Value Village came through with this iBook G4!

[kb3wmh]

This iBook G4 is the 2004 model with the 1.2 GHz G4. It has 1.25 GB of RAM, and a 30 gigabyte hard drive. I put a fresh install on Tiger on it and its a great little machine! As I'm sure you can see, it was really gross when I first got it, but it cleaned up really nicely. The keyboard is a little discolored, and there is also some discoloration on the palmrest but it looks better in person than it does in these photos.

I already have a 2005 12 inch PowerBook G4, so I didn't really need this machine, but at $12 (it was 25% off day at my local Value Village) I couldn't say no. I've never owned one of the white plastic iBooks--I have an indigo G3 clamshell and a early white plastic macbook, but the G4 iBook is a smart-looking little machine, and I'm definitely a fan! I'm just praying that the hard drive doesn't fail, because changing that out doesn't seem like the most fun job, but for now it seems to be running OK and isn't making any terrible noises.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

Wow nice score!  If i saw something like that locally i'd snap it up for sure. 

How did you get it so CLEAN?!

 

[davidg5678]

How did you get it so CLEAN?!

I once got a filthy MacBook 1,1 to look almost brand new using a Magic Eraser. I know this is an iBook G4, but they're similar enough. I wiped the computer down with Windex and Isopropyl alcohol first, but a lot of the dirt refused to come off with these chemicals. I think the Magic Eraser's abrasive is necessary to really clean up the discolored palm rests and plastic. Of course the abrasive also leaves a lot of microscopic scratches everywhere on the shiny plastic. Considering how dirty the computer was beforehand, this tradeoff was worth it to me. (Not to mention that it was already badly scratched. --like every used polycarbonate Apple product seems to be)

 

[nightingale]

Wow, that’s a great find. The Value Village by me rarely has any computers, and if they do they are extremely over priced junk. 

 

[kb3wmh]

Wow nice score!  If i saw something like that locally i'd snap it up for sure. 

How did you get it so CLEAN?!

For the scuffs, they came off with some household cleaner (Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day for what its worth) and a lot of elbow grease. I just spray a little on a paper towel so it doesn't get the computer too wet and scrub from there. The sticker came off with some Goo-Gone (that stuff is magic if you've never used it. And the magic eraser is actually a good idea--I have a beat up 2007 MacBook 3, 1 with a discolored palmrest that I'll probably try it on first but that would be the last piece of my iBook puzzle.

Wow, that’s a great find. The Value Village by me rarely has any computers, and if they do they are extremely over priced junk. 

This one is the same way, I really have no understanding of how they price things. The same trip last week I picked up the iBook I also bought a Latitude E6440 for only $20! I went back there today and they had a couple of mid-2000s Windows laptops for about $50 each--old enough to be useless but also not really interesting in any way in my opinion. 

This is from a different thrift store, but the situation is frequently the same there. They had this iMac G5 languishing behind the counter for months, and for some reason no one ever bought it. I can't imagine why... 

 

[CC_333]

This is from a different thrift store, but the situation is frequently the same there. They had this iMac G5 languishing behind the counter for months, and for some reason no one ever bought it. I can't imagine why... 

Ouch!  That price isn't negotiable?

c

 

[kb3wmh]

Nope, not negotiable unfortunately. It disappeared eventually so I'm assuming they gave in and dropped the price. I don't have space for desktops like that so I probably wouldn't have bought it even if it was reasonable but it was still sad to see it sit there for so long.

 

[kb3wmh]

Picked up another iBook G4 at another thrift store! This one is a 14 inch 1.42 GHz G4. Weirdly enough, I think the screen back was swapped with a G3 one--its transparent instead of solid white, and the bezel doesn't exactly snap in properly.

Here it is, along with my 12 inch G4 running Snow Leopard for good measure.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

Nice!  Wish i saw stuff like this in the wild around here.

Fond memories of Snow Leopard; probably my favorite OSX

 

[CC_333]

Here it is, along with my 12 inch G4 running Snow Leopard for good measure.

I thought you had made a typo at first, then I looked at the screenshot!  You must be running one of the early, G4-capable Snow Leopard betas, yes?  I ask because RTM Snow Leopard only runs on Intel Macs....

c

 

[AndiS]

I'm just praying that the hard drive doesn't fail, because changing that out doesn't seem like the most fun job

Don't worry, it is not too bad. I've replaced several back in the day when the machines were still in regular use and never had more than one or two screws left over ;-)

Just take your time and make pictures at every step and you'll do fine if the HD's time has come.

 

[kb3wmh]

I thought you had made a typo at first, then I looked at the screenshot!  You must be running one of the early, G4-capable Snow Leopard betas, yes?  I ask because RTM Snow Leopard only runs on Intel Macs....

c

Yep it's the beta. It's pretty useless (no GPU acceleration and no Airport drivers) but I had to give it a try. I definitely wish they'd finished it and released it though!

 

[CC_333]

Yep it's the beta. It's pretty useless (no GPU acceleration and no Airport drivers) but I had to give it a try. I definitely wish they'd finished it and released it though!

Neat!

There is a project on MacRumors where some people were trying to take the best, newest bits of Leopard, Snow Leopard beta, and any RTM SL components they could make PPC compatible and add them all together to make a kinda-sorta frankenstein-ish Snow Leopard PPC that has working Airport and GPU acceleration).  I don't know where the link is, but last I knew they were making some interesting progress.

c