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Where can I get my hands on a cheap PowerBook G4?

LOLZpersonok

LOLZpersonok

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 10, 2012
724
18
Calgary, Canada
For me, it doesn't really matter which PowerBook G4 model, I just want something that I can bring to school and use for some word processing programs. I don't really want to pay $100+ for a used machine that I won't use for more than GarageBand and OpenOffice on the go. Actually, I can't pay more than $100.

I would use my HP laptop but I don't like bringing it around with me, mainly because I'm so scared of damaging it because it's so new. I'd be the same way with anything else new, doesn't matter if it's an Apple computer or another PC manufacturer. Another reason I'd rather use an old PowerBook is for nostalgic reasons, I love putting an old machine to every day use! I did get Mac OS X 10.6 running ontop of my Windows 8 desktop but it's not really interesting...Plus it doesn't work with my 3 USB 3.0 ports or my DVD/RW drive and I just don't care enough to set it up. It does work with my only USB 2.0 port though.

Where can I possibly find a machine like this? I checked eBay, but they're all $200+ and that's way out of my range. I don't really care if it's working (as long as I don't have to replace a screen or logic board), I don't care if it has a good battery and I also don't care if it has a power cord or not. Operating system also isn't a problem either.

I'm not asking for you to offer me yours (as nice as it might be), just direct me to a place where I can find one.
 
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why not go on your local craigslist? for word processing a powerbook is great but for what you need to use it for but the apple logo is still a thief magnet for those uninformed souls. So I am thinking a used xp netbook



and before anybody trolls me for recomending a netbook pc, The way I answer these things is the way that the poster list his/her prioritys and in this case it was
1) Don't want anything to happen to it
2)want it to do light tasks
3) want it to be apple


And based on what i'm seeing getting my powerbooks stolen at my old school is that people see value in an apple logo and not so much in a pc netbook
 
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Try eBay. Look for Macs listed as parts or repair. Some people don't know what they are selling because they don't understand it. What's parts and repair could simply be a blinking question mark because the Mac can't find a valid OS. Stuff like that.

I paid $25 for my son's 1Ghz Titanium a year or so ago. I had to furnish the hard drive, but it came with 1GB of ram. I also had to replace the screen, but I did have a spare. Having to do that might raise the prices a bit, but you don't know what you'll find.

The one I got for my son was being sold as surplus (by a liquidator in New York) from a business that had retired all it's laptops.
 
Lil Chillbil said:
why not go on your local craigslist? for word processing a powerbook is great but for what you need to use it for but the apple logo is still a thief magnet for those uninformed souls. So I am thinking a used xp netbook



and before anybody trolls me for recomending a netbook pc, The way I answer these things is the way that the poster list his/her prioritys and in this case it was
1) Don't want anything to happen to it
2)want it to do light tasks
3) want it to be apple


And based on what i'm seeing getting my powerbooks stolen at my old school is that people see value in an apple logo and not so much in a pc netbook
Click to expand...

I do have a netbook, but the screen is broken. They'd steal a PowerBook and be horribly disappointed. I'd rather have a Titanium PowerBook since they look at least a little older. Besides, since it's older I wouldn't be horribly heartbroken if something happened to it. Besides, I see lots of people at school working on MacBook Airs.

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eyoungren said:
Try eBay. Look for Macs listed as parts or repair. Some people don't know what they are selling because they don't understand it. What's parts and repair could simply be a blinking question mark because the Mac can't find a valid OS. Stuff like that.

I paid $25 for my son's 1Ghz Titanium a year or so ago. I had to furnish the hard drive, but it came with 1GB of ram. I also had to replace the screen, but I did have a spare. Having to do that might raise the prices a bit, but you don't know what you'll find.

The one I got for my son was being sold as surplus (by a liquidator in New York) from a business that had retired all it's laptops.
Click to expand...

Come to think about it, I did find a Titanium PowerBook G4 with unknown specs and no power cord on Kijiji. It's also $25 because it can't find a boot disk, the poster of the ad said that it wouldn't boot even remotely, so that's kinda what's making me wonder if it's worth it because the logic board might be screwed. I'm also worried about it because my parents aren't fond of driving too far in the city.

15" PowerBook G4 Mac Laptop (start up issue?)
 
put a sticker on it saying "iphone tracking enabled" or "Trackpad analysis Tracking enabled" thats what I did and they never stole any computer from me again :D
 
LOLZpersonok said:
…the poster of the ad said that it wouldn't boot even remotely…http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-...4-Mac-Laptop-startup-issue-W0QQAdIdZ457895687
Click to expand...
Maybe they mean an external drive? Netbooting had been possible since OS9, but you need a server to connect to.

