• 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.

Very excited about my $30 vintage Mac haul today!

Huxley

Well-known member
I was really bummed when our local e-waste place (one of my favorite sources for interesting / weird stuff) shut down several months ago. Happily, I learned today that they relocated just a few miles away and are back in business! I ran over after work and ended up buying a Mac Plus (with keyboard, keyboard cable and mouse!) and a blue-and-white PowerMac G3, all for $30. The seller said the Mac Plus chimes when turned on, but nothing shows on the CRT. I haven't tested it myself yet (hope to put some time into it this weekend), but it seems at least possible that the brightness knob is turned down, or the yoke connector came loose, or it's just a totally-unsurprising case of bad capacitors. Even if the electronics are beyond repair (which I doubt), the case is in great shape (other than being very dirty), and the mouse / keyboard are both in great condition too.

 I'm also really psyched about the PowerMac G3 - it's a pretty under-powered system by modern standards, but the look of the machine is so iconic to me, I couldn't pass it up. Note that the first thing I did was pop out the little Maxell battery from the G3's motherboard - it was only just starting to leak, so thankfully I don't see any signs of serious corrosion. I don't know if the machine works at all, but I'm very curious what might be on those two HDD's. One of my earliest college memories is of an afternoon I spent in the Graphics Lab at my school in the summer of 1999 - the lab was overflowing with these blue-and-white G3's, and I'd never been in the presence of so much computing power before. Good times!

Here's an album of pics (I can't seem to attach them to this post for some reason)

:)

Huxley

 

maceffects

Well-known member
Wow, fantastic find!  I think there is a large enclosed 40ft container that locally allows people to drop off stuff for free recycling.  I wonder if I should venture over and see what is in there.  I know you probably should not take stuff from there, but it would be fun to see.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I wish the recyclers around here were like that. The one I inquired about being able to get stuff from them said "No, check eBay." Very helpful.

 

Jinnai

Well-known member
I've taken stuff from the dump before. I say if it's possible to do it without getting fined, go for it. If not, I agree that's really lame.

 

EvieSigma

Young ThinkPad Apprentice
If you want a little bit faster CPU for the G3, I have a 350MHz one I'd send you for the cost of shipping.

 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
I kinda miss my weekly trip to the local recycler and coming home with something every Friday, but you end up running out of room. Most of the real vintage gear is not in the stream anymore anyway.

 

CC_333

Well-known member
Some of my more interesting finds have come from the dump. 

For instance, a couple summers ago, I got a decent P4 laptop (Dell Latitude 800, or maybe 810). I think all it needed was a bezel for the top buttons (where the power/volume buttons and indicators are). Then, back in 200...8? I got a decently nice (but *very* dirty!) PC. I took out the innards (which I still have) and built a then-modern machine out of it. This year, I took the same case and put my new Skylake system in it, for old time's sake :)  

Anyway, I suppose that technically makes me a thief, but I guess most of us who have dumpster dived are in the same boat, so, oh well?

c

 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
I never actually dumpster dived, just never seen a machine on the side of the road in my lifetime (or in the trash bin). I have snagged machines that other people found in dumpsters or on the curb and were given to me (after they got bored with it or snagged the HD).

Most of the interesting stuff kind of disappeared after the recycling gold rush either ending up on ebay or stripped.

 

EvilCapitalist

Well-known member
Very nice find, and worth it for the Plus keyboard and mouse alone!  For a recycled machine that B&W G3 looks to be in fine condition, better than a lot I've seen from time to time on my local Craigslist.

Sadly, we don't have options like that in my neck of the woods.  Most things go through the big corporate e-recyclers that have very strict asset controls and anything that goes through electronics recycling with the county is a similar affair.

 

Huxley

Well-known member
If you want a little bit faster CPU for the G3, I have a 350MHz one I'd send you for the cost of shipping.
Deal! Knowing me, if I ever make room to actually get this thing setup, I'll be snooping around for a CPU upgrade - might as well get ahead of the curve!

PM me whenever you want to set it all up, and thank you!

H.

 

olePigeon

Well-known member
I was really bummed when our local e-waste place (one of my favorite sources for interesting / weird stuff) shut down several months ago. Happily, I learned today that they relocated just a few miles away and are back in business!
WHAT?!   Really?!  What's the address?  I can't find any info on it. :eek:

 

Charadis

Well-known member
Nice setup you acquired!

I remember the “math lab” at my alma mater was full of PowerMac G4s, but our physics labs had the G3s. Good and bad memories. Last time I visited, all of the G4s were replaced with PCs. I could only hope they went to good homes, too... :(  

 
Last edited by a moderator:

insaneboy

Well-known member
The seller said the Mac Plus chimes when turned on, but nothing shows on the CRT. I haven't tested it myself yet (hope to put some time into it this weekend), but it seems at least possible that the brightness knob is turned down, or the yoke connector came loose, or it's just a totally-unsurprising case of bad capacitors. Even if the electronics are beyond repair (which I doubt), the case is in great shape (other than being very dirty), and the mouse / keyboard are both in great condition too.
sounds like the typical bad solder joints on the analog board, super easy fix.  

 
Top