eBay bargains - what's your latest conquest?

[Certificate of Excellence]

Drive Carriers can be 3d printed (if you have one). If not, using ssdd are very light and can either dangle or be affixed with x2 sided tape, velcro tabs etc.

The super drive - these machines use any old pata cdrom drive (not apple specific) so stick what you have in there or use a usb external cdrom drive if you have it.

Ram is self explanatory (buy a stick & install)

The psu is the biggest hurdle here. Id not pay for an original mdd psu as they’re unreliable at this point and flaky. Id instead look at a modern ATX psu and MDD adapter on ebay.

The concern I have is you really don’t know the state of the logic board and have no way to test it unless you have another Mdd to stick it in and test it. Buying what you need to get this up and running can get pricey between the psu/adapter/ram/cdrom drive and if the logic board is dead, thats an investment into nothing unless you want to go down the sadistic rabbit hole of component/trace level logic board repair.

I think gutting it and dropping in Intel or amd guts and running linux would be a fun and cheap alternative (assuming you have the guts that is). Also, having a couple parts machines is always handy. I have duplicate mdd, QS, pmG5 boxes in my closet to support repairs of the running machines I use, so having an extra box around is never a loss 🙂

Good luck.

 

[Alexis Trinquet]

Thanks for the encouragement and rest assured, regarding the PSU, that's been on my mind as well, assuming I do get one, I'll still get a ATX converter harness just in case.

Although not being able to use ADC displays without using an external power brick kinda pains me, but I suppose that's a necessary evil, I figured I could just try and shoehorn a 25V PSU just for that rail. (famous last words)

Drive Carriers can be 3d printed (if you have one). If not, using ssdd are very light and can either dangle or be affixed with x2 sided tape, velcro tabs etc.

A 3D Printer? I unfortunately don't have one, so I'll just zip tie the drives. Or alternatively, I wonder if I could put a eSATA card and boot from an eSATA enclosure?

The concern I have is you really don’t know the state of the logic board and have no way to test it unless you have another Mdd to stick it in and test it.

That's indeed the big question mark with this machine.. There was another complete MDD on FleaBay but it was rather beat up (and shipping was around twice the seller was asking for the MDD itself) so I passed.

Buying what you need to get this up and running can get pricey between the psu/adapter/ram/cdrom drive and if the logic board is dead, thats an investment into nothing unless you want to go down the sadistic rabbit hole of component/trace level logic board repair.

I understand and I agree with that.. Speaking if the RAM and CD drive, I already have spares that I pillaged of old and broken PCs over the years, so on that aspect I guess I'm good to go.

 

[3922434]

Jeeeeseeee Alexis these are the types of decisions that caused the financial crisis in 2008 I sure your not in politics 😂

 

[rampancy]

Here is what is missing in no particular order from the seller's pictures:

• ODD/HDD carriers
• Hard drives and SuperDrive
• Power Supply
• A truckload of screws
• The lower drive carrier fan
• RAM

I'd echo what @Certificate of Excellence said. They great thing about the MDDs is that they used a lot of industry-standard components, including the fans. RAM might be expensive due to its age, but getting your hands on old IDE optical drives is relatively easy if you've got a computer parts recycler or a place like FreeGeek in your area.

The main problem is the PSU. I've seen specialized adapter cables for using ATX power supplies in an MDD G4 on eBay, but here's some more info on potential issues surrounding this.

 

[3922434]

I was kidding btw what I said above and honestly probably would’ve done the same thing. Honest truth is even with all that missing you still have something that is not only apart of apples history but in the years ahead will become rarer and rarer to the point you’ll open eBay and not find any for sale anymore. Your fine…others have echoed the power supply and that was a really high failure component of the powermac…your best bet is to do the power supply mod and use an actual pc atx power supply…it’s not hard and is dirt cheap until to you find an actual oem power supply at a not so stupid price on eBay. Cheers! 😁

 

[Alexis Trinquet]

I'd echo what @Certificate of Excellence said. They great thing about the MDDs is that they used a lot of industry-standard components, including the fans. RAM might be expensive due to its age, but getting your hands on old IDE optical drives is relatively easy if you've got a computer parts recycler or a place like FreeGeek in your area.