This Mac is exactly what I was talking about. The screen is good, all it's looking for is a valid OS. If the drive is bad, replace it or just reformat the one in it and install Tiger or Leopard (depending on spec).

If all else fails, you just made a minimal investment in parts.
 
eyoungren said:
Maybe they mean an external drive? Netbooting had been possible since OS9, but you need a server to connect to.

This Mac is exactly what I was talking about. The screen is good, all it's looking for is a valid OS. If the drive is bad, replace it or just reformat the one in it and install Tiger or Leopard (depending on spec).

If all else fails, you just made a minimal investment in parts.
Click to expand...

I can sacrifice the 120GB hard drive from the Toshiba Satellite I used to use before my HP Envy I've got now...Will this PowerBook G4 see a 120GB hard drive? Or does it take an entirely different drive from what this Toshiba takes? I'm not very good at telling what kind of hard drive a laptop has. I can only tell if it's a desktop drive.
 
Pb g4 1.67?

I haven't been on ebay for awhile, what is the going rate for the DLSD 15.2 inch G4 1.67 PowerBook? I think that would serve the OP's purpose.. if not, the 1Ghz Titanium would, but most TI PowerBooks I have seen on ebay are all messed up, cracked and not working.
 
LOLZpersonok said:
I can sacrifice the 120GB hard drive from the Toshiba Satellite I used to use before my HP Envy I've got now...Will this PowerBook G4 see a 120GB hard drive? Or does it take an entirely different drive from what this Toshiba takes? I'm not very good at telling what kind of hard drive a laptop has. I can only tell if it's a desktop drive.
Click to expand...
The Titaniums and Aluminums use PATA drives. If the drive from your Toshiba is PATA then the Titanium will take it.

The older Titaniums have a 120GB limit. So, if this Mac is an early Titanium, then this drive would be right at that limit.
 
If you don't have to have a Mac, I (and many others) would recommend picking up a used IBM ThinkPad. You will easily be able to find one for under $100, they are built like tanks, and still run fairly well even now. Mixcraft on Windows is supposed to be very good and similar in functionality to Garage Band.
 
Wildy said:
If you don't have to have a Mac, I (and many others) would recommend picking up a used IBM ThinkPad. You will easily be able to find one for under $100, they are built like tanks, and still run fairly well even now. Mixcraft on Windows is supposed to be very good and similar in functionality to Garage Band.
Click to expand...

I guess I should get an IBM ThinkPad. I've already got one but that one has problems, it's very slow and old. I think I will check out Mixcraft, thanks for the tip.
 
No worries. I was in a similar position to you where I had to consider several options - in the end I bought an overpriced PowerBook G4 because I needed to use Logic Pro, and thus my only option was a Mac (I had been running OS X in a VM prior to this). They are great machines and I love mine dearly - but if you don't absolutely need one then you'll get more bang for buck with an Intel based laptop.


Before you buy a new ThinkPad, perhaps if you described the problem with your current one we might be able to help. If that fails, check out http://forum.thinkpads.com/ - they will help you with your problem.
 
Wildy said:
No worries. I was in a similar position to you where I had to consider several options - in the end I bought an overpriced PowerBook G4 because I needed to use Logic Pro, and thus my only option was a Mac (I had been running OS X in a VM prior to this). They are great machines and I love mine dearly - but if you don't absolutely need one then you'll get more bang for buck with an Intel based laptop.


Before you buy a new ThinkPad, perhaps if you described the problem with your current one we might be able to help. If that fails, check out http://forum.thinkpads.com/ - they will help you with your problem.
Click to expand...

I got this IBM ThinkPad for nostalgic reasons - It's from 2000, the battery holds no charge, very slow, it maxes out at 192MB of RAM (It is maxed out right now) and for some reason my current installation of Windows 2000 is messed up. It's also got stress cracks.

Just a question: Why are you helping me with a non-Apple product on an Apple-based site? Just curious, not meant to be offensive.
 
The ethos here is that so long as a machine is useful for something - it is still completely relevant.

Having said all of that, it seems that your ThinkPad is very very old. As you know, it's probably not up to the task of audio work (although without knowing what work you do it's hard to say for sure) and thus replacing broken parts is not economical.

Not knowing what your audio work is, or how serious, I can't make an informed suggestion for you. Audio hardware working straight out of the box and the two exclusive DAWs (Logic and Garage Band) are the only major reasons to choose a Mac for audio work. Don't listen to people peddling disinformation like "Macs are much more reliable than Windoze". If your application crashes, it is most probably down to sloppy coding of the app's developers.


