Cheap Mac parts?

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Svart

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
5,134
Location
Atlanta GA USA
I bought a cheap Ibook that needs some parts, does anyone know where to get parts for macs cheap? I don't mean Ebay, I mean an actual company that deals in parts? I know about Ifixit.com but some of their prices are pretty outrageous for used parts much like Ebay is.
 
"Mac (or Apple)" and "cheap parts" are two words I've never used in the same sentence. Trust me, I absolutely love my MacPro desktop, but cheap it is not.
 
12" Ibook G4/1Ghz.

I need a LCD, palmrest/mousepad, keyboard, battery, charger, HDD(mount and cable too) and an OS.. and possibly more RAM..

Hey it was cheap, what can I say..


I want to spend the minimal possible because I am only going to use this for testing for live recording before I commit to going this route.
 
[quote author="Svart"]I need a LCD, palmrest/mousepad, keyboard, battery, charger, HDD(mount and cable too) and an OS.. and possibly more RAM..[/quote]
In my experience it is extremely likely that those parts, even when bought from one single source to save on shipping, will cost you more than a known working second hand machine.

JDB.
[one of those cases where the whole is less than the sum of its parts]
 
from my rough estimate of Ebay parts costs, it would still be at least 100$ cheaper than the average price of a used working laptop of similar type.
 
Be careful with those model G4 iBooks. There are a lot of them that have had chips come loose from the PCB and it's hard to track them down. I have one on mine that just makes the machine freeze and screen go black about every other hour. Total pain in the ass. I think they get so hot that over time the pins work themselves out of the solder.

Matt
 
Used Macs are like used Porsches...

...The 'cheap' ones cost the most to make them useable... -the least expensive ones are the ones which cost the most to buy.

Keith
 
Yes I've researched the logic board issues, it seems that some of the onboard RAM ICs are the offenders when it comes to the locking up. The one I bought boots and works fine but the screen was cracked and some of the parts were used to fix another unit.
 
If you're just looking for a cheap proof-of-concept evaluation before spending money on The Real Deal, can't you fake it with COTS parts?

- external LCD monitor
- USB keyboard
- USB mouse
- mains power (or, if you're in it for the extra safety of battery power to cover brief blackouts, borrow a cheap UPS)
- cheap USB/FireWire HDD

On second thought, if it were me I'd go for a real HDD. Those HDD caddies/cables aren't too expensive, and for audio recording an internal drive is much more bulletproof.

JDB.
 
[quote author="Svart"]from my rough estimate of Ebay parts costs, it would still be at least 100$ cheaper than the average price of a used working laptop of similar type.[/quote]

And $100 will buy how many hours of your time? Doesn't seem worth it to me.
 
at my going rate, 100$ would get me about 3 hours.. :green:

Putting the thing together and loading an OS is no burden to me really, I don't mind doing that stuff. What I do mind is buying 10 parts from up to 10 different places and having to pay all that shipping.. Unfortunately that would still be cheaper than buying a working used laptop which are going for 300-400US$

I found the HDD cable/caddy for 10$ at Ifixit but their plastic parts/keyboards are pretty darned expensive.. :?
 
[quote author="Svart"]12" Ibook G4/1Ghz.

I need a LCD, palmrest/mousepad, keyboard, battery, charger, HDD(mount and cable too) and an OS.. and possibly more RAM..

[/quote]

:shock:

what the hell happened to that iBook?
 
since the LCD was cracked they decided to use some of the parts to fix another Ibook. I assume the HDD was kept for security purposes.
 
Svart, if you have £200 ( approx $400 ) then you can have my Titanium
1Ghz G4 latop.
It works perfectly and does not have a single mark on it ... I mean not one !
Back in it's box , it looks like it was bought yesterday "Mint" condition.

Has 10.4.6 on it but can be booted into a "proper" OS-9 if needed, disks for
that included.
It would just be whatever the additional shipping comes out to on top, that could
get expensive to the US though ....
Let me know ?
For a bit more I also have the Digigram V2 card with balanced I/O word clock
and SPDIF connection/MIDI too runs up to 24 bit / 48khz

Marty. ( UK )
 
I wish!

I just bought another cheap laptop that works and I'll just part out the other one or just gather the parts, fix it and sell it.
 
Marty...

You're a complete barstool! :evil:

I'm heading off to arm-wrestle over a car right now, and the last thing I need to see is an invitation to spend some of the money on something else instead! :wink:

Keef
 
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