The main problem is the PSU. I've seen specialized adapter cables for using ATX power supplies in an MDD G4 on eBay, but here's some more info on potential issues surrounding this.

Yeah that's the problem, where I live, there's not much computer recyclers (and the few that there is, REALLY don't want anyone rummaging through their stuff let alone picking things up), but luckily, I got some spare DDR modules (though my last IDE DVD drive unfortunately is dead as a doornail).

As for the PSU, I've got a ATX adapter on the way, though I've got a lead for two MDD PSUs, one AcBel (that I'd like to take a crack at trying to rebuild it) and one Samsung.. I take it the AcBels seems to be the more troublesome ones? Either way if I wind up with one of these I'll most definitely will try and rebuild it, or if push comes to shove, gut it and transplant the guts of an ATX PSU.

---

@theriault.ryan - it's all good, don't worry not that I could've done anything in 2008 as I was barely 7 years old back then 🤣 but yeah, locally I hadn't had much luck finding MDDs nor Power Macs in general (either they were too far and sellers didn't want to risk shipping, I don't have a vehicle so this is a real issue for me) and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for years, even in garage sales (which ironically is how I nabbed a Power Macintosh 7500/100 and a LC II) but other than that, I've yet to find one. Though this week I'll be going with a friend to a garage sale, who knows, maybe I'll find one, or something even better?! Who knows!

As one of my friends said, in garage sales, you almost never find what you're looking for, but you're guaranteed to find something that you would like to have but aren't actively seeking out

 

[ToniCH]

Back in the day when I worked at a Mac dealership I sold my dad a new Powerbook G4 Titanium. It was the first model so I guess the PowerBook3,2 400 or 500MHz model. It was a beautiful machine! Dad used it for few years and then updated to something newer but I no longer remember what it was.

Well, I was bummed that I never found my dads old Titanium and I have no idea where it went. Maybe he gave it as a trade in or something? Sadly he is not around to tell me anymore. It was those years when I moved out of Mac-business so I wasn't paying close attention (other than my Mac-support role to him). But, I have wondered about it for many years now. And I wanted one for my own collection, but they are rare here now, most have gone to scrap I guess and many are in bad condition. Over the years I have kept my eye out for a decent one.

Well, today I finally closed a deal on a Titanium. Should be very nice 2002 1GHz -version with some accessories. Bad battery, as can be expected by now but otherwise should be a clean working sample. Price was reasonable, would have not paid it for early example but for a latest model yes. I'll probably upgrade the RAM to max and install a mSATA -drive to it (not for historical value but I like to use my stuff sometimes). Need to investigate the battery rebuild options also, I guess it uses the 18650 cells?

I'll post more when I get it.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Yeah that's the problem, where I live, there's not much computer recyclers (and the few that there is, REALLY don't want anyone rummaging through their stuff let alone picking things up), but luckily, I got some spare DDR modules (though my last IDE DVD drive unfortunately is dead as a doornail).

As for the PSU, I've got a ATX adapter on the way, though I've got a lead for two MDD PSUs, one AcBel (that I'd like to take a crack at trying to rebuild it) and one Samsung.. I take it the AcBels seems to be the more troublesome ones? Either way if I wind up with one of these I'll most definitely will try and rebuild it, or if push comes to shove, gut it and transplant the guts of an ATX PSU.

---

@theriault.ryan - it's all good, don't worry not that I could've done anything in 2008 as I was barely 7 years old back then 🤣 but yeah, locally I hadn't had much luck finding MDDs nor Power Macs in general (either they were too far and sellers didn't want to risk shipping, I don't have a vehicle so this is a real issue for me) and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for years, even in garage sales (which ironically is how I nabbed a Power Macintosh 7500/100 and a LC II) but other than that, I've yet to find one. Though this week I'll be going with a friend to a garage sale, who knows, maybe I'll find one, or something even better?! Who knows!

