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Wowow Bought Cheap MacBook

Willaay

Willaay

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 13, 2008
10
0
Durham, NC
So, I was browsing eBay last week, and I came across a $200 MacBook that had red wine spilled all over it. Being me, I bought it. When it arrived, it didn't turn on (no shock), the battery didn't charge, (no shock), and the magsafe light was green, but very very dim (again, no shock). So I opened the top case, got some rubbing alcohol and Q-tips, and after scrubbing around inside to get off the red sticky stuff, I took out the magsafe board, and cleaned it. To my surprise, when I plugged in the charger, the light was bright green! I put everything back together, put the battery in, and I let it charge. While it was charging, I went to best buy and bought 2GB of ram for the thing. (It came ramless).

So I came home, put in the ram, and turned the puppy on. It started! The old person's stuff was still on it, so I couldn't get into the desktop, but after some googling, I found some commands that let me make my own user without having the person's password. The only downside is, the keyboard and trackpad don't work, so I've ordered a new one. But with an external mouse and keyboard, it works 100% perfectly. SO, here's what I paid for a white 13" MacBook.

$200.00 - MacBook/Charger/Battery
$3.00 - Rubbing Alcohol
$0.00 - Q-Tips (already at home hehe)
$61.15 - MacBook Topcase
$60.00 - 2 GB ram
----------
$324.15 for a very nice macbook!

I'm a very lucky guy!
 
Good to hear you got such a good deal for just a little work, I have thought about doing the same thing but I'm afraid I would not be able to fix it. Good luck with the keyboard and trackpad.
 
Very nice!

Although, you haven't added in the cost for the new keyboard and trackpad you ordered. :)

Still, very nice find!
 
Much respect for putting a little sweat and elbow grease into something and keeping it out of a landfill!
I know they're recyclable, but not everyone disposes properly and some of it still winds up in the trash....
 
Here are the specs:
1.83 GHz
2 GB Ram
60GB HD (Ew, I know. Its going to be changed ASAP)

It's still running! The topcase comes tomorrow. I'll post an update then!
 
Wow, thats a really good deal. Once you fix it up you could easily get 2-300 more for it than you paid. That is if your going to sell it after awhile.
 
That's awesome. Is it just me or is $60 for 2 GB RAM kind of steep. I paid $40 for a 4GB DDR2 kit a while back.
 
I thought it was expensive, too. The Best Buy website said it was like $35.00, but when I got there, it said $60.00. But whatever.

I'm typing on the new keyboard! The computer now works 100%! I couldn't be happier, really. I'm too happy with it.
 
I'm pretty certain that's what the MacBook Topcase is.
Click to expand...

the topcase is the keyboard and trackpad :)

I did the same thing with my powerbook (sig) but the display was broken, my friend gave it to me free of charge - i used a dell fluro tube (backlight) and it worked ^^ sold it yesterday for 270 GBP.

a little bit of knowledge can go along way :D
 
Willaay said:
I thought it was expensive, too. The Best Buy website said it was like $35.00, but when I got there, it said $60.00. But whatever.

I'm typing on the new keyboard! The computer now works 100%! I couldn't be happier, really. I'm too happy with it.
Click to expand...

They did the same thing with me when I bought RAM for my powerbook. You have to tell them that it's a different price on the net... I did and they gave it to me for the online price. They're sneaky that way.
 
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