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What have you just bought?

pixelatedscraps

pixelatedscraps

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 11, 2017
288
190
Hong Kong
2x PowerBook G4 Ti off eBay:

• 867Mhz, 512Mb, 40Gb - was cheap, less than $100 (stupidly bid for and won when I should have just focused on the 1Ghz below)
• 1Ghz, 1Gb, 80Gb, AirPort Extreme, bundled with a bunch of original software and power adapter in supposedly pristine condition - $200

1x Apple Cinema Display HD 23” with original power adapter and DVI adapter in original packaging - $120

1x StarTech USB-C to SATA adapter cable

1x Ableconn PATA-mSATA adapter

What does everyone else have lined up in the mail? Doesn’t have to be PowerPC per se, but as long as it’s in the realm of our beloved old Macs, why not?
 
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I have some 40 Volume Creme Developer on the way. Going to try my hand at retro brighting an Apple IIc. I bought one of the dirties, yellowest IIc's I could find to try my hand at a restoration. So far just cleaning it with cleaner and baking soda has done wonders on the path to restoration.
 
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pl1984 said:
I have some 40 Volume Creme Developer on the way. Going to try my hand at retro brighting an Apple IIc. I bought one of the dirties, yellowest IIc's I could find to try my hand at a restoration. So far just cleaning it with cleaner and baking soda has done wonders on the path to restoration.
Click to expand...

Intrigued to see progress - please update with images.

My wishlist below (mostly pending wife-approval):

Macintosh Color Classic II (where it all began only on a I model!)
iMac G3 Bondi (but always wanted a Graphite)
PowerMac G4 Quicksilver DP 1Ghz
PowerMac G4 Cube with 23” Cinema Display HD
PowerMac G5 quad with 30” Cinema Display
 
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I just bought a used wireless aluminum Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse at Goodwill for only $7!

Got it set up with my Mac Mini bedside stand. :)
IMG_2600.jpg
 
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dbdjre0143 said:
Dang! That is a sweet find at that price especially! My local Goodwill never has anything like that!
Click to expand...
You might want to drop by MY local Goodwill. We just moved so it's been benefitting from all the stuff we no longer have room for.

Just dropped off a large stainless steel 1800W microwave yesterday that's less than two years old. Someone's going to get a deal.

And my 1984 stero I got when I was 13 went there too. Working record player…
 
eyoungren said:
You might want to drop by MY local Goodwill. We just moved so it's been benefitting from all the stuff we no longer have room for.

Just dropped off a large stainless steel 1800W microwave yesterday that's less than two years old. Someone's going to get a deal.

And my 1984 stero I got when I was 13 went there too. Working record player…
Click to expand...
Any computers ending up there? ;)
Not to sidetrack too much, but I apply the "old is fun" principle throughout my home, so my microwave is a 1974 model, chrome Amana Radarange I grabbed at a local auction a couple years ago for $10.
Looks like this (not mine, grabbed this pic from Google):
maxresdefault.jpg
 
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eyoungren said:
Just dropped off a large stainless steel 1800W microwave yesterday that's less than two years old. Someone's going to get a deal.
Click to expand...

Because it's being replaced in your home by safer alternatives like steam convection ovens, or toaster ovens, I hope?
 
z970mp said:
Because it's being replaced in your home by safer alternatives like steam convection ovens, or toaster ovens, I hope?
Click to expand...
LOL!!!! :D

Nope. Existing over stove microwave. Essentially, it was a duplicate. It's pretty large and we seem to have less space than the previous house so it had to go.
 
Most recent purchases from May include:

Imac g4
Imac g3 revB
Macintosh plus
A1016 Wireless kB
Old NOS floppies

Buncha wood building blocks & some wood toys for my infant son. That microwave is badass!
 
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I had a bit of a buy up this month too...

(I have posted about some of these on the other threads already)

MacBook Pro 1,1 first revision 1.83Ghz. Was sold as untested, “parts only”. It is fully functional, just needed a good cleanup and a new battery. This is a very fine example of an early Intel Mac (32-bit).

iBook G4 12” 1.33ghz final revision with the Core Image capable 9550 GPU. Was listed as “Apple MacBook A1132 untested”. I drove over an hour to collect this one. Included a near new looking 65w power adapter and a battery with only 60 cycles on it (holds a full charge). Externally it was pretty scratched up and also the display has white spots. I reinstalled OS X and then ran it through Geekbench and OpenMark and the poor thing overheated and died. I stripped it down and did all I could to revive it but no good. A new logic board is on order from PowerBookMedic and I locally picked up a cheap, good condition display assembly to replace. I’m looking forward to repairing this one along with quality thermal paste to give it a long life going forward.


