What to do with my Powerbook?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hey guys.



I have a 15'' Powerbook G4 1.5ghz combodrive



the unit is in great working condition, a few dents here and there, but the screen is really messed up. there's a large crack and lots of dead pixels. here's a pic



http://www.mikeberlyand.com/screen.jpg



to repair the screen it would cost around 600$ so i'm thinking of selling the powerbook and getting an ibook.



can anyone recommend a good place to sell it? maybe ebay?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    eBay's a decent place, but the fact that it has a dead screen is going to put one heck of a dent is the sale price. You might want to sell it to an Apple service provider who can fix it and resell it for less than normal people can.



    Either that or you can unscrew the monitor and use it with an external monitor the way old Amigas used to roll.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    You could always try finding a 'spares and repairs' type ebay auction and look for a cheap replacement screen.



    If you are adamant on selling it then you could just buy a very cheap replacement screen and sell it after it's been replaced, that way you'll get a much higher price for it.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Ouch, that computer has been dropped. I saw a few too many of those in my last IT job.



    You actually do have a few different options here as listed above.



    1.) You could sell the machine on eBay (realize you will have to sell it cheap and make sure people know the screen is not functioning/sold as is) just to get what you can for it and put it towards the purchase of a new laptop.



    2.) You could have the screen repaired and you are out $600.



    3.) You could hook the laptop up to an external monitor, turn the brightness on the monitor down and use a USB keyboard and mouse. I would not remove the laptop's monitor if you plan on doing this.



    4.) You could try and find a cheap replacement LCD on eBay and install it yourself, but this requires that you know what you are doing and that you understand you're out of luck if you mess up. Option 2 is probably the better road here.



    5.) Depending on the circumstances of the laptop falling to the floor, your insurance may cover the damage. Read your homeowner's policy for more information.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Fran441



    5.) Depending on the circumstances of the laptop falling to the floor, your insurance may cover the damage. Read your homeowner's policy for more information.




    I would not do that for 2 reasons:

    1) deductable, if the deductable is, lets jsut say $500, you will only be saving $100 on the repair, but they could also get you a refurb, which wouldnt be too bad



    2) your premeum will go up if you make a claim for something like this, this isnt good, I know, but it would be like making a health insurance claim for a botttle of asprin. the premium increase will likely offset any advantage within 18 months.





    Either have it fixed, or use an external display with it untill you can afford a MBP, or if you want low end, WAIT FOR THE IBOOK REPLACMENTS, the new Macbooks will likly be a goodchunk faster than the G4 Powerbooks



    Also, as a tech, I think that $600 is a little high, whos quote is that? and what res is the pannel?
  • Reply 5 of 13
    djmbdjmb Posts: 120member
    the 600$ is from powerbookresq.com



    i just found cheaper panel though



    http://www.dttservice.com/powerbookg4al.html#pbg4allcd



    i hear the new ibooks will be around 1000$ so maybe i should wait till they come out and sell this and save for that



    but will the new ibook be faster then the powerbook 1.5ghz G4? is there an actual point in upgrading?
  • Reply 6 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Fran441

    4.) You could try and find a cheap replacement LCD on eBay and install it yourself, but this requires that you know what you are doing and that you understand you're out of luck if you mess up. Option 2 is probably the better road here.





    How much worse could it get? I say get replace the screen yourself and then sell it.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    djmbdjmb Posts: 120member
    new screen is 400, and i doubt i can get over 1200 for it on ebay. the new ibook will cost around 1200 so if i sell it i can just save up for that
  • Reply 8 of 13
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by djmb

    the 600$ is from powerbookresq.com



    i just found cheaper panel though



    http://www.dttservice.com/powerbookg4al.html#pbg4allcd



    i hear the new ibooks will be around 1000$ so maybe i should wait till they come out and sell this and save for that



    but will the new ibook be faster then the powerbook 1.5ghz G4? is there an actual point in upgrading?




    That is MUCH more in line with what I would expect to pay for the same service on an HP/Toshiba/IBM/whatever



    I think that most of these places that specialize in Mac hardware are way over priced, considering moddern macs just use off the shelf parts for everything outside of the logicboard/CPU,



    and if you do get the display replaced, you might as well go for the higher res pannel...same price, more pixels.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    if you do get the display replaced, you might as well go for the higher res pannel...same price, more pixels.



    But will OSX recognize those extra pixels?
  • Reply 10 of 13
    I would definitely try eBay ? people will pay surprisingly high prices for second hand gear - especially if you put a Buy It Now price.



    I recently sold a 2004 iBook two generations old for £500.00 that's only about £150.00 less than a brand new one.



    Andrew
  • Reply 11 of 13
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ThinkingDifferent

    But will OSX recognize those extra pixels?



    I dont see why not: the laptop can drive an external display at 1600.1050, so just change the resolution on the internal pannel, the control chip on the display should "tell" the system the pannels max res...
  • Reply 12 of 13
    djmbdjmb Posts: 120member
    i was offered 800$ from a parts store.



    is that a fair price?



    it's a 15.2' Powerbook G4 1.5ghz with 1.25gb ram, 128mb Radeon 9700, 80g hard drive, a few dents, and a messed up screen.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    check how much one goes for on eBay, compare it with the cost of getting it fixed + $800, and see for yourself.
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