it up and carried it back to mine - notwithstanding a couple of stops for breathers because it was pretty heavy.

On a side note, we actually had a version of this model in our household during the mid to late 90s which is why I knew that it wouldn't have been worth keeping in a working state (it didn't work anyway) because it only has dual mono sound and lacks multi-system (or at least just NTSC) capability via the SCART/Euroconnector socket. Besides, I have a couple of working CRT TVs anyway.

Let's strip it down and salvage the parts that I need for practising.

These were more than enough through-hole components for me to practice on and to bring myself back up to scratch so that I could tackle my ailing tech. It's a shame that I had to go through this hassle in the first place but as we all know, life is seldom straightforward. I suppose for the future I could post a request in my local Freecycle group.

 

[originaldotexe]

i got my g5 dual 2.3ghz w/ geforce 6800 gt ddl and a 20" aluminum cinema display free on craigslist. the guy had it listed for $30 but he took the listing down, so i emailed him and he was like "nobody seems interested so i was just gonna trash it as it takes up too much space. you can have it free if you come get it"

my g5 quad was also donated to me for free by a very generous friend on discord
and a lot of my other machines such as the g4 mdd and 2007 imac were gotten for "free" in trades with my friend who lives local to me, i am more into macs and hes more into windows pc stuff, and it turned out that he had a lot of macs, and i had a lot of pc stuff, so we traded a lot of that

 

[originaldotexe]

For ages I've been eager to regain my soldering skills because I have 80s/90s hardware which needs attention and the electrical engineers who I would've paid to carry out this kind of work are no longer available to me. In particular I needed to practice on through-hole components but I didn't have anything disposable at home and a trip to the local recycling centre - which should have been the most logical place to obtain some was fruitless due to health and safety regulations and bureaucracy.

The staff member that I spoke to intimated that he's under constant surveillance and would be reprimanded even if he looked the other way whilst I helped myself to whatever I needed. Just great.

Anyhow, fortune smiled on me during an early morning jog through my neighbourhood when I spotted a 25" CRT TV dumped outside someone's home. Without any hesitation, I picked it up and carried it back to mine - notwithstanding a couple of stops for breathers because it was pretty heavy.

On a side note, we actually had a version of this model in our household during the mid to late 90s which is why I knew that it wouldn't have been worth keeping in a working state (it didn't work anyway) because it only has dual mono sound and lacks multi-system (or at least just NTSC) capability via the SCART/Euroconnector socket. Besides, I have a couple of working CRT TVs anyway.

Let's strip it down and salvage the parts that I need for practising.

These were more than enough through-hole components for me to practice on and to bring myself back up to scratch so that I could tackle my ailing tech. It's a shame that I had to go through this hassle in the first place but as we all know, life is seldom straightforward. I suppose for the future I could post a request in my local Freecycle group.

thats awesome, i have a 1440x1080 4:3 1080i hd crt that only has a few hours total on it which i havent been able to use yet. i think its analog too which is pretty rare for hd crt's (most are digital)

 

[r34per]

I bought a powerbook 100 from someone and he threw in an imac g5 als in for free. He had a steep gravel driveway, so I got stuck trying to leave! My single cab long bed truck just didn't have enough grip/weight in the rear and I just kept spinning the tires. Somehow after a good half hour of trying I was able to get out.

Powerbook 100 needs a recap I've been procrastinating on, but the imac works great! I run sorbet leopard on it

 

[TheShortTimer]

I received this classic, 80s computer some time ago for free from a seller who assured me that it was fully working and then refunded me more than I paid for it after I informed them that it was dead. To boot, they also let me keep the computer. A potential project was on my hands.

After fiddling with the wonky power supply unit, I managed to get a picture on my TV...

Clearly there was a lot of work ahead! With the guidance of others, I used a multi-meter to check the readings of various components on the PCB and confirmed that a couple of transistors were dead and would need to be renewed. On my own I later ascertained that an entire RAM bank was faulty and would also require replacing.

Numerous sessions of through-hole desoldering and soldering followed but this was a cakewalk thanks to practising on the abandoned TV in my earlier post. I also undertook some additional measures to overhaul the machine by modernising a number of components for practicality and efficiency. These included replacing the electrolytic capacitors and the voltage regulator.