I then bought 8 more portables from the same seller as the MBP. All marked as untested and all at an agreed “best offer” price with free shipping (totalling about AU$200)

iBook G4 12” 1.2ghz (9200). After a thorough cleanup on the outside, it is in brilliant condition, with hardly a scuff. It still had the orange (“Hold key to eject”) factory sticker next to the power button.

PowerBook G4 15” 1.67Ghz. Another thorough cleanup job revealed an excellent condition DLSD. The display latch assy had been pushed right in, so a cleanup, reshape and a gluing back in and it’s fully functional.

PowerBook G4 12” 1.0Ghz. Cleaned up externals (covered in stickers and grime). Stripped, cleaned, repasted the CPU and new thermal pads for the GPU. There are dark lines down the screen, so I intend to use the white spotted display from the iBook 12” (after attempting to remove the spots by cleaning between the panel’s sheets). This unit is otherwise in great condition after the cleanup.

iBook G4 14” 1.33Ghz - no faults. Near perfect condition and fully functional. Just a little scratch on the top cover. I have always said I didn’t like the 14” iBooks, but this machine has made me change my mind. The display is beautifully bright with vibrant colour.

iBook G3 14” 800Mhz (32MB Mobility Radeon 7500) - near perfect physical condition. Japanese keyboard (with QWERTY combined caps). Initially would boot without an image on the display as is common on all Radeon 7500 iBook G3s (this being 3 for 3 failures in these G3 machines I have owned). I stripped it down and put in new (thicker) thermal pads, then added an extra pad between the EMi shield and bottom (plastic) casing to apply pressure from below to keep the GPU properly seated. It really needs a reflow, but this quick fix has worked for me across 3 iBooks.

PowerBook G4 Titanium 867Mhz - broken hinges, covered in sticky gaffer tape and grime. Intermittent LCD inverter (or backlight). It took a major cleanup. I have ordered a non-booting Titanium of the same vintage to simply replace the full display assy and inverter. I will re-use the LCD panel from this machine in the AlBook 1Ghz (the panel has a few pressure marks, but otherwise okay).

PowerBook G4 1.0Ghz - first generation AlBook with the 64MB 9600 GPU. It has a cracked LCD panel and some warping in the casing. Cleaned up all the grime, bent back into shape and glued the top case assy back into the plastic frame. HDD was dead. All other components tested Ok. Installed 80GB HDD, then Tiger and Leopard via an external display. I will bring this unit up to good working condition using the Tibooks LCD panel as above.

And finally; for AU$27 inc shipping a MacBook Pro 15.4” Early 2008 (4,1) 2.5Ghz T9300 Core2Duo with a smashed LCD panel and twisted display bezel. Removed the display and tried twisting the display frame back into shape, but 6 out of 8 screws in the display hinges have popped their heads off, so it really needs a new display assembly (complete). The lower half of the machine is in near perfect condition and runs impressively well by plugging into an external DVI display. There is no “phantom” internal display to work around. It just ignores it and acts like a pancaked Mac Mini. I have installed 8 iterations of Mac OS X on it for my software testing. 10.4.11 (unsupported) and 10.5.8 through to 10.11.6 (supported). It currently has 2GB of RAM, so even Yosemite and El Capitan are a bit clunky. Mavericks is happy with 2GB though. Once I get more RAM, I’ll try the patched Sierra and High Sierra iterations as well.

Oh.. I also have a Wallstreet (or possibly PDQ) in the post. The seller provided no specs and marked it as untested due to not being able to find the Power supply.

Good fun!
 
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RhianB said:
That microwave is badass!
Click to expand...
Thanks! My mother-in-law tried repeatedly to get my wife to get rid of it for something "newer" :p before we got married and I moved in. Thankfully, my wife enjoys being stubborn as much as I enjoy using things that others deem too old. It uses a bit more electric but cooks in about the same amount of time as a modern 700W oven, so not bad.
Kinda like my G4, sometimes its a little slower, but it gets the job done. ;)
 
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pixelatedscraps said:
2x PowerBook G4 Ti off eBay:

• 867Mhz, 512Mb, 40Gb - was cheap, less than $100 (stupidly bid for and won when I should have just focused on the 1Ghz below)
• 1Ghz, 1Gb, 80Gb, AirPort Extreme, bundled with a bunch of original software and power adapter in supposedly pristine condition - $200

1x Apple Cinema Display HD 23” with original power adapter and DVI adapter in original packaging - $120
Click to expand...

If those prices are in HK$ then you did very well.
 
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My only recent purchases are an iMac G4 1.25ghz, a machine that I've mentioned in other threads, and a 400mhz G4 upgrade for my Bondi iMac, performed by @dosdude1. Now that we've procured an actual house to live in until ours is rebuilt, I have space to store and set up my PowerPC collection, which I'm moving into our temp dwelling since I don't want the insurance company messing with it.