As one of my friends said, in garage sales, you almost never find what you're looking for, but you're guaranteed to find something that you would like to have but aren't actively seeking out

I love garage saling. I found my ibookg4, a grape imac g3 & my SE that way! Granted that’s over a 10 year span but to your point, you really dont know what you’ll find

 

[rampancy]

As for the PSU, I've got a ATX adapter on the way, though I've got a lead for two MDD PSUs, one AcBel (that I'd like to take a crack at trying to rebuild it) and one Samsung.. I take it the AcBels seems to be the more troublesome ones? Either way if I wind up with one of these I'll most definitely will try and rebuild it, or if push comes to shove, gut it and transplant the guts of an ATX PSU.

Yeah, the original AcBel PSUs are the known problematic units for MDDs. The replacement Samsung (and Delta?) PSUs are more reliable, but given their age at this point getting a good replacement unit is a crapshoot at best.

 

[micahgartman]

$20 for a NOS MessagePad 2X00 "dongle." Still in the 922 baggie.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I picked up 3 Corning Ware Grab it bowls $30.32 shipping included. I already had 1, but wanted a set of 4. Some were going for $15 + each. The Grab it bowls were made in the 80s. Corning Ware no longer makes them.

 

[Alexis Trinquet]

So the garage sale was kind of a partial dud, I was hoping to find some old PMG4 parts there, but nope, nothing.

Though I got a bunch of hard drives (one 2TB, a 3TB and a Thunderbolt 2 WD drive) and a keyboard/mouse combo, a Magic Mouse II (and it's infuriatingly placed lightning port) and a NIB wireless Keyboard (which unfortunately for me lacks a numpad, or else I would've paired it with my iMac G4).

Results so far, of all the hard drives, the 2TB is a total dud (click click click click... And it even shorted my external HDD enclosure.. Grrr), the 3TB (ST3000DM001) works pretty well, and the WD drive has a big question mark metaphorically written on it as I don't have a TB1/TB2-capable PC, I do have my ThinkPad P52 but it has TB3 USB-C ports.

I don't remember what I paid for the lot at the garage sale.

For round two, I scored a ixMicro TwinTurbo card for my PM7500, this specific card had both a regular PC-style HD15 VGA and a DB-1 Mac VGA, for 20€ w/ shipping, that's still reasonable.. I'd love to find a PCI Radeon that I could put in place of the TwinTurbo, so as long it's compatible with OS9, I don't really care about loosing System 7 compatibility.

 

[Alexis Trinquet]

Oh and I also scored a SiiG USB/FW/IDE card, although I suspect it might be a clone of the Chapon'2-Turbo card that I bought earlier.

I really hope that it can be flashed to run on a Mac.. It has a Silicon Image chip, but I couldn't really see the markings on it.

If it's the same card, I'll just slap it into one of old PCs, I've got a Compaq Deskpro EN that could use an extra IDE channel or two.

 

[aurora72]

Need to investigate the battery rebuild options also, I guess it uses the 18650 cells?

Here is the PB TI battery pack with the front sticker cover removed. It has 7 8 18650 cells inside. They can be replaced but you need to be careful while pry opening the plastic cover with a knife because at some place near the socket there is a flex cable and it's easily damaged when the tip of knife hits it. I damaged one 2 years ago as I was trying to pry open it using a knife. After I opened it, 8 Panasonic CGR1850A cells came out of it.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Scooped an a1081 20" Aluminum Cinema display for my garage rig for $15.00 off local CL. Matches another connected to my cMP 1,1 on my bench.

 

[VivienM]

Can we include eBay losses too? Yesterday or Monday I lost a brand new M7803 to a certain well-known monopolist of rare Apple parts. Second M7803 that's happened to me on, I'm not sure how one is supposed to get a half-passable deal on those when the guy who sells them for $300USD buys every single auction listing...

 

[ervus]

Can we include eBay losses too? Yesterday or Monday I lost a brand new M7803...

I just did a seach on "apple M7803" and it looks like there are plenty of them on ebay. If you got out-bid on the one you wanted, then I guess the market price for one is more than what you're willing to pay?

 

[weckart]

Can we include eBay losses too? Yesterday or Monday I lost a brand new M7803 to a certain well-known monopolist of rare Apple parts. Second M7803 that's happened to me on, I'm not sure how one is supposed to get a half-passable deal on those when the guy who sells them for $300USD buys every single auction listing...

