The Freebies Thread

[weckart]

I was unaware that this is how Oxfam conduct themselves. They're supposed to be an ethical organisation! It's a rarity for me to consider buying anything from them because their items are grossly overpriced - you can buy books brand new for the same price that Oxfam usually charge for used copies.

There's a reason for that and it is scarcity. Some titles never get a reprint in hardback or at all even. That's before you dip into the realm of first or limited editions etc.

I held onto some of my university textbooks. The price some fetch goes into three figures these days. Others are worthless.

What I wrote above seems to be branch dependent. Some get a lot of donated books, others are scrambling for them. There's an element of sending unsold books to less busy branches but eventually space is needed and pulp fiction, especially, gets pulped or ends up on eBay via bulk sellers.

 

[TheShortTimer]

There's a reason for that and it is scarcity. Some titles never get a reprint in hardback or at all even. That's before you dip into the realm of first or limited editions etc.

I should've clarified - I was referring to being able to find brand new copies of books for the same price that Oxfam Oxfam often charges for the used copies of identical titles. I've seen this play out in my local area with an Oxfam shop and an independent bookseller that are in close proximity to each other.

I held onto some of my university textbooks. The price some fetch goes into three figures these days. Others are worthless.

I've retained all of my university textbooks, even the stuff that I disliked reading. Unless I change fields, I'll always need them.

What I wrote above seems to be branch dependent. Some get a lot of donated books, others are scrambling for them. There's an element of sending unsold books to less busy branches but eventually space is needed and pulp fiction, especially, gets pulped or ends up on eBay via bulk sellers.

Oxfam also has an eBay store - I grudgingly purchased a book from them that I felt was overpriced but it was my only option if I wanted a print copy as the publisher had told me that it was OOP and it seems would never be reissued. There's currently a tatty copy on eBay for almost £80 GBP - which makes mine at a tenner look like a steal!

 

[B S Magnet]

I've retained all of my university textbooks, even the stuff that I disliked reading. Unless I change fields, I'll always need them.

As one who has kept all mine, even from meh courses, my heart smiled here.

 

[TheShortTimer]

As one who has kept all mine, even from meh courses, my heart smiled here.

They're for life - not just a semester or a degree.

 

[weckart]

Oxfam also has an eBay store - I grudgingly purchased a book from them that I felt was overpriced but it was my only option if I wanted a print copy as the publisher had told me that it was OOP and it seems would never be reissued. There's currently a tatty copy on eBay for almost £80 GBP - which makes mine at a tenner look like a steal!

I've done that a lot, as well. There are still bargains to be had but they do mark up for online sales. It does irk me that you will see the exact same book at wildly differing prices from different locations. It depends whether you want to play the waiting game. Eventually, every couple of months they will discount the slow movers by 40% and eventually 60%. People will pounce then, so you have to be quick and decisive.

I'm going to try my hand at bookbinding. There are quite a few books that will never be republished (or will only ever get a rubbish print-on-demand paperback revisit). I've built plenty of my own computers from components back in the day, so it seems like the next logical step.

 

[ToniCH]

Tomorrow I will be picking up couple of old Macs from a friend. He doesn't know anything about them, they came from an old relative. He doesn't have a power cable for the MBP so he cannot even boot it.

Well, IMO the MBP looks like a unibody. I think there is an alu power button in the right rear corner...maybe. And it has a led in the front right corner, it is half visible. It seems there is something weird going on with the touchpad. Cannot even guess what year it might be. Hoping it is the one with 2 piece bottom case, 2008?

But, what about the iMac? It doesn't have a camera. Does that make it 2005 iMac G5? If yes, that would be cool as I don't have one. What screen size is that, 17"?

 

[rocketbuc]

Tomorrow I will be picking up couple of old Macs from a friend. He doesn't know anything about them, they came from an old relative. He doesn't have a power cable for the MBP so he cannot even boot it.

Well, IMO the MBP looks like a unibody. I think there is an alu power button in the right rear corner...maybe. And it has a led in the front right corner, it is half visible. It seems there is something weird going on with the touchpad. Cannot even guess what year it might be. Hoping it is the one with 2 piece bottom case, 2008?

