[Tenacious Dyl]

Ok, so my luck is failing. A long story short, tonight I got into a car accident, due to rain, a closely traveling group of cars, and last minute turn signal by the guy in front of me. No one was hurt, no serious car damage, but my powerbook got tossed hardcore.

It's backlight is now flickery (it is either on or off, but the slightest motion of the powerbook, even tapping the desk it is on, will change the on/off of the backlight). And when its on, MANY MANY cracks in the screen are shown. I don't have a single coherant part of the screen.

The good news, airport card, hard-drive, ram, processors, etc all fine. And despite massive screen damage, there is NO cosmetic damage to the powerbook itself.

After all things were taken care of in regard to the accident, I hooked up my powerbook to my old 19" CRT and it worked great, I did a lot of system / hardware tests, and all is well.

So.. here is my dilema .. what do I do?

1) Can I obtain a new screen for a decent price? And what is that price?
2) Would it be smarter to sell the screen-less powerbook and add my own money, to get a new powerbook?
3) Is this never going to sell for much, and be used as a data back up / server / etc
4) Make it into artwork / etc?

What would you do in this situation, as I don't have very much income currently. Please help me out

[Link]

macresq or something like that.. check ebay for a new screen

[asodamiac]

ouch.. makes me want to not hold off on safeware anymore..

[Tenacious Dyl]

Found a screen (and needed wires) on eBay, currently $86... not sure how high it will go, but it seems like a killer deal.

Yeah... for those of you w/ powerbooks, get insurance... Mine is just over a year old, and if for some reason my auto/homeowners DID cover this, the cost through insurance rates/deductable, what have you, would easily outweigh the powerbook itself over a few bils/fees/time.

[Randman]

If it works with an external monitor, consider using it that way. Or sell and buy a new ones. The screens can be expensive if you don't have a warranty.

[irus]

12 inch screens are cheap. If you're comfortable replacing it yourself - go for it!

[asodamiac]

if it were a 15" or 17", i guess running it off an external monitor could be considered an option, but im guessing most people get a 12" for portability.

if your car/homeowners insurance covered it, do you just send in the pb to a certified apple repair center and have them reimburse you?

[allensis]

If insurance covers it, perhaps they will replace it and let you keep, or buy, the old one. Like buying back a "totaled" car.

In that case I would set it up as a permanent slide show computer with your images and make it a funky piece of artwork on the mantel.

So are you going to let insurance cover it or was the deductible TOO much, that was not clear?

joe

[bbales]

Originally Posted by allensis

If insurance covers it, perhaps they will replace it and let you keep, or buy, the old one. Like buying back a "totaled" car.

So are you going to let insurance cover it or was the deductible TOO much, that was not clear?

joe

Won't insurance cover it? I, too, am unclear on this point. It was clearly damaged in the accident, so I would think it would be covered in the accident. As for your deductible -- wasn't your car damaged as well? At that point, you're sort of in for a penny, in for a pound. I'd get a new laptop via your insurance. If your car also needs work, your rates are probably going up anyway. At least get your laptop fixed, too.

But maybe there are some other circumstances at play here.

[asodamiac]

Originally Posted by Tenacious Dyl

Mine is just over a year old, and if for some reason my auto/homeowners DID cover this, the cost through insurance rates/deductable, what have you, would easily outweigh the powerbook itself over a few bils/fees/time.

insurance DID cover it..

[Tenacious Dyl]

According to my insurance, devices in my car, that are not INSTALLED into the car, as in, like a visor-mounted dvd player, are not insured. For homeowner's insurances, well... it wasn't in my home. The deductable is also over the cost of a screen.

I'm pretty much just trying to decide if its "worth" buying a screen, installing it (risky) and doing that, or trying to sell it off for parts / as a whole, and save some money and buy a new powerbook.

For that matter... is anyone interested in it

[kwiens]

1) Can I obtain a new screen for a decent price? And what is that price?

We sell the G4 12" display *assembly*, with the LCD, hinges, cables, Airport antenna, Bluetooth antenna, speakers, and casing. If you love the machine and want to hang on to it without risking serious damage by just replacing the LCD, that's the way to go. However, the displays are $599.
http://www.pbfixit.com/cart/customer...+12%22+display

2) Would it be smarter to sell the screen-less powerbook and add my own money, to get a new powerbook?

You could do that. If you don't want the hassle of selling on eBay, we'll buy your machine:
http://www.pbfixit.com/cart/customer...p?section=sell

3) Is this never going to sell for much, and be used as a data back up / server / etc.
Headless PowerBooks are still worthwhile, but it might be easier to sell it and buy a Mini if that's what you want. You can drop the hard drive out of your PB into a Mini with little difficulty.

4) Make it into artwork / etc?
Always a fun option. Paint doesn't stick to the aluminum very well, so you need to sand it down first. PowerBooks don't generally work for Macuariums, though. :-)

-Kyle Wiens
CEO, PB FixIt
www.PBFixIt.com
Thousands of PowerBook & iBook parts and accessories.
------------------------
PB 17" 1.0 1GB 60GB SD

[Tenacious Dyl]

Thanks Kwein,
I put a request for a bid in, at your link. Am waiting for response / bid!

Regards,
Dylan I.

[Tenacious Dyl]

Declined Bid offered, far too low. Still considering other people's offers, as well as offers for even buying a 12" screen (from you). I'm really open to anythign, that is reasonable...