In the trash

[waynestewart]

This isn't vintage but it was a lucky find. Someone moving out of the building I manage tossed a 2009 Macbook in the trash. It looked to be in immaculate condition so I took it home, if nothing else I'd have parts. When I got home, I plugged it in and as I expected nothing happened when I pressed the power button. I'd kept a Macbook top cover that had a couple of bad keys for the key caps. Swapped it in, pressed the power button and it went bong and started up. Now what to do, sell it as is, fix it and sell it or keep it.

[Byrd]

Good god - that is a nice find, can you FrankenMac your dodgy lid with the more aesthetically pleasing one?

[jsarchibald]

I came across a 15" MBP i5 for $300 with a fault where it would shut down randomly. I did a fresh OS install, and it's been running for a solid 3 days with no issues.

[gobabushka]

nice find! I wish I could find stuff like tht!

That's darned near how I found my macbook. Someone was just trying to get $100 for it. My boss bought it, got a newer macbook, and I got this from him for a little extra work.

[uniserver]

so the issue was the power button its self?

[IIfx]

Well, thats a good find! I would keep it. Is this 2009 one the nVidia GPU Normal non-unibody case Macbook? If so, its the nicest plastic macbook.
Interesting how people just throw out computers like that.

[mcdermd]

We can thank the early-2000s WinTel empire for that. They pretty much created the disposable computer culture.

[waynestewart]

It wasn't the button itself. I tried cutting out the button and shorting the two wires with no luck. It'd be easy enough to test that but without an easy way to start the computer, it doesn't seem worth the effort. The macbook has a 10 contact connector going to the motherboard. I'd guess that the power button would short two of those but which two?

so the issue was the power button its self?

[insaneboy]

replaced the top case (keyboard) on an '09 macbook a few weeks ago for the same issue. Now it works like a charm. found a brand new genuine Apple module on fleabay cheap.

charged $160 for the repair. which included new battery, just got a cheep-o one since it spends its entire time plugged in in a hallway(employee log-in computer). Basically just needed a cover for the hole and 30 sec of battery back up incase someone knocks that mag safe connector loose.

[TheIanMan85]

MacBook for free in the trash hopefully in need of a cheap repair? Nice. Even if it were used for parts I'm sure there's plenty of good stuff.
$300 i5 15" MBP? That's the kind of stuff that has me searching CL daily. And $100 MacBooks...

I'm jealous. I haven't gotten an awesome score in a long time. Alright, I'm gonna browse craigslist then check every dumpster and trashcan in the city!

[IIfx]

city!

I live in a town of 7000 people. I manage to find good deals, its possible. My last mega-find though came from 30mi away, 4 Radius Rockets, a IIfx, 8100, Radus 81/110 and a dead 9500 with a ton of cards, ram, and a bookcase full of software for 200 bucks.

Expand your search horizon. Post a Wanted: Old Macs to cragislist. Every time I did that, I SCORED.

Of Course, now I need space to attempt such finds. All my closets are full.

Such is life.

[Dennis Nedry]

I have never had such strange experiences as I had when I went through my cragislist ad posting phase. There was a time when I didn't have many Macs, and that certainly fixed that problem. Posting an ad to craigslist is a guaranteed way to get an old Mac for free within a week or two. When people have individual Macs for you, they're mostly PPC Macs. Lots of 6100s and 6200/6300s in the Performa variety. LOTS of old original iMacs. Where you'll find 68ks is when you stumble upon a hoard of old Macs. I got a pickup truck load of IIsi, LCs, and even a IIci and a Quadra 700 from some guy's shed in a trailer park. Even a couple of Lacie Apple logo external hard drives. They're out there for free if you want them and don't mind visiting other people's worlds. I have had enough of it myself, though. The only case styles missing are Quadra 800, 900, Power Mac 4400, and color classic.