If you can afford one, buy something like a ThinkPad T60 - they have dual core processors, reasonably sized screens, normal SATA HDDs and DDR2 RAM. Check Craigslist if you can't find one on eBay. All ThinkPads of this vintage have sturdy metal hinges which won't crack. A T60 will last you for years - trust me (my X40 is eight years old and I still use it every day for my development needs). If you want to try out OS X on it, it's not too hard either.

If you have any experience with Linux then definitely get a ThinkPad - they work pretty much straight away and absolutely fly along. If you don't, then perhaps read up on it and have a play around with a popular distro in a VM on your desktop.
 
If you dedicate time to ebay you WILL find what you need I did and have come up with great deals I put the ebay app on my phone so I could check it when I had free time at work and such and I have found the best deals I could ever come across. G4 Ibook for parts $22 with free shipping (ended up working) ...G4 Ibook for $43 FREE SHIPPING 1.2ghz fully functional most good stuff jst doesnt last long, I have sold some stuff for amazing prices on there and I promise I have had someone pay for an item within 4 minutes of me listing it.But whatever you do I wish you luck and hope you find exactly what your needing.I seen some Ibook 14 inchers 1.33 for $69.99 I dont know if theyre still on there or not but it could be something to look into...NO I DONT LIKE IBOOKS
 
Wildy said:
The ethos here is that so long as a machine is useful for something - it is still completely relevant.

Having said all of that, it seems that your ThinkPad is very very old. As you know, it's probably not up to the task of audio work (although without knowing what work you do it's hard to say for sure) and thus replacing broken parts is not economical.

Not knowing what your audio work is, or how serious, I can't make an informed suggestion for you. Audio hardware working straight out of the box and the two exclusive DAWs (Logic and Garage Band) are the only major reasons to choose a Mac for audio work. Don't listen to people peddling disinformation like "Macs are much more reliable than Windoze". If your application crashes, it is most probably down to sloppy coding of the app's developers.


If you can afford one, buy something like a ThinkPad T60 - they have dual core processors, reasonably sized screens, normal SATA HDDs and DDR2 RAM. Check Craigslist if you can't find one on eBay. All ThinkPads of this vintage have sturdy metal hinges which won't crack. A T60 will last you for years - trust me (my X40 is eight years old and I still use it every day for my development needs). If you want to try out OS X on it, it's not too hard either.

If you have any experience with Linux then definitely get a ThinkPad - they work pretty much straight away and absolutely fly along. If you don't, then perhaps read up on it and have a play around with a popular distro in a VM on your desktop.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. The IBM ThinkPad that I have was certainly not one of IBM's top-of-the-line models. It's got a small screen, no touch pad and has a relatively cheap build. Most laptops of 2000 did have touch pads, but this one does not. It'd run well if I had Windows 98 on it but I don't feel like downgrading again. The thing actually came with Windows XP running on it, and that's before I upgraded the RAM from it's original 64MB to 192MB.

I was also planning on a Titanium PowerBook G4 because I'm pretty sure they have audio in ports. Even though my HP laptop is one of HP's top-of-the-line models (it's got very powerful hardware and lots of cool features, including a backlit keyboard!) it doesn't actually have audio in and I do like to record audio from games on my PS2 using Audacity.

I would also use GarageBand on my HP because I did get Mac OS X 10.6 to run on it, but it's glitchy and acts unusually, plus the emulation is slow, since my HP uses a quad-core 3.20GHz AMD processor rather than an Intel processor. It makes Mac OS X think it's running on a 5.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Not only that, but I'm still worried about damaging my HP.

The audio work I do is generally cleaning up poorly recorded audio from certain devices. I also like to practice making very simple 'remixes' of songs that I like. GarageBand I find does this very well.

I'll definitely look into an IBM ThinkPad that you recommended, and if I need to, I can make it into a Hackintosh. Thanks.
 
LOLZpersonok said:
I was also planning on a Titanium PowerBook G4 because I'm pretty sure they have audio in ports.
Click to expand...
I'm not so sure about that. I recall having to use the internal mic for voice when using Skype on my old TiBook/400 because it didn't have an audio in port. I don't believe my son's 1Ghz does either and that's the last version of the Titaniums Apple made. If an audio in port is a must you are probably looking at an AlBook minimum.
 
eyoungren said:
I'm not so sure about that. I recall having to use the internal mic for voice when using Skype on my old TiBook/400 because it didn't have an audio in port. I don't believe my son's 1Ghz does either and that's the last version of the Titaniums Apple made. If an audio in port is a must you are probably looking at an AlBook minimum.
Click to expand...

Oh okay. The Aluminum PowerBooks are probably the reason behind me thinking they had an audio in port.
 
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