The default video signal is a near obsolete UHF system and it relies on a particular frequency which the analogue tuners on most of my newer TV's cannot lock onto very well - or in some cases, at all. However, 5 minutes of soldering work enabled it to intstead display a higher quality PAL composite video signal that's compatible with modern TV's.

Here's the PCB with new (and socketed) RAM, capacitors, transistors and a voltage regulator:

The remaining task was to replace the keyboard membrane and that took a matter of minutes.

Time to reassemble and test...

I think we can call this a success.

Its seen heavy usage over the past few days and everything appears to be ok. With the updated components and the video modification, it's a better machine than when it originally left the factory and it will hopefully work problem-free for many years to come.

Although I got the computer for free, I had to spend time on a repair that quickly expanded into a restoration and an overhaul but it was a worthwhile investment because given its vintage, this level of work would've been mandatory anyway. Also, I had some fun and challenged myself and reinvigorated my electrical engineering skills and my understanding of electronic theory - which will enable me to tackle other projects and that's definitely a positive.

 

[m1maverick]

I received this classic, 80s computer some time ago for free from a seller who assured me that it was fully working and then refunded me more than I paid for it after I informed them that it was dead. To boot, they also let me keep the computer. A potential project was on my hands.

I had the opposite experience with a seller. I purchased a part out G5 Quad which ended up not being a quad. Upon informing the seller of the issue he offered to refund the purchase price but not the shipping amount (which was more than the purchase price). This was unacceptable to me because he advertised it as one thing and it turned out to be something else.

I informed him I would be forced to use Ebays buyer protection if he didn't refund the entire amount and, that by doing so, he would be responsible for the return shipping. Instead of cutting his loses he refused forcing me to use the buyer protection.

I know some sellers want the item back to ensure that buyers aren't scamming them but since this was a parts only sale for little money (I think I paid $35 for it) there was little for him to lose by letting me keep it.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I had the opposite experience with a seller. I purchased a part out G5 Quad which ended up not being a quad. Upon informing the seller of the issue he offered to refund the purchase price but not the shipping amount (which was more than the purchase price). This was unacceptable to me because he advertised it as one thing and it turned out to be something else.

I informed him I would be forced to use Ebays buyer protection if he didn't refund the entire amount and, that by doing so, he would be responsible for the return shipping. Instead of cutting his loses he refused forcing me to use the buyer protection.

I know some sellers want the item back to ensure that buyers aren't scamming them but since this was a parts only sale for little money (I think I paid $35 for it) there was little for him to lose by letting me keep it.

I'm loathe to leave negative feedback or complain to eBay's customer services dept because most problems should be resolvable with just a little bit of decency and compromise but it seems that's beyond some people.

They appear to lack the self-awareness to understand that it's in their best interests to reach an amicable agreement with the buyer but instead they prefer to play unecessary games and ignore messages.

It's really short-sighted behaviour on a practicality level alone because when I had a similar issue to yours a couple of years ago, someone at the UK call-centre informed me that whenever eBay has to intercede with buyer protection, the seller's cards are effectively marked.

 

[weckart]

I bought a couple of vintage laptops going very cheaply from a local seller. I went to pick them up and stayed for a chat as he was into vintage tech. I think he must have had a school clearance because he more or less forced a free tangerine iBook and an IBM P70 on me among other things. This was a year or two before the price of both went from nothing to wtf. I went home with a carful, mostly PC stuff.

 

[m1maverick]

I bought a couple of vintage laptops going very cheaply from a local seller. I went to pick them up and stayed for a chat as he was into vintage tech. I think he must have had a school clearance because he more or less forced a free tangerine iBook and an IBM P70 on me among other things. This was a year or two before the price of both went from nothing to wtf. I went home with a carful, mostly PC stuff.

I wonder about sales at these WTF prices. I am looking to purchase a vintage 80386 system and asking prices are indeed WTF. But I have to wonder if they're actually selling for these prices. When I make reasonable offers I am either rejected or the offer expires without any response from the seller. Yet I continue to see the same listings each time I check.