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What to do?

S

SecretSquirrel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
127
195
U.K.
Back in 2016 when I finally jumped fully to MacBooks for daily use, my remaining PPC machines went in a box while I tried to decide what to do with them. Here’s 2 of the 3:

a78fe9d3-9530-43a1-a9aa-d21083b0306b-jpeg.2098474

View attachment 2098475
The 15 is the final 1.67GHz DLSD model while the 12 is one of the last 1.5 GHz models.
I pulled them out today just to see what was what and they both still boot up fine. I actually rebuilt the 12 back in 2016/17 for fun, adding a SSD and a second 160Gb in place of the SuperDrive. The 15 was a non-working spares/repair which worked fine once I’d taken most of the screws out and put them back in the right place! However that was all I did - it needs some care and attention - could do with a re-paste, a battery and ideally a new display as it’s dim on max brightness.

The third machine is another 1.5GHz 12 but it needs completely rebuilt. I have a working logic board sent by a friend in the US but it would need a battery and a keyboard as well - both of which are rarer than hens teeth here in the uk.

So the question is - what to do? I could recycle them, stick them on fleabay ( as I don’t really need them) or make use of them somehow.

Any ideas?
 

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I would normally tell you to donate them but there's not much you can do with PPC these days so they would pretty useless for other people. If you were located in the US i'd buy them off you in a heart beat but looks like your in the U.K. You could probably part them out on fleabay. Or get a stand for one of them and turn it into a conversation piece!
 
First sit and think about if you want to get rid of them or keep them for a collection. Because they'll just get harder to find.

If you do want to collect them. First accept that they won't be very practical for modern uses. Most people use them because they love them and are willing to deal with all the obstacles to use them in the modern world. That's part of the fun. The other main use is limiting them to period correct software. To do whatever you could do on them then. Such as games, writing, listening to music and so forth.

If the nostalgia factor for collecting isn't for you. Put them on fleabay. For another collector to buy and enjoy.

You could also hold onto them. Banking on collecting to continue to increase in popularity. In the hopes that they'll continue to appreciate in value.
 
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SecretSquirrel said:
Back in 2016 when I finally jumped fully to MacBooks for daily use, my remaining PPC machines went in a box while I tried to decide what to do with them. Here’s 2 of the 3:

a78fe9d3-9530-43a1-a9aa-d21083b0306b-jpeg.2098474

View attachment 2098475
The 15 is the final 1.67GHz DLSD model while the 12 is one of the last 1.5 GHz models.
I pulled them out today just to see what was what and they both still boot up fine. I actually rebuilt the 12 back in 2016/17 for fun, adding a SSD and a second 160Gb in place of the SuperDrive. The 15 was a non-working spares/repair which worked fine once I’d taken most of the screws out and put them back in the right place! However that was all I did - it needs some care and attention - could do with a re-paste, a battery and ideally a new display as it’s dim on max brightness.

The third machine is another 1.5GHz 12 but it needs completely rebuilt. I have a working logic board sent by a friend in the US but it would need a battery and a keyboard as well - both of which are rarer than hens teeth here in the uk.

So the question is - what to do? I could recycle them, stick them on fleabay ( as I don’t really need them) or make use of them somehow.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
I can generate uses for you - the 15" use as a Mac you take to coffee shops, the 12" connect a USB or FW drive enclosure and share it for either network storage (a glorified NAS) or as a target drive for Time Machine backups.

The problem (the real problem) is that you're searching for a justification to keep them. Letting them go (as you stated) is an option, but if you were willing to just do that your post would have been "So long, farewell!"

I'm in a different spot right now. I've got all these useless justifications for keeping my stuff and maintaining it is not anything I'd like to be doing at this point. When they fail, they are being retired and at some point someone else will be able to have a crack at them. Either for parts or to revive them. I've got too much stuff hanging around.
 
