Hello , I wanted to see if anybody know where I can get a Apple iBook clam shell for free or cheap price that looks great? I seen a post that some one was thinking about giving some away please let me know if this person is still giving them away or Not. The one I wanted was the beautiful key lime or key lime with dots or the beautiful pink with dots . I never could afford one and I love vintage items . Please let me know and can you get on the Internet with the clam shell? Thank you
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Where can I get an Apple iBook clam shell cheap or free
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Johnnya101
Well-known member
You can look on eBay, but expect to pay at least $100 for one.
Hello,Thank you for telling me about eBay . However , I do know that these iBook clam shell are wort over a 1,000 or 2,000 . Especially the one I wanted is a limited back in 1999 . If anybody come across where I can get key lime or pink flamingo cheaper than eBay please let me know the websites.
jessenator
Well-known member
They're worth whatever people are willing to pay for them, and unfortunately eBay is the main source of valuation, as well as actually finding them to buy.
Since the early 2000s-2010s, every online Mac specialist who once sold outdated models (shreve systems, smalldog, etc.) No longer does so (or exists). In my opinion since the death of Steve Jobs the prices have been gouged on eBay because legacy (despite him having bugger all to do with apple for almost all of the mid 80s & 90s).
If there are local classifieds where you are, that also might be a good source to periodically check.
Since the early 2000s-2010s, every online Mac specialist who once sold outdated models (shreve systems, smalldog, etc.) No longer does so (or exists). In my opinion since the death of Steve Jobs the prices have been gouged on eBay because legacy (despite him having bugger all to do with apple for almost all of the mid 80s & 90s).
If there are local classifieds where you are, that also might be a good source to periodically check.
Just to answer this part of it -- "not really" is the best answer. There are a handful of mobile web sites or old web sites or simple web sites, primarily with read-only content, that you'll be able to use. There was an effort a couple years ago to make an updated version of an old Mozilla codebase that was compiling on Mac OS 9, but it hasn't seen any action in public for several years and last I looked at it, many of its certificates have expired, so even if it can, say, browse te mobile version of a page, it'll be annoying and unsafe to do so.
And, an iBook G3 simply doesn't have enough computing power to render modern web sites even if you, say, put Mac OS X 10.4 on it and used the semi-modern TenFourFox build. And, at this point, TenFourFox has diverged enough from where Firefox really is that we're going to get to a point where we can't consider it modern any more.
On an average day, gmail dot com or twitter dot com on my main computer is using more RAM than most of these older machines even has.
These are very well liked and we've been discussing it elsewhere on the site, they are one of the few extremely well built Apple laptops that can run 68k and PowerPC Classic Mac software reasonably quickly and can still be trusted to carry around. As such, they do kind of carry a premium.
The least expensive ones will almost certainly be the original 300MHz blueberry and orange models.
Outside of eBay, your best bet is to keep a watchful eye on your local Craigslist or whatever site(s) people around you use to trade things. Kijiji in Canada, KSL in Utah, etc. eBay is worth looking at because not every auction is expensive. You can also often post wanted ads in those areas. I hear lots of success stories about people finding things just by asking around - both on line and on trade sites and in person. Perhaps a colleague or friend you know has a friend who has seen one laying around a friend's house or has one themselves they don't really want any more.
You might find somebody on this site willing to sell one if you post a wanted ad in the Trading Post.
There is a key lime model, it's typically, if I remember correctly, 366 or 466 MHz. The only dots on it are the Apple logo and stem on the back. There is no pink or red iBook. Ruby red as with the iMacs would've looked really good. I was never a very huge fan of the way the "Strawberry" iMac sort of turned a super light red/pink color for the second generation, but of course, that was why they were building all the different colors, I imagine.
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EvilCapitalist
Well-known member
I'm assuming you're talking about this auction:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/123569425715
Clamshell iBooks never left the factory that way. That seller seems to have come upon a cache of clamshells and has been turning them into "art" projects like that for years.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but unless you seriously luck out and find one locally the odds of finding an inexpensive lime clamshell *anywhere* online are slim to nil. The few that I've seen on eBay either get snapped up by that same seller hawking the grossly overpriced "art" projects or by someone with deep pockets. They were a special order color originally (if my memory is correct) and it appears that most folks opted for the graphite version over the lime. Additionally, as cory mentioned, going online with a machine of this vintage isn't going to work unless you're only visiting simple text based websites. You have to remember, when these were new the web was text and images at best. Now each website is essentially a remote application accessed through a browser.
