So, I am an Apple lover. Like I absolutely love them. Everything about them. I especially love the older Apple products. Especially the models from 2000-2005 (PowerPC Models). I have so far 3 Items from 2003 and up. The first one was an excellent condition PowerMac G5 1.8Ghz Dual CPU. The second one was a 2005 Rare HP iPod Mini. And just today, I have taken another mac to put under my wing. The only thing is, this Mac has an ugly past... It was beaten... Abused... Neglected... I was on my local craigslist doing a search of Apple products like I do around every week. Today I saw something that I had always wanted, for only $25 USD. The ad said it was a broken Powerbook G4. Needed a new screen, battery, and charger. Now me, wanting to know everything I can about the computer as possible, asked the seller to send me the model number. I wanted to know if the PowerBook was older or newer, since the laptop has been in production since 2001. I was hoping for something like the 1.3 or 1.5 Ghz processor model. When I got the number, I went and searched it up. And to my disbelief, It ended up being the 2005 1.67 Ghz Powerbook G4. This was the LAST model that they made. It was more powerful than the rest and came full of goodies. These laptops are very hard to come by. In mid 2005, Steve Jobs announced that all Macs would be switching to Intel processors starting in 2006. So many people waited to buy the new laptop apple were to produce, and not the current model with the PowerPC G4 processor. Now I knew I had a mission. That mission was to save this poor high quality laptop. So I bought it. This computer looked even worse in person. Even more reason for me to save it. So sight on scene, I bought it. The case is very scratched up and dirty. I tried cleaning as much as I could. Here is what it looks like in its current condition: Original Specs are here: PowerBook G4 Now, I know I can go on eBay right now and buy one of these for $150, but I feel bad for this laptop and feel it needs to be saved! Here is what it has and what it needs: Has: -LogicBoard -Case -DVD/CD Dual Layer Drive -Wifi & Bluetooth -Keyboard -HardDrive (Size Unknown) Needs: -New Top half (includes screen) $42 -New Ram (2GB) $17 -New Battery $20 -New Charger $18 -New Bottom Half $11 I plan on doing all the work on my own. I am ordering ram and a charger tomorrow so I can start work on this machine. Wish me luck! I will post updates in the future when more parts arrive!!!
this is really cool! Good luck repairing the mac! (just a thought, i or someone else could create a computer restoration thread where we could post projects like this. that way there are not a ton of computer restore threads, just 1 or 2.)
Well the keyboard and trackpad are staying. It's the bottom part and the top part that are getting replaced. And the point of this is to save the laptop.
What is included in the bottom part? Processor, mobo? I can understand just replacing the dented and cracked paneling, if that's what you mean.
Just ordered 2GB of ram, a Genuine A/C Power Adapter, and a new bottom casing. I spent a little more money to get a genuine PowerBook charger and not a crappy remake. The ram is coming from Hong Kong, So it won't be here until later this month/early April. There were like no US sellers so I had to buy from overseas. I did find some websites that sold it, but they wanted like $50 for like 1GB... ~Total Spent~ Ram: $17.00 A/C Power Adapter: $18.98 Bottom Casing: 11.16
Nice, glad to see someone else interested in getting old tech back up and running! If you were in the UK I would offer you some parts due to me having a ton of old RAM, some of which is taken from old Macs, and many other bits and bobs. Anyway good luck with the restoration!
Yeah it sucks that the US sellers have their prices jacked up so much. Thats what forced me to buy from Hong Kong.
Very good to see someone restoring older macs. I have 3 G3 macs in my household and all but one run smooth as butter (as close as a g3 can get anyway). The macs I have are an: IMac G3 600mhz in white IMac G3 400mhz lime green Both of these are in near perfect condition but could do with a ram upgrade. Currently I'm working on an iBook G3 Clamshell in grey with, wait for it, 64mb of ram and since it used to belong to a school is in pretty bad condition. Currently all I have fitted to it is an airport card but it will be nice once it's done. The imacs are basically music boxes because of their awesome speakers (similar to the Pro Speakers that came with the G4s. Anyway. I have to go, I will follow up if you want. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Yeah I have a few Older macs myself. First off I have two iMac G3's. One of them is the same one you have, the 600Mhz in white, only mine is in like brand new condition COMPLETE IN BOX!!!! I bought it at a rummage along with my other 500Mhz Blue G3 for $20!!! I also have a PowerMac G5 Dual 1.8Ghz CPU. I need to get a new graphics card for it because 64mb is not enough Vram. I love my Powerbook and want to get a mac mini from the same era! Oh, I also used to have a PowerMac G4. It was I think 500Mhz and was actually in good condition. Sadly, I sold it for $60 in 2011 because I needed cash. It was actually running OS X Leopard, which is unheard of for a G4 running at 500Mhz!!! Anybody who is a mac lover like me, can post pictures of their mac products! I would love to see them and I'm sure the community would too!
I Have a IBook g4 1.22Ghz that I sold to someone. They gave it back to me a couple of months later and said the the back light stopped working on it. He took it all apart and managed to break the part on the logic board where the power button plugs into. I'll try and get some pictures of it later. Also have a late 2008 macbook that I'm in the middle of fixing. Got a new keyboard for it but it need's a new logic board, which costs around $328.
Is it a MacBook or a MacBook Pro? Cause the MacBook logic boards for that year are like less than $100 on eBay. The MacBook Pro ones are around $200-$300.
It's a unibody macbook A1278, not a macbook pro. Every thing works on it but the left option key is stuck on (not physically) .
debris on the PCB itself could simply be shorting the 2 contacts for that key, scrub them up, if that fails cut the trace entirely (will lose key though), if that fails then its a damaged IC.
I have a feeling that it's a damaged IC because I can disconnect the keyboard while it's on and it still thinks the option key is pressed (when I restart it with the keyboard disconnected it brings up the menu to select boot device like the option key is being pressed).