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Thanks @velocityg4 and @eyoungren, you’ve helped crystallise my thoughts. I have 9 macs and like you @eyoungren, the chore of maintaining them all is taking away from the enjoyment. So for now, 3 of them will go, free to good homes for others to enjoy. For now the PPCs will stay and I’ll try and pass the others on via the Early Intel Mac forum. Thanks again 🙂
 
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Sorry if this is a noob question but is there any way to offer these free macs to the community via this forum or will I be breaking some rule or other?
 
SecretSquirrel said:
Sorry if this is a noob question but is there any way to offer these free macs to the community via this forum or will I be breaking some rule or other?
Click to expand...

@Amethyst1 already answered your question here, though if you wanted to donate the 12-inch my way, this would certainly be put to use. I have an abundance of spare parts from a donor 1.5GHz 12-inch which I got many years ago (though similarly I need to track down a working keyboard for it, as mine had issues from the get-go); it was a donor because the logic board was plagued with that dodgy RAM slot issue (which limited the system to just the onboard 256MB). The battery for it is, as memory serves, dead, but that particular model didn’t downclock the CPU without a working battery (as was the case for Intel MacBooks and some of the Titanium G4s).
 
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SecretSquirrel said:
Sorry if this is a noob question but is there any way to offer these free macs to the community via this forum or will I be breaking some rule or other?
Click to expand...

Amethyst1 said:
There's a marketplace for this kind of thing, but you need to have 250 posts to access it.
Click to expand...

B S Magnet said:
@Amethyst1 already answered your question here, though if you wanted to donate the 12-inch my way, this would certainly be put to use. I have an abundance of spare parts from a donor 1.5GHz 12-inch which I got many years ago (though similarly I need to track down a working keyboard for it, as mine had issues from the get-go); it was a donor because the logic board was plagued with that dodgy RAM slot issue (which limited the system to just the onboard 256MB). The battery for it is, as memory serves, dead, but that particular model didn’t downclock the CPU without a working battery (as was the case for Intel MacBooks and some of the Titanium G4s).
Click to expand...
The marketplace is mainly for selling. The mods do not get upset if you are offering for free. You can make a thread regarding that, just as long as no money for goods is being exchanged as part of the deal in the thread.

Generally though, you want to ask those interested to PM you so shipping details can be worked out privately (including any shipping costs).
 
eyoungren said:
The marketplace is mainly for selling.
Click to expand...

Indeed, though I did pick up a trio of old iBooks locally which had been offered for free (and an offer which had stuck around for many months) on the marketplace. :) (Yes, definitely an anomaly with a touch of serendipity, given how we both lived in the same city.)

eyoungren said:
The mods do not get upset if you are offering for free. You can make a thread regarding that, just as long as no money for goods is being exchanged as part of the deal in the thread.

Generally though, you want to ask those interested to PM you so shipping details can be worked out privately (including any shipping costs).
Click to expand...

Seconding all this.
 
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B S Magnet said:
@Amethyst1 already answered your question here, though if you wanted to donate the 12-inch my way, this would certainly be put to use. I have an abundance of spare parts from a donor 1.5GHz 12-inch which I got many years ago (though similarly I need to track down a working keyboard for it, as mine had issues from the get-go); it was a donor because the logic board was plagued with that dodgy RAM slot issue (which limited the system to just the onboard 256MB). The battery for it is, as memory serves, dead, but that particular model didn’t downclock the CPU without a working battery (as was the case for Intel MacBooks and some of the Titanium G4s).
Click to expand...
I’ve PM’d you.
 
eyoungren said:
The mods do not get upset if you are offering for free.
Click to expand...
Just so it’s clear for everyone - my post offering MacBook and MacBook Pro for free was removed by the mods and I received a friendly reminder of the forum rules so I’ll have to find another route to shift these on ☹️

If anyone in the UK would be interested in adding to their collection, PM me.
 
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SecretSquirrel said:
Just so it’s clear for everyone - my post offering MacBook and MacBook Pro for free was removed by the mods and I received a friendly reminder of the forum rules so I’ll have to find another route to shift these on ☹️

If anyone in the UK would be interested in adding to their collection, PM me.
Click to expand...
I've never seen that, my apologies for steering you wrong.
 
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