Where to find cheap iBook G4s?

[LOLZpersonok]

I want to get an iBook G4, regardless of specs or screen size, but I can't find one anywhere for under $100. I don't think that they're worth that much. I posted a wanted ad on Kijiji, but I'm skeptical about how many replies I'm gonna get.

I'm not asking you to sell me yours - I want to know where I can find one for a decent, inexpensive price. Everywhere I look they're expensive, especially eBay, and on Kijiji, the only ones are being sold for $80+ and even though it's under $100, it's still out of my range, and they are being sold by this sketchy seller.

My friend has one that he likely doesn't use (he got a newer, but still used Dell laptop), but I don't want to ask him for it because I feel bad when I do stuff like that

 

[benvw99]

I know your pain about asking others for things.

But at this point, your options are either: ask your friend about his ibook, or wait for a steal to show up on eBay or kijiji.

And about your friend, the worst he can do it say no, right? And if he does, oh well. Just keep looking online!

 

[2984839]

If $80 is too much, I think you'll probably have to just make your friend an offer. I haven't seen any iBook G4s under $80 on eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist. You could try yard sales, but that's not likely to help much unless you get lucky.

 

[tampasteve]

I want to get an iBook G4, regardless of specs or screen size, but I can't find one anywhere for under $100. I don't think that they're worth that much.

Unfortunately, you kind of listed the only realistic places to get them. Ebay will be your best bet most likely. If you are handy you could get one with a bad HDD or no OS and fix it. The trick to Ebay is waiting until a minute or so before the auction you are watching ends and then place your highest bid about 10 seconds before it ends.

That said, even though you may not think they are worth more than $80, apparently other people do...and that is currently the problem for you. However, the cost of PPC machines have been generally trending down, if you wait a few months they might get to where you want it to be.

 

[Altemose]

I want to get an iBook G4, regardless of specs or screen size, but I can't find one anywhere for under $100. I don't think that they're worth that much. I posted a wanted ad on Kijiji, but I'm skeptical about how many replies I'm gonna get.

I'm not asking you to sell me yours - I want to know where I can find one for a decent, inexpensive price. Everywhere I look they're expensive, especially eBay, and on Kijiji, the only ones are being sold for $80+ and even though it's under $100, it's still out of my range, and they are being sold by this sketchy seller.

My friend has one that he likely doesn't use (he got a newer, but still used Dell laptop), but I don't want to ask him for it because I feel bad when I do stuff like that

Check out the Marketplace. I think that Red Croissant was selling his within your price range.

 

[hftvhftv]

My oh my, I got lucky as heck with my G5 Quad ($80!). But really people are realizing that they are worth money and people like you want them.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

My oh my, I got lucky as heck with my G5 Quad ($80!). But really people are realizing that they are worth money and people like you want them.

Wow, that's insanely lucky! I thought I was lucky because I got a pretty much top-of-the-line Power Mac G4 for $60.

That really does suck. I was bidding on a 17" PowerBook G4 today and I got outbid by $0.50 with about 3 seconds to spare. Nearly got it for $21.50. Oh well, so close.

 

[Altemose]

Wow, that's insanely lucky! I thought I was lucky because I got a pretty much top-of-the-line Power Mac G4 for $60.

That really does suck. I was bidding on a 17" PowerBook G4 today and I got outbid by $0.50 with about 3 seconds to spare. Nearly got it for $21.50. Oh well, so close.

www.shopgoodwill.com sometimes has some iBooks. Now Goodwills aren't computer shops normally so they essentially plug them in and see if they boot. They also don't have parts usually so they don't normally troubleshoot. So be sure to read, it is somewhat like buying from a liquidator.

 

[jrsx]

www.shopgoodwill.com sometimes has some iBooks. Now Goodwills aren't computer shops normally so they essentially plug them in and see if they boot. They also don't have parts usually so they don't normally troubleshoot. So be sure to read, it is somewhat like buying from a liquidator.

And here you are
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Apple-iBook-G4-121-Laptop-133GHz512MB40GB-16536739.html

I bought my iBook G4 from this seller: he almost always has PPC Macs for sale, most of the iMac G5s, or iBook G4s. http://www.ebay.com/usr/maven_technologies?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

 

[eyoungren]

That really does suck. I was bidding on a 17" PowerBook G4 today and I got outbid by $0.50 with about 3 seconds to spare. Nearly got it for $21.50. Oh well, so close.

OFF-TOPIC: This is because eBay is oriented towards sniping. They say they aren't, but the practice proves it. Sure, you can bid early and get lucky if no one meets your high bid, but it better be a high bid or an auction no one's particularly interested in.

