TS'ing a Potential Bargain

[Niftium]

I've got a chance to pick up a 12" PB G4 1.33GHz (A1010) for under $400. The catch - it chimes, boots to the grey screen, minus the Apple, then freezes. In my experience, 9 times out of 10 zapping the PRAM or resetting the PMU fixes a problem like this. However I've heard stories of people who've needed to replace the whole MB under the same circumstances. The owner tells me there are no beeps and the hard drive isn't grinding or making any other horrible sounds.

With this limited amount of information, what are the odds it's the board?

 

[davidjearly]

I've got a chance to pick up a 12" PB G4 1.33GHz (A1010) for under $400. The catch - it chimes, boots to the grey screen, minus the Apple, then freezes. In my experience, 9 times out of 10 zapping the PRAM or resetting the PMU fixes a problem like this. However I've heard stories of people who've needed to replace the whole MB under the same circumstances. The owner tells me there are no beeps and the hard drive isn't grinding or making any other horrible sounds.

With this limited amount of information, what are the odds it's the board?

You can't possibly say for sure whether this is a worthwhile purchase or not. Not without testing it yourself. Is this not possible?

 

[davidjearly]

EDIT: I Seemed to have double-posted here.

 

[Niftium]

Nope, 'fraid not. The only reason he's selling is because he can't fix it himself, so I don't want to give him a way to fix it if I can fix it myself.

It would admittedly be a ballsy call to buy it, which is why I wanted to check the odds against me first.

Edit: It's outta my hands now. Thanks for the input.