But, what about the iMac? It doesn't have a camera. Does that make it 2005 iMac G5? If yes, that would be cool as I don't have one. What screen size is that, 17"?

Love the keyboard of this version. Looking for options to buy one when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Amethyst1]

Well, IMO the MBP looks like a unibody.

The black keyboard is a give-away.

What screen size is that, 17"?

The keyboard is wider than the iMac, so it’s a 17.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Congrats in advance on your haul.

But, what about the iMac? It doesn't have a camera. Does that make it 2005 iMac G5? If yes, that would be cool as I don't have one. What screen size is that, 17"?

The iMac is definitely a G5 because the Intel models feature the iSight device. According to this thread it's specifically an early iMac G5 model.

So, the only way it doesn't have the iSight camera is if it is one of the very first iMac G5 revisions (rev. A and B of the G5).

That might be a nice acquisition in terms of its release history from a collectors angle. Be warned that the iMac G5 range were prone to capacitor failure (the one in my signature is afflicted with this) but if it's survived this long without problems then fingers crossed it should be ok. Nonetheless, when it arrives you should look over the logic board to check that they're not exhibiting signs of swelling.

 

[ToniCH]

The black keyboard is a give-away.

Well, yeah but Retinas also have black kbds. But, they do not have the Macbook Pro -text on the display - nor the led in the front / the power button which I think I can see - maybe.

That might be a nice acquisition in terms of its release history from a collectors angle. Be warned that the iMac G5 range were prone to capacitor failure (the one in my signature is afflicted with this) but if it's survived this long without problems then fingers crossed it should be ok. Nonetheless, when it arrives you should look over the logic board to check that they're not exhibiting signs of swelling.

Thanks, I'll take a look. I was happy to see in some youtube-video that the G5 iMacs are easy to open so it will be one of the first things I'll do. I have loads of caps etc. in stock as I have fixed lots of vintage audio gear so I might even have all that I need if there was some that are bulged or already leaking.

So, it can be one of 3 models: 1.6 or 1.8 GHz models released in august 2004 or the "Ambient light sensor" -model from may 2005 with a 2.0 GHz G5. The last one has Airport stock, better gpu and fastest bus speed. Max RAM is 2GB (PC3200 DDR) and they can all run Leopard. 👍

 

[TheShortTimer]

Thanks, I'll take a look. I was happy to see in some youtube-video that the G5 iMacs are easy to open so it will be one of the first things I'll do. I have loads of caps etc. in stock as I have fixed lots of vintage audio gear so I might even have all that I need if there was some that are bulged or already leaking.

That's excellent news! I was tempted to replace the faulty caps in mine but the LCD is wrecked - and that would also need to be replaced if the machine were to be used ordinarily and I really couldn't justify going that far.

So, it can be one of 3 models: 1.6 or 1.8 GHz models released in august 2004 or the "Ambient light sensor" -model from may 2005 with a 2.0 GHz G5. The last one has Airport stock, better gpu and fastest bus speed. Max RAM is 2GB (PC3200 DDR) and they can all run Leopard. 👍

I look forward to seeing what you discover and how you get on.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Tomorrow I will be picking up couple of old Macs from a friend. He doesn't know anything about them, they came from an old relative. He doesn't have a power cable for the MBP so he cannot even boot it.

Well, IMO the MBP looks like a unibody. I think there is an alu power button in the right rear corner...maybe. And it has a led in the front right corner, it is half visible. It seems there is something weird going on with the touchpad. Cannot even guess what year it might be. Hoping it is the one with 2 piece bottom case, 2008?

But, what about the iMac? It doesn't have a camera. Does that make it 2005 iMac G5? If yes, that would be cool as I don't have one. What screen size is that, 17"?

Wow, what a cool pickup! If I had the space I’d love to add an iMac G5 to my collection, bad caps or not lol. Very cool mbp too

 

[B S Magnet]

Well, yeah but Retinas also have black kbds. But, they do not have the Macbook Pro -text on the display - nor the led in the front / the power button which I think I can see - maybe.

