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stevesnj · May 31, 2010, 05:41 PM

I bought a PowerBook G4 17" 1 ghz in 2003 and just sold it! It had all the original hardware in it and the screen was just as bright as the day i got it. I have friends who get PC laptops and they replace them after 2 years! Cheers to Apple for making a quality product. Now I have a 15" i7 MacBook Pro. Amazing machine but I will miss the 17"

Big Mac · May 31, 2010, 07:44 PM

Congrats. How much did you get for it?

stevesnj · May 31, 2010, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Congrats. How much did you get for it?

$350.00

Then went to get my MacBook 15" i7, $1,999 Edu. Discount + $135 for AntiGlare Display = $2,134 minus $350. for the 17" I paid $1,784 with tax exemption. Good deal huh?

zacharace · Jun 1, 2010, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by stevesnj

$350.00

Then went to get my MacBook 15" i7, $1,999 Edu. Discount + $135 for AntiGlare Display = $2,134 minus $350. for the 17" I paid $1,784 with tax exemption. Good deal huh?

I'd say. $350 is pretty good for a PB, especially the older ones. I'm betting the 17" screen helped though. Congrats.

I just sold my 15" PB a few days ago and bought a used aluminum MacBook; great feeling (finally) stepping up to Intel!

macaddict0001 · Jun 2, 2010, 02:33 AM

I just bought a pismo, still more than usable after ten years, typing on it right now.

angelmb · Jun 2, 2010, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by stevesnj

$350.00

Then went to get my MacBook 15" i7, $1,999 Edu. Discount + $135 for AntiGlare Display = $2,134 minus $350. for the 17" I paid $1,784 with tax exemption. Good deal huh?

Good indeed. Albeit I would have choice the Hi-Res display. I had the PB 17" (1st revision) and currently have the MBP 15" (1st unibody revision), as while the native resolution is 1440*900 for both models, everything looks too big on the 15" display. IMHO the 1680*1050 Hi-Res display option is the most welcome addition to the recently updated 15" MBP.

ctt1wbw · Jun 2, 2010, 12:17 PM

Yeah, definitely Mac laptops last a long time. I sold a G3 Wallstreet Powerbook after 6 years of use. Got $400 for it and it worked just like the day I got it. Although, there was an ever so slight play in the hinges, but it worked and looked perfectly.

stevesnj · Jun 6, 2010, 08:51 AM

Before the AL 17" I had a Pismo FireWire, still the best laptop I ever owned. I dropped it a lot. never broke anything on it. I think Panasonic based their ToughBooks on the Pismo/Wallstreet series. lol

Raman · Jul 28, 2010, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by macaddict0001

I just bought a pismo, still more than usable after ten years, typing on it right now.

I miss my Pismo.

They were sexy with their hourglass shape.

Waragainstsleep · Jul 29, 2010, 03:07 PM

I bought a PowerBook G3 (Lombard) brand new in 1999, 7 years later, I had maxed the RAM at 512MB, upgraded the HD to 120GB or so, and fitted a DVDRW with custom region free firmware. I had literally just installed a G4 upgrade CPU as well when some little **** broke into my house and stole it. It was still running the very latest OS at the time. And it was still useable if a little sluggish. Fine as a web surfer/email machine. No PC laptop could emulate that feat. Not with the original motherboard. And thats despite XP not being replaced for 10 years. My PB had gone through 5 OS upgrades! (8.6 to 10.4.x)

finboy · Jul 29, 2010, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by macaddict0001

I just bought a pismo, still more than usable after ten years, typing on it right now.

Still use my Pismo 400 every couple of days. Needs a hinge replacement (I have the hinge waiting, from powerbookguy.com) but otherwise runs Jaguar just great. I put a DVD slotloader in it a couple years ago, and a 60G HD.

simonjames · Jul 29, 2010, 06:08 PM

My 17" PB G4 is off to a new home this weekend - I am handing it onto my niece.

Still a good machine though the wifi no longer works unless you're sitting right next to the router.

vsurfer · Jul 31, 2010, 08:57 AM

My PB G4 Ti-Book 1Ghz 1GB 15" was an amazing machine for 7 or so years, but it just hit the deck a few times too many, including one time one of my then-small kids sent it on a 1-meter flying drop to a wood floor.

