Wanted: Cheap Laptop

[#1 Rhapsody]

Does anyone know where to get a cheap laptop capable of running Mac OS X? I would like it to be $50 or less + shipping.

Thanks in advance

[fryke]

Erh... You *know* that "laptop capable of running Mac OS X" means iBook/MacBook/PowerBook/MacBook Pro/MacBook Air, right? Which basically means: 50$ or less is a no-go, unless you're willing to rebuild one from various defective ones (which would probably still cost you more than 50$).

I think it's a ridiculous endeavour. More specifically, though: *ANY* version of OS X? 10.0/10.1 can be run on the oldest of iBooks with enough RAM. Maybe you'll find a working toilet-seat iBook.

[#1 Rhapsody]

Well actually I found a Clamshell iBook on eBay for $11 plus shipping. I just wanted to know if anyone wants to sell one cheap.

[fryke]

Okay. I'll move the thread to the right forum, then.

[icemanjc]

Well actually I found a Clamshell iBook on eBay for $11 plus shipping. I just wanted to know if anyone wants to sell one cheap.

It might be $11 now, but within a few hours of it ending, it usually goes up a lot. The cheapest I could get a laptop that was under $50 was a PowerBook 1400. My iBook white, cost $400 and that, I don't think could run 10.5.

[#1 Rhapsody]

I think it is staying low because of it having a fairly bad battery. It has 3 hours left and is still at $11.

[VirtualTracy]

If it is still at $11 with the auction end approaching fast, it's either because the Clamshell could need more money pumped into it than it's really worth or, the Clamshell has been categorised wrongly. I've seen items placed in the wrong category before and these are the real bargains if you can find them.

I advise against buying the Clamshell (and I realise I am prob too late) unless you know exactly what's wrong with it.

Clamshell iBooks are a bit of a collectors item and picking up up for less than $100 is down to a few things, like the onboard specs, RAM, Airport Card, DVD drive, etc.

I paid a lot of money for a top of the line 466 MHz iBook Clammie which has a DVD drive & Firewire and about half that for a 366 MHz iBook Clammie. The prices do vary and a lot of people are snapping the cheaper ones up for resale, based on their collectability factor.

The best bet is not to rush into any buying and look in the local paper classifieds, keep looking on eBay or other such sites but you will be lucky to pick up something good for < $50.

[#1 Rhapsody]

How useful are PowerBook G3 750s? Is $20 worth it?

[nixgeek]

Do you know which PowerBook G3 exactly? There were 5 revisions that were released.

PowerBook G3 (original): http://lowendmac.com/pb2/kanga-powerbook-g3.html
PowerBook G3 "Wallstreet": http://lowendmac.com/pb2/wallstreet-powerbook-g3-i.html
PowerBook G3 "Wallstreet II": http://lowendmac.com/pb2/wallstreet-powerbook-g3-ii.html
PowerBook G3 "Lombard": http://lowendmac.com/pb2/lombard-powerbook-g3.html
PowerBook "Pismo": http://lowendmac.com/pb2/pismo-powerbook-g3-2000.html

The "Pismo" is the one that's most desired because of its ability to run Tiger without any hacks. It's also the most upgradeable.

The "750" is the actual model number (PowerPC 750) of the "G3" (which means it's the third generation PowerPC chip used by Apple).

[#1 Rhapsody]

The "750" is the actual model number (PowerPC 750) of the "G3" (which means it's the third generation PowerPC chip used by Apple).

Oh, I didn't know that. It doesn't say but I think it is the "Pismo" because it has a picture of it running 10.4 on 192MB RAM (that must be horrible ;)).

[nixgeek]

Oh, I didn't know that. It doesn't say but I think it is the "Pismo" because it has a picture of it running 10.4 on 192MB RAM (that must be horrible ;)).

The Pismo model introduced Firewire and is the only one of those revisions that came with Firewire. Lombard was the first to introduce USB into the PowerBook line. So with that, you might be able to pinpoint which revision it actually is. There are ways of making Tiger run on all revisions, so that won't be a determining factor.

And yes, 192 MB is rather painful for Tiger. ;)

[#1 Rhapsody]

It has a 400MHz processor and 100MHz bus so I guess it is a "Pismo."

[#1 Rhapsody]

I didn't buy the Pismo. But a guy has been selling working iBook Clamshells 300MHz cheap. The only problem is that they have 64MB RAM and a 3GB HD. Where can I get cheap RAM and do they have a standard 3.5 inch IDE hard drive?

Thank you

[fryke]

No laptops have 3.5 inch drives, they're 2.5 inch IDE drives.

[#1 Rhapsody]

No laptops have 3.5 inch drives, they're 2.5 inch IDE drives.

That's what I thought. Just making sure though.

[#1 Rhapsody]

I was browsing eBay for Macs and look what I found this (http://cgi.ebay.com/OpenOffice-3-0-Mac-OSX-Office-Suite-BRAND-NEW-VERSION_W0QQitemZ260299239624QQihZ016QQcategoryZ166014QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIte m). Someone trying to sell OpenOffice!

[nixgeek]

I was browsing eBay for Macs and look what I found this (http://cgi.ebay.com/OpenOffice-3-0-Mac-OSX-Office-Suite-BRAND-NEW-VERSION_W0QQitemZ260299239624QQihZ016QQcategoryZ166014QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIte m). Someone trying to sell OpenOffice!

Report it. Mind you, I'm not that surprised to find stuff like this on eBay. Reminds me of the $10,000 Apple II system that was listed on there some time back as the "FIRST COMPUTER EVER!!!!!1!1!". ::ha::

[icemanjc]

He's selling it on a CD-R for your convenience....... Price + Shipping = alot more than 10 cents to buy a CD-R.......

[g/re/p]

But wouldn't he STILL need to have some sort of licensing arrangement with OpenOffice?

My guess is that he has no such agreement, and is therefore breaking the law.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

OpenOffice is open-source, meaning, basically, you can do with it what you will (within the terms of the license, and the license says nada about selling OpenOffice).

Selling OpenOffice is perfectly legal:

http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=1435&hilit=sell

[VirtualTracy]

Many vendors repackage and sell OpenOffice.org on CD or DVD as a convenience service for people who cannot download the binaries (for example because of a slow connection). If you look here http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/ you will see that there are loads of vendors selling OpenOffice.org on CD and/or DVD.


This is a quote from El's link and if you read through the eBay items listing details, it pretty much has an identical spiel.

It's like as if your country has oil reserves offshore but those who have the rights to drill for it and pipe it back to their country end up selling it back to you ...

[nixgeek]

But wouldn't he STILL need to have some sort of licensing arrangement with OpenOffice?

My guess is that he has no such agreement, and is therefore breaking the law.



Here's the link for distributors directly from the OpenOffice.org website:
http://www.openoffice.org/about_us/OEM_and_CD.html

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Remember these guys?

http://www.openosx.com/

They re-package and sell a lot of open-source software (GIMP, GRASS, OpenOffice, AbiWord, etc.). Perfectly legal.

[nixgeek]

Remember these guys?

http://www.openosx.com/

They re-package and sell a lot of open-source software (GIMP, GRASS, OpenOffice, AbiWord, etc.). Perfectly legal.

I wonder if he's including everything that's stipulated in the LGPL license, though. He would have to include the source or link to it in the case of OpenOffice.org. Plus, he could not use their logo unless he's received permission.

[chevy]

What about this one ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yBo9NPkCQ

[#1 Rhapsody]

I would also like to buy a good web server that can run Mac OS X well. If you have one or found a good one on eBay I would like that.