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Franklinstein
Well-known member
It's unlikely you'll find a nice Key Lime iBook online for less than $500, or a dead one for less than $200. Everybody wants one. They were part of the final family of clamshell iBooks (also available in Indigo and Graphite) so they were also the fastest, with FireWire and DVD built-in, which makes them more desirable. Maybe you can get lucky and get one from a friend or family member or random seller who doesn't deal with computers often and thus doesn't realize the value of the computer, but that's unlikely.
You can probably find an original Blueberry or Tangerine iBook for $100 or less, because they're everywhere. They're even cheaper if they don't work.
Any of the pink ones or polka dots or whatever are not original; they've been modded. If that's your thing, then you'll be paying whatever the modder wants to sell them for.
Even the fastest iBooks at 466MHz will struggle with modern web sites that do anything more than show static text or images. YouTube is a hard no. Maybe if you max out your RAM you can watch old Flash videos if sites still host them. Don't try to play Jelly Mario or whatever because not only would it be painfully slow, but it likely won't run at all.
You can maybe get a modern-ish USB WiFi adapter with WPA security to work in OS X, but OS 9 is limited to WEP security whether it's using a newer adapter or the AirPort card. Either way you're limited to 11mpbs maximum (either because of using an adapter on the slow USB 1.1 port, or the 802.11b of the original AirPort card).
You can probably find an original Blueberry or Tangerine iBook for $100 or less, because they're everywhere. They're even cheaper if they don't work.
Any of the pink ones or polka dots or whatever are not original; they've been modded. If that's your thing, then you'll be paying whatever the modder wants to sell them for.
Even the fastest iBooks at 466MHz will struggle with modern web sites that do anything more than show static text or images. YouTube is a hard no. Maybe if you max out your RAM you can watch old Flash videos if sites still host them. Don't try to play Jelly Mario or whatever because not only would it be painfully slow, but it likely won't run at all.
You can maybe get a modern-ish USB WiFi adapter with WPA security to work in OS X, but OS 9 is limited to WEP security whether it's using a newer adapter or the AirPort card. Either way you're limited to 11mpbs maximum (either because of using an adapter on the slow USB 1.1 port, or the 802.11b of the original AirPort card).
That is the actual ugliest thing I've seen at least all year.
The seller appears not only to have... thrown a bunch of random lime-colored stuff in just for matchiness, but they cut a giant hole in the machine for... some kind of reason, and the battery is re-colored for no good reason?'
Anyway, back to OP's request, if that specific machine is what they want, the only way to get it will be to pony up $1500 or more US dollars and buy it from that seller.
tsundoku
教授か何か洗練された者
People really need to stop expecting free stuff, especially when it comes to Apple. You might occasionally get something for free, but usually you don't, and when you do it tends to be from people you know, when you're not expecting it, not when you're looking for it and you ask strangers on the internet to give it to you.
Also, if you want something for free (or cheap), you don't get to be picky. Do you want a cheap (still probably not free) iBook that might not look good but works, or do you want one in great shape, in a rare, sought-after color? Choose.
Also, if you want something for free (or cheap), you don't get to be picky. Do you want a cheap (still probably not free) iBook that might not look good but works, or do you want one in great shape, in a rare, sought-after color? Choose.
just to add, I think only this one seller is pricing them so high. The above comments about being able to find orange and blue(berry) ones for much less are very true. Even the Graphite and Indigo versions, which were the regular stock colors of the late clamshell iBook, are much less expensive than it seems like Key Limes normally go for, especially 466MHz ones.
All of that said, there is one for $200 right now, it just, isn't an art project, the Apple logo from the lid is missing, and the auction text is ambiguous as to whether the power adapter is included or not, plus it's "only" a 366MHz, but on the plus side, it's a lot less expensive, it looks a lot better, and realistically, these are only good as Mac OS 9 machines - OS X will run, but it will not be pleasant on an 800x600 display. In Mac OS 9, until you start looking at a few fairly high end apps.
eBay is usually not a good representation of the lowest possible pricing, but there are several nice looking 300MHz iBooks in orange and blue(berry) as well as 366 and 466MHz ones from different colors in graphite and indigo (the darker blue) for much better overall pricing.