The third tell is the shape of the thumb insert cut in front of the trackpad:

it is a curve (a curve derived from one-quarter of a circle) on the unibody series. It’s bit less curved and more wedge-like with the retina series. This tell is most visually (versus tactilely) evident at the left and right corners of the insert.

With unibody models, one could imagine resting a ball bearing in those corners, and the bearing (if holding the entire laptop just so) would stay put. Tilting the laptop just so could get the bearing to roll to the other end and stay there.

Retina models? Probably not, for either of these experiments.

So, it can be one of 3 models: 1.6 or 1.8 GHz models released in august 2004 or the "Ambient light sensor" -model from may 2005 with a 2.0 GHz G5. The last one has Airport stock, better gpu and fastest bus speed. Max RAM is 2GB (PC3200 DDR) and they can all run Leopard. 👍

Well, yes. And SL-PPC.

 

[ToniCH]

So, visited my friend. He had rummaged through his garage and found some more goodies for me. 👍

So, the set is:
- iMac G5 (PowerMac8,1) 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 17", no Airport.
- PowerMac G4 12" in very nice shape. Don't have details yet due password.
- MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010 i5 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM
- PSUs, keyboard, mouse, 4x2GB 1333GHz SO-DIMMs
- Sony VAIO, no details known. EDIT: Its this one. Probably from around 2006 2008. Boots to Windows 7 but is also password protected. I guess I need to reset the pw somehow. I guess this could be a decent machine to run a light CNC-software but not much more. EDIT2: it has a Blu-ray -drive!

He also had a PowerBook G4 15" but needs first to get his pics out of it but offered it also to me later on. 😁

So, I wiped the drives on the Macs already and started new OS installation (PM G4: 10.4, G5: 10.5 and MBP: 10.11). Once they are done I will figure out what shall I do and if I will install SSD's to some of them. MBP for sure but not sure yet about the others.

 

[B S Magnet]

So, visited my friend. He had rummaged through his garage and found some more goodies for me. 👍

So, the set is:
- iMac G5 (PowerMac8,1) 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 17", no Airport.
- PowerMac G4 12" in very nice shape. Don't have details yet due password.
- MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010 i5 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM
- PSUs, keyboard, mouse, 4x2GB 1333GHz SO-DIMMs
- Sony VAIO, no details known. Probably from around 2006. Boots to Windows 7 but is also password protected. I guess I need to reset the pw somehow. I guess this could be a decent machine to run a light CNC-software but not much more.

He also had a PowerBook G4 15" but needs first to get his pics out of it but offered it also to me later on. 😁

So, I wiped the drives on the Macs already and started new OS installation (PM G4: 10.4, G5: 10.5 and MBP: 10.11). Once they are done I will figure out what shall I do and if I will install SSD's to some of them. MBP for sure but not sure yet about the others.

My goodness… those systems are relaxing on the veranda and watching the geese fly by.

They are living a very hard life.

 

[TheShortTimer]

- Sony VAIO, no details known. EDIT: Its this one. Probably from around 2006 2008. Boots to Windows 7 but is also password protected. I guess I need to reset the pw somehow.

Download the ISO for the Hiren's BootCD and decide whether you want to burn it to a CD or a create a bootable USB stick. Once it boots, follow these instructions for a stress removal or reset of the password:

• Boot your computer with Hiren's BootCD PE.
• Goto Start Menu -> Security -> Passwords -> NT Password Edit
• Open your SAM file (It is usually located in C:\Windows\System32\config\SAM).
• Click your username and the click 'Change password'. To set a password, type your password both 'New password' and 'Verify' fields and then click to 'OK'. To remove the password, leave both 'New password' and 'Verify' fields blank and then click to 'OK'.

There's another password reset/removal program on the CD but NTPWEdit is better and works all the way up to Windows 11 - as I can attest from personal experience. Congratulations on a great haul and I hope that you have fun with those new toys.

 

[ToniCH]

Download the ISO for the Hiren's BootCD and decide whether you want to burn it to a CD or a create a bootable USB stick.

