I've prepared a short document with useful infos about buying a 2nd hand PowerBook. The article contains a checklist of things you should check before and after buying. Read it at http://dreamolers.binaryriot.org/powerbooks.html

Nice guide, thanks!

Thanks

I already bought mine, not received yet. In the about that Mac the seller told me that it was a 1.67GHZ so I hope he really did it...
The battery is low, any info as to where buy a good one is welcomed (new one).
Same for memory as this PB do "only" have 1GB.

Kamel
PS I've my fingers crossed.
PSS if you need a beta-tester don't hesitate...

Now also available in Polish thanks to krashan.

Well... I'd get an Apple battery for sure. You might want to check if it really is new and not some old production. Another option is to replace battery cells in the original battery - this will ensure the batteries are brand new and will also be cheaper.

I didn't knew it was possible to just replace the cells, so my next question is where to buy these and is it hard to do ? Any tuto welcome.

Thanks
Kamel

Don't forget about stress testing. I had a weird issue which i didn't notice at first - backlit keyboard at 100% and CPU fan kicking in combo was resulting in instacrash.

[ Edited by Korni 28.09.2011 - 00:01 ]

You cannot change the battery cells yourself. You have to find a company that specializes in this and has appropriate equipment.

Quote:
Actually, I have done this once myself on my PowerBook.

Although it was on an old model. Really old one. I mean "030 old"

Just old cells out, new in, and that was it. I used cells from some really old mobile phone batteries, as they just happened to be right size.

This will definitely be much more complex on newer hardware, and even back then it was obvious, that Apple had designed it with "non user-fixable" in mind. Just glued together without any screws.

Also available in German thanks to Frank Mariak.

One more hint on checking if the PowerBook is rev-C or rev-D. All models with ADB keyboard (rev-C and earlier) can be instantly rebooted with [L-Apple] [L-Ctrl] [PowerButton] key combo. Such combo does not work for models with USB keyboards (rev-D and rev-E).

Why are apple batteries recommended?

I thought during this period they bulged a fair amount and distorted the powerbook casing.
I remember looking through apple uk forums for a battery but was put off by the price and bulging issue.

Or is that just down to the powerbook itself rather than the battery?

thanks
Martin

I have bad experiences with 3rd party replacements. They also don't look like originals so they kind of stick out. Sometimes they don't fit perfectly either. The original electronics is surely better.

Like I said, the best option imho is to replace cells in the original battery.

Quote:
I have been thinking of ways how to make my PowerBook stick out from "normal" PowerBooks used with MacOS X. This isn't much, but would be a start

Hi,
I just received my powerbook.
Its indeed a 15" 5.8 model 1GB of RAM DDR2
The bad thing is it has been dropped, The upper right corner is damaged (near the DVI port)
I can't fully close it. I can see that the mechanism that should hold the PB closed (the large button) is inside the PB. It means that I'll have to open it :( I don't know if it will be very helpful since there's no hook attached to the screen to hold the screen in closed position.
I started it and it seems to work well. I know that the HD has been changed.

More later.
Kamel
PS I hope it'll survive long enough to use Morphos 3 for at least 2/3 years.
PSS I payed 150euros for it.


[ Edité par kamelito 30.09.2011 - 20:28 ]

The "hook" is magnetic (and button is a magnet) so once you allmost closed the PB the hook will spring out of the lid...

Just watch carefully it's easy to be misssed. On 17" there are even 2 of these hooks.

[ Edited by Kronos 30.09.2011 - 20:59 ]

Thanks Kronos

In fact I just push the button to open the PW when closed from the hole above it and the button just suddenly was in place and you know what the PB now can be closed and opened perfectly.

You know what I'm happy :)
I've noticed some kind of dirt traces into the screen, I don't think its dead pixels more like dirt. (kind of grey)

Any hints?

Kamel waiting for Morphos 3 :)

[ Edité par kamelito 30.09.2011 - 21:30 ]

[ Edité par kamelito 30.09.2011 - 21:45 ]

The one thing about user PowerBooks I don't get. Loads of them seems to be cracked, bended, failure. What the hell are ppl doing with these computers? I've seen so much used laptos in great conditions but only in PowerBook's case there is so many failures..

About gray dirt one guy in a forum said that they disappear when he took a flight. Maybe the pressure did something...

could it be cleaned (the screen) from the inside?

Kamel

Thank you for this.

kamelito,
Quote:

You payd it a real good price, good bargain!

My 5,8 is on its way to my home too

@Miky

In fact I was digging for such bargain. If the seller know what its PB is worth then you'll pay in France between 300 to 400 euros.
So I start looking for PB with missing info, just looking for G4 and 1440 for example. IF you go to Mac centric sites then it'll cost more, so I was looking at general sites that do have also computers.
But then again I suppose I was a bit lucky on that one.
On the other end if you buy it on a Mac site then the PB are in better conditions.
If the PB do have low RAM, old battery etc then if you plan to buy them separatly it'll cost maybe more than one which is already high end.

Kamel

pampers,
Quote:
My guess is, if user has paid a premium price for Apple computer, they are more likely to keep on using it, even if slightly broken, than they would use generic cheap X86 system.

On the other hand, I have heard some people having broken several X86 systems, but in many cases they are just taken to recycling center after the replacement has been bought.

A1138 soon to be in Boston 102 Euros

this might also be useful (found with google), has some tips for identifying various models (no mentions of MorphOS obviously)