A keyboard for $300? You sure that's the right part number or did you mean M7308, which would be the Lombard?

 

[VivienM]

I just did a seach on "apple M7803" and it looks like there are plenty of them on ebay. If you got out-bid on the one you wanted, then I guess the market price for one is more than what you're willing to pay?

Two things:
1) There are plenty of used ones. The M7803 is a transparent design that is very difficult to take apart and clean, so used ones tend to look absolutely disgusting. (I should know, I've bought two) So brand new ones are certainly valuable... and as far as I know, at least in the 'ships to Canada' category, there aren't many new ones in US English layout.

2) Is it the "market price" when the guy selling the keyboards for $300USD is the successful buyer in every auction for a brand new one? Or is he basically running a one-man cartel when, on every single auction listing, he swoops in at the last 3 seconds and outbids you?

It's simple, really - he has a stash of however many of these. When any auction listing shows up, he buys them. Even if he pays $150-200USD for one, i) that's maintaining the value of his inventory, and ii) he can still turn around and make a $100 profit on his newest inventory unit.

 

[VivienM]

A keyboard for $300? You sure that's the right part number or did you mean M7308, which would be the Lombard?

M7803 is the right number, I believe. It's the Apple Pro Keyboard from the 1999-2003ish era, the last keyboard with the best compatibility for OS 9. (It was replaced by the A1048 which doesn't have eject buttons and the like that work with OS 9) And, as I just posted in my earlier reply, a keyboard that is near-impossible to take apart and a transparent design that easily looks disgusting, so used ones that don't look dreadful are very hard to find.

And yes... $300USD. That's his price, buy it now. But more importantly, he's active on the buy side. I've now lost two to him; I would have been the winning bidder for maybe 60-80USD + shipping for one of these brand-new-in-box, then he swoops in with a giant bid at the last three seconds and wins. At least I have the mild satisfaction that I had bid $150USD so the seller got to pocket an extra $70+ USD from the guy...

So, yup, if you want a brand new M7803 on eBay, you either pay this dude his $300USD or watch him outbid you on everybody else's listings.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Picked up a set of Apple DVI to HDMI adapters for $10 shipped.

 

[Tratkazir_the_1st]

A1048 which doesn't have eject buttons

Are you sure???

Apple keyboards - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Pls look at upper right corner. (My favourite home kbd, works with every system I have.)

 

[VivienM]

Are you sure???

Apple keyboards - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Pls look at upper right corner. (My favourite home kbd, works with every system I have.)

I said "eject buttons ... that work with OS 9"

My understanding, and I have never actually tried it but had done extensive googling, is that those buttons on the A1048 are OS X-only.

 

[MarkC426]

Two things:
1) There are plenty of used ones. The M7803 is a transparent design that is very difficult to take apart and clean, so used ones tend to look absolutely disgusting. (I should know, I've bought two) So brand new ones are certainly valuable... and as far as I know, at least in the 'ships to Canada' category, there aren't many new ones in US English layout.

2) Is it the "market price" when the guy selling the keyboards for $300USD is the successful buyer in every auction for a brand new one? Or is he basically running a one-man cartel when, on every single auction listing, he swoops in at the last 3 seconds and outbids you?

It's simple, really - he has a stash of however many of these. When any auction listing shows up, he buys them. Even if he pays $150-200USD for one, i) that's maintaining the value of his inventory, and ii) he can still turn around and make a $100 profit on his newest inventory unit.

I have an A1016 wireless keyboard brand new in its box.
I bought it but then never used it......🤪......and it's sat in a cupboard for almost 20 years.

 

[ToniCH]

I bought one of those A1016 kbds new. I was so happy as it was so high tech and beautiful to look at. And expensive too. Maybe after 2 weeks I accidentally spilled a cup of something on it and it went dead and never recovered no matter how much I tried to clean it up. Just totally dead so I guess a short or something. I was so pissed, this was not a first time I destroyed something by spilling fluids (2 Psion 5MXs for example). Didn't buy another wireless until 2009 with my iMac.

Later on, I've seen many of those with loads of bread crumbs, pubes or something else inside for good. Doesn't look so cool anymore at that stage.