Hah, thanks for the tip. 👍 I should have that already but had totally forgotten about it. I used it once with some other machine few of years ago. Now I just need to find the disk I burned back then - and follow your instructions.

Now I know more about the MB G4 12". It is the 1.5GHz version with 1.25GB RAM! Out of the box the OS 10.4 only supported WEP but with ethernet I was able to update to 10.4.11 and now have proper access to wifi!

Updating stuff:

 

[ToniCH]

Couple of other observations and questions:

- the iMac: doesn't have a serial number in the about this mac -> details 🤫 Replacement logic board maybe?
- the MBP: the battery has 1111 load cycles and 57.7% capacity left. Does mid 2010 take the same batteries as 2011 and 2012? I have one with 2 load cycles and full capacity.
- the MBP: are these (mid 2010 MBP6,2) affected with the same crapola GPU problems as the 2011s?

 

[B S Magnet]

Couple of other observations and questions:

- the iMac: doesn't have a serial number in the about this mac -> details 🤫 Replacement logic board maybe?

Likely. You can use the board serializer utility to write in the serial to your system’s EEPROM, if you so choose. I did this with my A1138 SL-PPC mule: it had a replacement logic board which lacked a serial.

- the MBP: the battery has 1111 load cycles and 57.7% capacity left. Does mid 2010 take the same batteries as 2011 and 2012? I have one with 2 load cycles and full capacity.

A month ago, I would have not known the answer to this. Now, however, I’ve come to learn there was a revision to the connector for the 2011–12 15-inch models, which varies from the 2009–10 models.

- the MBP: are these (mid 2010 MBP6,2) affected with the same crapola GPU problems as the 2011s?

No. There’s a separate, lesser-severity issue which can be remedied without replacing or bypassing the GPU.

 

[ToniCH]

Likely. You can use the board serializer utility to write in the serial to your system’s EEPROM, if you so choose. I did this with my A1138 SL-PPC mule which arrived with a replacement logic board which lacked a serial.

A month ago, I would have not known the answer to this. Now, however, I’ve come to learn there was a revision to the connector for the 2011–12 15-inch models, which veries from the 2009–10 models.

No. There’s a separate, lesser-severity issue which can be remedied without replacing or bypassing the GPU.

Serial: ok, thanks!
Battery: damn you Apple!
GPU: good! Is this the single capacitor replacement case? The one available from Rossman and probably Mouser etc. too? This one doesn't seem to have any problems (yet) but...

 

[Amethyst1]

GPU: good! Is this the single capacitor replacement case? The one available from Rossman and probably Mouser etc. too?

AFAIK, yes, it’s just the flux capacitor that needs attention.

 

[ToniCH]

AFAIK, yes, it’s just the flux capacitor that needs attention.

Ok, no problem - I am well equipped. 😜

Do you think these would be potent (flux) enough to handle the strain on the gpu?

 

[TheShortTimer]

Ok, no problem - I am well equipped. 😜

Do you think these would be potent (flux) enough to handle the strain on the gpu?

Why stop there? Create the time machine!

 

[ToniCH]

Well, why create when you can just buy slightly used one with low mileage...timeage???

 

[weckart]

So, visited my friend. He had rummaged through his garage and found some more goodies for me. 👍

So, the set is:
- iMac G5 (PowerMac8,1) 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 17", no Airport.
- PowerMac G4 12" in very nice shape. Don't have details yet due password.
- MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010 i5 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM
- PSUs, keyboard, mouse, 4x2GB 1333GHz SO-DIMMs
- Sony VAIO, no details known. EDIT: Its this one. Probably from around 2006 2008. Boots to Windows 7 but is also password protected. I guess I need to reset the pw somehow. I guess this could be a decent machine to run a light CNC-software but not much more. EDIT2: it has a Blu-ray -drive!

He also had a PowerBook G4 15" but needs first to get his pics out of it but offered it also to me later on. 😁

So, I wiped the drives on the Macs already and started new OS installation (PM G4: 10.4, G5: 10.5 and MBP: 10.11). Once they are done I will figure out what shall I do and if I will install SSD's to some of them. MBP for sure but not sure yet about the others.

Loving the red on that Sony.