I hate sniping, but if you want to win an auction on eBay it's almost a requirement. It sucks though when everyone else snipes and you get outsniped!!!

 

[LOLZpersonok]

OFF-TOPIC: This is because eBay is oriented towards sniping. They say they aren't, but the practice proves it. Sure, you can bid early and get lucky if no one meets your high bid, but it better be a high bid or an auction no one's particularly interested in.

I hate sniping, but if you want to win an auction on eBay it's almost a requirement. It sucks though when everyone else snipes and you get outsniped!!!

Actually, sniping is literally how I won my PowerBook G4 today. We just need to pay for it now. I realize that's how you have to win anything. I won it literally at the very last second. Not even kidding or exaggerating.

I made a mistake last night and bid on another iBook G4...And even as of now, I'm unsurpassed, even at my bid of $10.00. I don't want it, but if no one else takes interest, I'm pretty much forced to buy it anyways.

 

[eyoungren]

Actually, sniping is literally how I won my PowerBook G4 today. We just need to pay for it now. I realize that's how you have to win anything. I won it literally at the very last second. Not even kidding or exaggerating.

I made a mistake last night and bid on another iBook G4...And even as of now, I'm unsurpassed, even at my bid of $10.00. I don't want it, but if no one else takes interest, I'm pretty much forced to buy it anyways.

Oh, I believe you. It's actually fun sometimes to watch. If you're not in the bidding, but like the item, you can literally watch the bids fly in the last few seconds.

My wife will sometimes snipe with no intent to buy, just to drive the bid up. Just because she feels that the item for sale is worth more than it's going for at the time.

In any case, glad you go the PowerBook. Don't know what to say about the iBook. I just dropped $44 on one plus $15 shipping last week for my daughter.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Oh, I believe you. It's actually fun sometimes to watch. If you're not in the bidding, but like the item, you can literally watch the bids fly in the last few seconds.

My wife will sometimes snipe with no intent to buy, just to drive the bid up. Just because she feels that the item for sale is worth more than it's going for at the time.

In any case, glad you go the PowerBook. Don't know what to say about the iBook. I just dropped $44 on one plus $15 shipping last week for my daughter.

That's what was happening at the last few seconds. I think it was by luck that I won the PowerBook. I tried it a couple times before on other PowerBooks, and almost got a 17" PowerBook G4 for $21.50, but as you might be able to guess, I lost those ones. Now, because of my mistake, I'm probably going to end up with an iBook G4 that I didn't mean to bid on. I'm still the high bidder and have been for a couple days. It'd be cool to have it, but I don't think I will have the cash to pay for it when it's up. I bid on it because I figured that I would lose this PowerBook that I won, but realized my mistake that I could win it shortly after I submitted the bid. Oops.

You Americans are lucky. Cheap or free shipping. The shipping charges we get from eBay in Canada, unless the item is in Canada or China are quite expensive, more than often more expensive than the item itself, depending on what it is. In the case of this PowerBook G4, we're paying more for the shipping than the computer itself.

 

[jrsx]

It's sad; in my local eBay, people think PPC are worth a lot. I got lucky with my iBook and PB. I saw a 17" PB G4 going for over $300 and people were still bidding on it. You see people buying low end iBooks for $130 or more. And OS X Leopard goes for $150 on a regular basis.

 

[eyoungren]

You Americans are lucky. Cheap or free shipping. The shipping charges we get from eBay in Canada, unless the item is in Canada or China are quite expensive, more than often more expensive than the item itself, depending on what it is. In the case of this PowerBook G4, we're paying more for the shipping than the computer itself.

Not always. I paid $30 to ship a $30 Cinema Display from Georgia. The cost of shipping an actual tower PowerMac is prohibitive.

And the door swings both ways. I have friends in Toronto and despite the fact that Canada is the 51st State of the Union (the Sensible State) when I ship to Canada I'm paying big just to clear customs!

 

[LOLZpersonok]

It's sad; in my local eBay, people think PPC are worth a lot. I got lucky with my iBook and PB. I saw a 17" PB G4 going for over $300 and people were still bidding on it. You see people buying low end iBooks for $130 or more. And OS X Leopard goes for $150 on a regular basis.

I sometimes wonder why people will pay that much. I think that people, aside from collectors, think that it's a cheap Mac or a really good deal, and can run and do the same things that the modern Macs do. I don't think they realize that they aren't Intel and cannot run modern Mac programs, and they aren't nearly as fast.

