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What is the worth of 1984 Mac if it is working fine

A

asifnaz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 3, 2010
129
4
My girlfriend has a Mac from years 1984 it uses 800 kb diskate as storage and has like 4 kb ram .

But it works fine and to me surprise it boots in about 15 seconds .

If we sell it how much we can get .

In other words what can be the destination for it junk yard or museum
 
Yeah, unless it's in mint condition (i.e, kept in it's box for most of its life, has all the original documentation and software) it's not incredibly valuable.

And actually, what model do you really have? It should tell you on the front unless it's the 128k/512k, because I'm pretty sure the original Macs only had 400k disk drives, the Plus was the first to use 800k and it's worth less.

Don't take it from me though, check eBay and see what these things are going for because I personally haven't checked the classic Mac market in quite some time.
 
Macs aren't that old. There are thousands, maybe millions of 1980s Macs that run. Hold onto it, it could pay off down the road. It certainly won't buy you a new Mac today.
 
There is a 1984 Mac on ebay (US) right now and it is advertised as immaculate. It really looks like brand new and ships with all original accessories and even the box.
$900. I don't think that it will sell for that price though.
 
rdowns said:
Macs aren't that old. There are thousands, maybe millions of 1980s Macs that run. Hold onto it, it could pay off down the road. It certainly won't buy you a new Mac today.
Click to expand...

Do you mean millions of macs from 80s still work . I thought they were very rare .
 
asifnaz said:
Do you mean millions of macs from 80s still work . I thought they were very rare .
Click to expand...

Not rare at all unless they are brand new and in the original box. Even then, they're worth enough to buy a new Mac.
 
For a collector to be interested, it has to be MUCH rarer and MUCH older (in computer years) - like this 1976 Apple I, apparently one of 200 made.

apple-1-auction--007.jpg
 
AAPLaday said:
unopened, never used.
Click to expand...
This could happened if the 1984 user with his super natural powers knew that the mac will sell at very high price in year 2010 .

Or he lived in cave to protect his Mac
 
Ya Ebay is the place to go, look at the completed items. I bought one recently, flawless - 135.00. Tons of them on there, the ones that go for hundreds seem to have something special about them otherwise its like 100-200.
 
From your description, you may not have an "original 1984" Mac.

Please post the model number (on a sticker on the back,) and the first seven characters of the serial number (either on the back, bottom, or under the "lip" up front.)

The original 1984 Mac used 400 KB floppies, not 800 KB. No Macintosh could take 4 MB (I assume you meant MB, not KB,) until the 1986 Macintosh Plus. The Plus was *VERY* common, even a pristine one is worth maybe $20 now.

You likely have either a Macintosh Plus, or an earlier model that has been upgraded to Plus-status (which was a common upgrade.) In either case, it's not worth a lot.

Even if it was a perfect-condition, truly stock 1984-released Macintosh 128, with all original packaging, it would be worth - at most - $500. As

If it doesn't have its packaging, you're looking at $100-$200.

As for having unopened ones? It has been known to happen. A school or a business will buy a lot of systems, including some as spares that sit unopened. Someone posted a year or two ago about finding (and opening,) a factory-sealed PCjr that was exactly that, school old stock.
 
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asifnaz said:
This could happened if the 1984 user with his super natural powers knew that the mac will sell at very high price in year 2010 .

Or he lived in cave to protect his Mac
Click to expand...

It happens. Two years ago there was an unopened Apple IIc from 1988 on eBay.

There are all sorts of reasons why it could happen. Such as a business bought many for their office and a spare was never opened and just remained in storage or one bought for a family member that died before opening it and it was simply forgotten in the garage.
 
Take a few pictures and post it so we can see what you actually have. Don't forget all the software and box if you have it. Is it this little guy?
 

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It probably will be another 20 years or so and then this stuff will be worth something. Today, it is hard to sell pre-internet hardware unless it is an Apple 1.
 
To the original poster have a look at ebay item # 300505079066

that is probably as close as you can find these days to an all original system that has not been upgraded or mucked with, and at the moment it has 1 bid for $19.95

I would guess this system is worth maybe $500-1,000

at the end of the day it is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
 
I have a 1987 Mac Plus (build date April, 1987), that has 4 MB of ram, two 800 KB floppy drives (one internal, and one external). All work just fine. There worth is nothing unless I could fine some sucker willing to pay something for it. So get over the fact that it is old. Being old doesn't make something a classic.

It is not a car, it is a computer, and being a computer it does nothing for anyone in today's computing world, hence it is not worth anything.
 
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