Oh yeah, forgot about my 15" Powerbook G4 1.5ghz (A1095) rebuild, which involved a new logic board (with working lower RAM slot) and new display assembly (to replace the old one which was in rough shape). I finished this one just before we were displaced. Now I have a fully-functioning Powerbook with a bright latching display.
 
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catzilla said:
I had a big score at the Quincy, MA Goodwill:
2009 Mac Pro 8 core 2.92.
32 GB ram.
Radeon 4870.
2x SuperDrive.
2x 500GB HDD.
23” Cinema Display DVI.
Proper keyboard and mouse...
$189...
Already flashed to 5,1.
Click to expand...

This is great! The MP4,1 is selling for $900+ here in Australia (Trending at AU$980.06 according to eBay). And you scored a 23" cinema display to match.
 
AphoticD said:
iBook G4 12” 1.33ghz final revision with the Core Image capable 9550 GPU. Was listed as “Apple MacBook A1132 untested”. I drove over an hour to collect this one. Included a near new looking 65w power adapter and a battery with only 60 cycles on it (holds a full charge). Externally it was pretty scratched up and also the display has white spots. I reinstalled OS X and then ran it through Geekbench and OpenMark and the poor thing overheated and died. I stripped it down and did all I could to revive it but no good. A new logic board is on order from PowerBookMedic and I locally picked up a cheap, good condition display assembly to replace. I’m looking forward to repairing this one along with quality thermal paste to give it a long life going forward.
Click to expand...
Have you tried to reset the PMU? I had two PowerBooks that initially fired up and, when I went to restart, they failed to do anything until the PMU was reset - or - a number of days had passed.
 
pl1984 said:
Have you tried to reset the PMU? I had two PowerBooks that initially fired up and, when I went to restart, they failed to do anything until the PMU was reset - or - a number of days had passed.
Click to expand...

Thanks @pl1984. I did try this yes. The PMU reset key combo resulted in the charger indicator light going from amber to green, so I could see it was doing something, but no go from there. I also let it sit for a few days without the battery installed as I have other iBooks which exhibit the same odd PMU behaviour and need to rest for a day or so before they will boot back up from cold.

I also tried a known working DC-in board and stripped everything internal off the board to try to isolate the issue, but the board refused to power on. After trying many options, I eventually decided the board should take a trip into the oven to reflow the CPU and GPU solder. 7 mins at 170°C - no change, 8 mins at 180°C - no change... Then on the advice of a regular contributor here, I tried 6 mins at 200°C. Sure enough this was enough to reflow, but I was too eager to see the results and bumped the board while it was piping hot, resulting in a dozen or more resistors and diodes sliding out of place. I spent a few hours with the soldering iron and a magnifying glass to repair. But, I still couldn't get a response to power, so decided enough was enough and just ordered the replacement board.

Here are some macro shots of the CPU and GPU after the bake off;

DSC_0057 (1).jpg DSC_0058 (1).jpg
 
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2x Shure M44-7s which I ordered the second I heard Shure were going to stop producing cartridges. Lo and behold, my $78 purchases have pretty much doubled.

S(h)ure, they don't have anything to do with PowerPCs but it does evoke memories of being a drum & bass DJ at uni between 1999 and 2002, right when I had an iMac G3 Bondi, was lusting after a G4 Cube and was saving up for a PowerBook G4 Ti!
[doublepost=1527089309][/doublepost]And some shots of the 1Ghz thats incoming...
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AphoticD said:
Thanks @pl1984. I did try this yes. The PMU reset key combo resulted in the charger indicator light going from amber to green, so I could see it was doing something, but no go from there. I also let it sit for a few days without the battery installed as I have other iBooks which exhibit the same odd PMU behaviour and need to rest for a day or so before they will boot back up from cold.

I also tried a known working DC-in board and stripped everything internal off the board to try to isolate the issue, but the board refused to power on. After trying many options, I eventually decided the board should take a trip into the oven to reflow the CPU and GPU solder. 7 mins at 170°C - no change, 8 mins at 180°C - no change... Then on the advice of a regular contributor here, I tried 6 mins at 200°C. Sure enough this was enough to reflow, but I was too eager to see the results and bumped the board while it was piping hot, resulting in a dozen or more resistors and diodes sliding out of place. I spent a few hours with the soldering iron and a magnifying glass to repair. But, I still couldn't get a response to power, so decided enough was enough and just ordered the replacement board.

Here are some macro shots of the CPU and GPU after the bake off;
Click to expand...
You appear to be very well versed in maintaining these systems but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case. Nice to see these systems are being put to good use through forum members. I bought three over the past few months but ended up giving them to an enthusiast because I didn't see myself doing much with them.
 
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