I've come across people on eBay selling PowerPC Macs and passing them off as Intel ones, and sell them as such. Of course, I report them for misleading advertising.

 

[jrsx]

I've come across people on eBay selling PowerPC Macs and passing them off as Intel ones, and sell them as such. Of course, I report them for misleading advertising.

Yes, I also see misleading info on places like YouTube saying that an iMac G5 runs Mavericks or a PowerBook G4 runs Windows or something like that. Of course, someone could just replace the inside with a more modern motherboard with an Intel CPU, but the way it looks aggravates me.

 

[2984839]

I sometimes wonder why people will pay that much. I think that people, aside from collectors, think that it's a cheap Mac or a really good deal, and can run and do the same things that the modern Macs do. I don't think they realize that they aren't Intel and cannot run modern Mac programs, and they aren't nearly as fast.

I've come across people on eBay selling PowerPC Macs and passing them off as Intel ones, and sell them as such. Of course, I report them for misleading advertising.

Some people buy them because they know they are still capable machines and are good deals.

Some buy them because they just like them, or becasue they like older hardware in general.

Some buy them because it has a glowing apple on the back, and since they can't afford a new MBP to show off to their friends (which is really the whole point), this will have to do. These are the ones who drive the price up IMO.

 

[eyoungren]

Some buy them because it has a glowing apple on the back, and since they can't afford a new MBP to show off to their friends (which is really the whole point), this will have to do. These are the ones who drive the price up IMO.

And those are the ones with the least understanding of what they have. The ones who have no friggin' clue about the Intel transition and proceed to get royally angry at you when you tell them what they really have.

That kind of person really annoys me.

The funny ones though are the ones that get things bass ackwards. I've seen PowerBook and PowerMac Pros and Intel PowerBooks. These are the truly clueless who see no difference between models built before 2006 and models built after 2006 with the thought that there might be a difference never entering their heads.

 

[Altemose]

Where to find cheap iBook G4s?

The worst is when they take the pictures for the Mac and they use a theme and Mavericks wallpaper.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Some buy them because it has a glowing apple on the back, and since they can't afford a new MBP to show off to their friends (which is really the whole point), this will have to do. These are the ones who drive the price up IMO.

I think this is another reason why some old Macintosh computers have high selling points.

I think that, aside from rare collector's Macintoshes, they are sold for high prices simply because of the logo embossed into the case. Though someone else might have a different opinion than I do, I don't think that the PowerPC Macs are really worth as much as they're sold for on eBay nowadays. But, they sell for high prices all the time because people will pay for it.

As I stated above I came across someone selling a PowerBook G4 with only 512MB of RAM for $600. "Limited edition", as they say, which I think is completely untrue.

The link is here: PowerBook G4 on Kijiji

 

[Mr Rabbit]

School systems and Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs)...

A lot of school systems that had laptop programs bought truckloads of iBook G4s many years ago. In all likelihood they have since then sold them off in bulk as they migrated to MacBooks but there's still a good chance that they'll have some taking up space. Find the IT contacts for your local school system and colleges and shoot them an email asking about buying an old Mac. I know when bought in bulk they were often had for $50 or less.

AASPs often have old Macs hanging around for parts, recycling or to just take up space. These are often the same companies that bought those bulk iBooks from schools, so they will often have a few stragglers left over. I'd call your local AASPs and ask if they have or know where you could buy an iBook G4 for cheap. You can find AASPs under the service tab using Apple's locate tool.

Good luck!

 

[jrsx]

As I stated above I came across someone selling a PowerBook G4 with only 512MB of RAM for $600. "Limited edition", as they say, which I think is completely untrue.

The link is here: PowerBook G4 on Kijiji

...aaaaand it only shows the Apple logo. That's what he want's people to see, the Apple logo on silver, and suddenly it's a Macbook Pro with an i7 to everyone else.

 

[Altemose]

I think this is another reason why some old Macintosh computers have high selling points.

I think that, aside from rare collector's Macintoshes, they are sold for high prices simply because of the logo embossed into the case. Though someone else might have a different opinion than I do, I don't think that the PowerPC Macs are really worth as much as they're sold for on eBay nowadays. But, they sell for high prices all the time because people will pay for it.

As I stated above I came across someone selling a PowerBook G4 with only 512MB of RAM for $600. "Limited edition", as they say, which I think is completely untrue.

The link is here: PowerBook G4 on Kijiji

Just got a PowerBook G4 1.5 GHz (15") with 2 GB of RAM, 80 GB HD, and backlit keyboard from shopgoodwill for $23. I didn't really need it but I bid anyway and ended up winning. Darn snipers let me down.