Another option to remember if you just want "a reliable vintage Mac laptop" is that newer iBook G3s are faster, have better displays, more ports, sometimes better wifi, and appear to sometimes cost even less. There's an iBook G3@800 with 320 megs of RAM and a 30 gig hard disk right now with buy-it-now set to $75. That would be a reasonable machine even for relatively demanding OS 9 applications, and it should run OS X better than a Clamshell model.
All of that said, there is one for $200 right now, it just, isn't an art project, the Apple logo from the lid is missing, and the auction text is ambiguous as to whether the power adapter is included or not, plus it's "only" a 366MHz, but on the plus side, it's a lot less expensive, it looks a lot better, and realistically, these are only good as Mac OS 9 machines - OS X will run, but it will not be pleasant on an 800x600 display. In Mac OS 9, until you start looking at a few fairly high end apps.
eBay is usually not a good representation of the lowest possible pricing, but there are several nice looking 300MHz iBooks in orange and blue(berry) as well as 366 and 466MHz ones from different colors in graphite and indigo (the darker blue) for much better overall pricing.
Another option to remember if you just want "a reliable vintage Mac laptop" is that newer iBook G3s are faster, have better displays, more ports, sometimes better wifi, and appear to sometimes cost even less. There's an iBook G3@800 with 320 megs of RAM and a 30 gig hard disk right now with buy-it-now set to $75. That would be a reasonable machine even for relatively demanding OS 9 applications, and it should run OS X better than a Clamshell model.
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The downside is that most of the "icebook" G3s suffered from that flexing motherboard issue that killed the video chip. The original 500/600mhz ones with the Rage 128 chip seem to be the only ones that really qualify as "reliable", and even that probably has an asterisk attached.
(It's actually remarkable how few Icebooks turn up in an eBay search for "iBook G3" that aren't marked "for parts or repair".)
I was talking with defor about this and his take was that if you are using them exclusively for Mac OS 9, they are probably less likely to have GPU problems, but, it's definitely worth noting. One of the ATi Rage models would definitely be best, and those seem to be just a little more costly on eBay than the later G3 models, probably for exactly that reason.
Franklinstein
Well-known member
True, the 700+MHz models were the ones with the worst of the GPU problems. I bought one once that was apparently on its 3rd logic board judging by the layers of stickers under the keyboard.
Apple probably sold a few million of the iceBooks to schools, which explains why there are so many on the used market and why they're usually in poor shape/dead.
A little bird that was definitely in a position to know told me long ago Apple definitively nailed the problem down as due to flexing of the motherboard more due to handling than heat, so I'd take that with a grain of salt. The GPU would probably run a little cooler under OS 9 so I suppose that might make them slightly more resilient, but....
I didn't exactly take a scientific count, but when I looked for iBook G3s on eBay *and* the local Craigslist today it appeared there were more Toilet Seats than IceBooks, broken or not. I know there was an absolute glut of these things a few years ago but it kind of looks like maybe they've mostly gone to the big electronics recycle bin in the sky.
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For me: Mac OS 9. I don't really like or want OSX/PPC at all. Plus, I did see a few units that were fairly cheap.
That's a fair note and I believe I've heard the same or something very similar. The way I've heard it, the most reliable of any of the Dual USB iBooks (G3 and G4) is the initial set of 500/600MHz Rage128 units, which has long been my personal favorite counter-example to the general rule that the first revision of any given Apple product tends to have problems. I need to just go hunting and write down a list of what was wrong (or not) with each generation, at some point.
Depending on what you can find one going for, and what you need to do, I can see the risk being worth it. At absolute worst, if you spend, "a couple bucks" on one (whatever that means to you) and get a few years out of it as a bridge machine or doing something relatively simple, then you can part it out to fix up another unit or send the parts on to other systems that can use them, I don't think that's a waste, per se.
But, like, I can absolutely understand the take that even a couple dollars would be better put toward something not known explicitly for going bad. (Random thought: we'll be having this discussion in a few years about used 2007/2008 MacBook Pros.)
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