Used G4 Powerbook--Good Option?

triakertriaker
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
OK, a close friend of mine wants to sell her Powerbook G4 1.25 GHZ machine to me. The last laptop I bought was a used Powerbook Wallstreet (remember that one? Weighed a ton, ate batteries like no tomorrow...) Anyway, I have been searching for used values on these machines. Does anyone know where to find this type of information? The laptop has a new battery, 15" screen, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HD, brand new battery, and the Airport card, etc. What are these going for these days? She's asking $800.00 for everything. I don't want to gouge a friend, but don't want to pay top dollar on a 2 year old machine either. Thanks for any help or advice!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    tkntkn Posts: 224member
    Worth losing a bit of screen size to just go ahead and get a MacBook for a bit more.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,323moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Triaker View Post


    OK, a close friend of mine wants to sell her Powerbook G4 1.25 GHZ machine to me. The last laptop I bought was a used Powerbook Wallstreet (remember that one? Weighed a ton, ate batteries like no tomorrow...) Anyway, I have been searching for used values on these machines. Does anyone know where to find this type of information? The laptop has a new battery, 15" screen, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HD, brand new battery, and the Airport card, etc. What are these going for these days? She's asking $800.00 for everything. I don't want to gouge a friend, but don't want to pay top dollar on a 2 year old machine either. Thanks for any help or advice!



    They're going between $600-800. Given how much faster the Intels are, a lot of people are trying to get rid of their powerbooks knowing they will get a decent amount of money and then they only need to put out $200-300 (none if they get a good refurb deal) and they get a machine that's 4 times faster.



    It's only got 512Mb ram too. Now the old machines seemed to work quite well with a low amount of Ram depending on what you did with them. If it's just basic stuff you need the laptop for, it should be fine.



    If I was buying from a 3rd party, I'd look for one nearer $600. From a friend, maybe $700. $800 is not totally unreasonable but it's pushing the limits of its value as that would only be $150 less than a refurb Macbook, which as I say is 4 times faster and has the ability to run Windows and therefore a much higher resale value.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    triakertriaker Posts: 2member
    Thanks for the replies. She's a good friend who is only selling because while she was on the road, her husband surprised her with a new laptop. First thing I'll do of course is put in more memory, as I use Photoshop and other programs quite often. So maybe at $600, it's a good deal. It's main purposes will be to work on Office and check emails and watch movies on the road. Then I'll give it to my niece to use for homework and surfing the Net. Thanks for all the comments!!
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