• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

My newly arrived LC575...

tommijazz91

Well-known member
I feel a little sad sharing this, because I hoped it would turn out better than this. But probably my hopes were to high this time. I read countless times these machines are fragile, so I paid for reinforced package...aha of course it was useless.

I bought it off Buyee for around 125€ included shipping, hoping to keep the logic board and maybe sell/donate the body to someone here in the group. I don't think I have much to give away now.

I will let you know if the analog board or other parts are intact. Since it was opened by my parents and I was away, I have no way of knowing if the CRT neck is broken. But it probably is.

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WhatsApp Image 2021-02-13 at 11.32.30 (1).jpeg

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BacioiuC

Well-known member
I'm so sorry this happened to you! It looks like he just wrapped it in a bit of bubble wrap and put in a box? :(

 

tommijazz91

Well-known member
I'm so sorry this happened to you! It looks like he just wrapped it in a bit of bubble wrap and put in a box? :(
Apparently yes, I am yet to see this "reinforced package" I paid extra for...I just know there was a ton of bubble wrap. I sincerely hope that Buyee Support will get me a refund, but honestly I don't know how thing work from here. I'll let you know, so that maybe someone else doesn't risk their own LC's.

 

beachycove

Well-known member
I had to throw one out about a year ago because the plastics had become so brittle that it was no longer holding together, and certainly could not have been shipped. Based on what mine was like, I would not necessarily say that the box had been mishandled.

 

tommijazz91

Well-known member
It's incredible how bad the quality of this plastic is after many years...but at least now I know what happens if I try. Now I just hope that some of the components are good enough to be used somewhere else.

 

joshc

Well-known member
That's sad to see. 575s (and other 5xx ilk that used the same case/plastics) are on track to become the rarest Macs in existence (maybe apart from prototypes) at this rate...

 

CC_333

Well-known member
That looks awful!

575s (and other 5xx ilk that used the same case/plastics) are on track to become the rarest Macs in existence (maybe apart from prototypes) at this rate...
Agreed.  Makes me feel fortunate that I got my 578 in 2005, when they were still somewhat common (i.e., before most of them literally crumbled to heaps of splintered plastic).

c

 
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MOS8_030

Well-known member
It's incredible how bad the quality of this plastic is after many years...but at least now I know what happens if I try. Now I just hope that some of the components are good enough to be used somewhere else.
I have read that it was the flame retardant that was added to the plastic that makes these so fragile (and yellow) with age.

It didn't help that Apple was trying to use as much plastic as they could to reduce costs.

That's a shame about that one, it's just what ever parts can be salvaged now. :(

 
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CC_333

Well-known member
It seems to me that at least the logic board and disk drives can be salvaged, as they appear to be relatively intact?

The analog board looks more questionable, but I can't really tell for sure.  It seems to be intact, but I can't tell if any components were torn off and destroyed because that side isn't visible.

c

 

tommijazz91

Well-known member
It seems to me that at least the logic board and disk drives can be salvaged, as they appear to be relatively intact?

The analog board looks more questionable, but I can't really tell for sure.  It seems to be intact, but I can't tell if any components were torn off and destroyed because that side isn't visible.

c


I cannot say for certain at the moment, since it wasn't opened by me and I am abroad, but the logic board seems intact (and very dirty). The entire "lower section" remained in one piece so it could be the analog board was spared, minus some surface components. I don't think it came with either HDD or floppy drive. At this point, I'm also wondering about the back cover for the logic board and the CRT neck...I'll let you know in the near future. As I will probably only keep the logic board, I will give what I can salvage to the community here.

 

maceffects

Well-known member
I think the Sony tube was used in other things and can be sourced.  Finding a dead 575 might be the best bet.  Sadly, this is a normal sight any more.  I'd love to make new cases but its a hard sell because only those with currently broken ones would buy them.  The tooling cost would exceed $100,000.  I do think most of your 575 can be salvaged though!

 

jeremywork

Well-known member
I think the Sony tube was used in other things and can be sourced.  Finding a dead 575 might be the best bet.  Sadly, this is a normal sight any more.  I'd love to make new cases but its a hard sell because only those with currently broken ones would buy them.  The tooling cost would exceed $100,000.  I do think most of your 575 can be salvaged though!
This gave me an idea; since the act of shipping is often the cause of this type of plastics failure, would it be economical to instead produce something like a custom form-fit shipping case? A savvy buyer could offer to send it to a seller to use in lieu of their own solutions.

