A Challenge: Plastic Macbooks for July

[wthww]

Hello fellow MLAers,

Nothing says vintage Intel Mac quite as well as the dreaded plastic (polycarbonate) MacBooks. Y'know, the ones your parents sent you to college with.

Yeah, they're greasier than the average oil pan and may (or may not) be actively decomposing, but they're cheap.

Here's an example for $25 of god's own american dollars from eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147304317394

I'd like to host a challenge on the MLA to help ring in the ubiquitous plastic MacBook to our storied halls:

1) Find a plastic Macbook that needs some help (the grubbier the better).
2) Clean it up and set 'er right
3) Spend a week with 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6.

If you'd like to participate, find a plastic Macbook to take under your wing and post about it in this thread during the month of July! We do love a good before and after, so take plenty of pictures!

I'll be participating in this challenge myself! Best of luck to you all and remember: the only way to lose is by not playing the game !

//wthww

 

[wthww]

PS: Bonus points for grubby vintage stickers on the chassis.

 

[Byrd]

I'm going to be outlandish and ask: Blackbook MacBooks allowed 'ere? Got one, it was $20 if I recall, and it's alright.

 

[joshc]

Do not tempt me! I've been good at not wasting money recently!

 

[luRaichu]

Spend a week with 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6.

what if I'd rather install openbsd

 

[bobcat]

PS: Bonus points for grubby vintage stickers on the chassis.

Bonus points for installing Windows XP with Boot Camp!

 

[bobcat]

Anybody have a good fix for the top case cracks on these MacBooks?

 

[Phipli]

Anybody have a good fix for the top case cracks on these MacBooks?

https://ebay.io/m/PAhugB

 

[wthww]

what if I'd rather install openbsd

That works too!

 

[CC_333]

Ooo!

Maybe I could use this as an excuse to find all the bits of my old one (bought new in early 2007) and reassemble it back to a working form!

Or maybe I could simply find another one like it that's mostly whole already, fix whatever's broken, and clean it up.

I had a black one for a while maybe 14 years ago, but it fell apart not long after I got it working. I don't recall why, but I still have most of the bits for it somewhere....

c

 

[wthww]

I'm cajoling @Cory5412 because he told me he had a few already.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

If you'd like to participate, find a plastic Macbook to take under your wing and post about it in this thread during the month of July! We do love a good before and after, so take plenty of pictures!

Do the white unibody ones count?

 

[volvo242gt]

Do the white unibody ones count?

They're all considered white or black unibody MacBooks, at least, according to everymac.com. So, A1181 or A1342 works. The MacBook in-name-only 12" machines don't count.

 

[Snial]

Sounds like fun, but problematic for me..

1) Find a plastic Macbook that needs some help (the grubbier the better).

I have a plastic MacBook, but it's nice and clean, so (1) doesn't work.

2) Clean it up and set 'er right

And therefore (2) doesn't work.

3) Spend a week with 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6.

Though (3) would work (though actually I have 10.7).

I also thought about buying one of these from Ebay UK:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/178260596036

They're actually all newer than mine, and super-cheap, and it's not too far to Mancland. And I feel sorry for these waifs. But, really, do I want another Intel Mac to clutter up the house? I guess I could correct a few of its faults and sell it for more?

Solution!

Then I had a brilliant idea: I could spludge something greasy and grubby on my existing 2008 white MacBook; then pull a few key-caps off. Then I can comply with (1), (2) and (3)!

Winner!

 

[CC_333]

Then I had a brilliant idea: I could spludge something greasy and grubby on my existing 2008 white MacBook; then pull a few key-caps off. Then I can comply with (1), (2) and (3)!

Or if you use it awhile, it'll happen for you!

These things are really hard to keep clean when used regularly.

The glossy plastics also get scratched up super easily, so an example that gets any use at all ends up really ugly really fast unless it lives on a desk and never gets touched.

c