Now it doesn't charge, (neither did the replacement battery), the case broke in several places, the keyboard curled out and wont go back — but it all still works, give or take a few keys.

I now have a Aluminum MacBook 13" easier to tote, and just as powerful. I'm not sure the Ti-Book G4 is worth repairing from the standpoint of cost, and the kids want computers they can game on.

threestain · Jul 31, 2010, 12:14 PM

so there's a chance I may be able to sell my old TiBook after all this time? bit battle weary but still a quality machine...

I doubt there's as much of a re-sell market over here in the uk...

Googer-Giger · Aug 1, 2010, 11:08 AM

I love my Powerbooks, I have a 12" and a 17". They can't really do flash without heating up, but still browse the web without any issue.

SpaceMonkey · Aug 2, 2010, 12:16 PM

That's awesome. I just today was able to snag a refurb i7 MacBook Pro ($1,869), so now I'll need to figure out what to do with my 2005-era PowerBook G4. This gives me hope that someone might find it useful.

stevesnj · Aug 6, 2010, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

That's awesome. I just today was able to snag a refurb i7 MacBook Pro ($1,869), so now I'll need to figure out what to do with my 2005-era PowerBook G4. This gives me hope that someone might find it useful.

I sold mine on Craigslist. Someone who wants to try a Mac inexpensively, this is the way to go. Advertise it that way. " get into the Mac world cheaply". That should work when you put it up for sale.

shabbasuraj · Aug 14, 2010, 05:38 PM

The 12" I think was the original netbook. I had 2, sold both after years of usage.

osiris24x · Aug 14, 2010, 06:59 PM

Nice! $350 resell on any G4 Mac is quite a feat indeed. $350 around here will get you a 64-bit dual core MacBook, in comparison.

Apple definitely makes superior products, despite the occasional engineering folly (the iBook is *terribly* designed inside). It's worth noting though that most people buy new PCs every two years or so, because Windows crashes and they think (incorrectly) that it's a hardware problem. Some people have no concept of the software being separate from the hardware.

It's physically impossible that your PowerBook's screen was just as bright as the day you bought it (unless you had the LCD replaced) as the cathode based backlight degrades in brightness every day you use it. After 5 years of use, most laptops can only manage half the brightness they produced when new. The newer Macs with LED backlights aren't as susceptible to this. Combine that with the upcoming SSD drives and we'll soon have Macs that last 10 to 15 years (not counting obsolescence issues)!!!

Congrats on the upgrade! I bet your new Mac will last just as long if not longer.

Waragainstsleep · Aug 14, 2010, 08:25 PM

People buy new PCs every 2 years because they don't know how to reinstall their software (often they don't even get a Windows disc with their PC) and paying someone else to do it is as expensive as a new one.
As for reliability, SSDs still have a long way to go in both price and capacity, but its the logic boards which are going to be the weak link. Various governmental policies enforcing the use of brittle lead-free solder don't help with their reliability. Neither does shrinking the size of the 'wires' inside ICs. Chips get pretty warm when running and can get pretty cold when powered off. As the 'internal wiring' gets finer and finer, the heating and cooling cycle will sever connections sooner than with older, slower chips with thicker 'wires' in.

Wiskedjak · Aug 14, 2010, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by shabbasuraj

The 12" I think was the original netbook. I had 2, sold both after years of usage.

not even close. one of the defining features of a net book is a really low price tag. but, if you're thinking just about size, Sony had the PictureBook out long before the 12in PB (1998).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_VAIO_C1_series

Hunter5117 · Sep 12, 2010, 10:12 PM

Sold my wife's 12" PB back in January for almost $500. Other than having added an additional 512mb of ram it was stock. I imagine it is still working well for the buyer.

Waragainstsleep · Sep 13, 2010, 04:20 AM

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_86fa3woQOH...0/emate300.jpg

Also 1998 (Feb)

Andy8 · Sep 13, 2010, 05:34 AM

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

not even close. one of the defining features of a net book is a really low price tag. but, if you're thinking just about size, Sony had the PictureBook out long before the 12in PB (1998).

Sony VAIO C1 series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I had a Picturebook just before I made the jump to an iBook in early 2001.

I kept the Picturebook for a whole 12 months more in case this new fangled Mac OS X did not work out as planned