 

maceffects

Well-known member
@jeremywork that’s a good idea. Maybe using the foam methods while using a LC as a template. Then the buyer could have it ordered and sent to the seller. The only issue with that is most eBay sellers won’t agree because they get dinged for “late shipments”

 

maceffects

Well-known member
@jeremywork that’s a good idea. Maybe using the foam methods while using a LC as a template. Then the buyer could have it ordered and sent to the seller. The only issue with that is most eBay sellers won’t agree because they get dinged for “late shipments”

 

beachycove

Well-known member
The main problem is that in shipment, the CRT breaks loose from the plastics. Being heavy, it then wreaks havoc in the inside of the case as it lurches around and breaks everything else up. You can put an LC575 in anything you like, but the problem -- being internal to the machine -- is likely always going to be just the same, given the onset of brittle plastics with increasing age.

The moral of the story that if you want an LC575 (very nice screen, good 68LC040 performance, reasonably compact, etc.), buy locally.

 

tommijazz91

Well-known member
The main problem is that in shipment, the CRT breaks loose from the plastics. Being heavy, it then wreaks havoc in the inside of the case as it lurches around and breaks everything else up. You can put an LC575 in anything you like, but the problem -- being internal to the machine -- is likely always going to be just the same, given the onset of brittle plastics with increasing age.

The moral of the story that if you want an LC575 (very nice screen, good 68LC040 performance, reasonably compact, etc.), buy locally.


You are totally right. To minimize damage, one should also put the Mac with the CRT facing down. But it probably wouldn't have solved the problem this time.

That said, I learned the hard way. Shipping this machine is next to impossibile.

 

jeremywork

Well-known member
@jeremywork that’s a good idea. Maybe using the foam methods while using a LC as a template. Then the buyer could have it ordered and sent to the seller. The only issue with that is most eBay sellers won’t agree because they get dinged for “late shipments”
I'd expect it would probably be worthy of keeping with the LC once you receive it too. If you have to move or sell in the future it's a valuable asset.

Is there an actual eBay-controlled shipping timer? I know as a buyer I can leave feedback on shipping time, but I can still choose to rate 5 stars even if the seller was slow. I'd probably not give the seller a bad review if I knew they were waiting for my box to arrive  ;)

The main problem is that in shipment, the CRT breaks loose from the plastics. Being heavy, it then wreaks havoc in the inside of the case as it lurches around and breaks everything else up. You can put an LC575 in anything you like, but the problem -- being internal to the machine -- is likely always going to be just the same, given the onset of brittle plastics with increasing age.

The moral of the story that if you want an LC575 (very nice screen, good 68LC040 performance, reasonably compact, etc.), buy locally.
If the package were structured to lay the machine face-down in a box with protruding handles and obvious markings to retain that orientation, and additionally if there were a way of dampening some of the movements (think egg drop contest) I think it would have a better chance of surviving. Handles protruding just enough to make it wobble might give it the best chance of staying in the intended orientation for the entire trip.

I own a 5500 which I picked up locally to avoid whatever the seller was going to try to do for "Free Shipping." It does feel immensely more delicate than other models I own (i.e. I half-expect it to fracture and dump all the contents every time I lift it) but it still easily survived the trip home in the backseat of a car, despite whatever potholes and ruts inevitably jostled it a bit. 

 

maceffects

Well-known member
Using a expanding foam method like this with the tube face down should remove much, but certainly not all, of the risk.  But yes, regardless of the feedback it can still hurt sellers.  If I recall correctly, eBay always changes things, but last I recall late shipments will decrease top rated seller status and result in lower search placement.  Attached is a screenshot from my eBay Sellers Dashboard.  All the metrics below are factors of seller rating.  Oddly, I've seen sellers with feedback as low as 95% positive feedback still manage to be "Top Rated Seller" status. 

1C.jpg

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jeremywork

Well-known member
Using a expanding foam method like this with the tube face down should remove much, but certainly not all, of the risk.  But yes, regardless of the feedback it can still hurt sellers.  If I recall correctly, eBay always changes things, but last I recall late shipments will decrease top rated seller status and result in lower search placement.  Attached is a screenshot from my eBay Sellers Dashboard.  All the metrics below are factors of seller rating.  Oddly, I've seen sellers with feedback as low as 95% positive feedback still manage to be "Top Rated Seller" status. 

View attachment 40634

View attachment 40635
Interesting; makes sense. I wonder how the sellers offering repair services work around this...

 
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