My 17" PowerBook G4 is starting to show its age, and I want to try and trade my way up to a 17" MacBook Pro. I've got an enormous pile of stuff to trade, and while I know there is still a price gap between PowerPC and Intel computers, the MacBook Pro is now about six years old and hopefully someone who doesn't use theirs too much anymore would be willing to make a trade.
Here's what I'm looking for: I've been spoiled by my G4, and I must have a 17" screen. Pretty much everything else is up for discussion, I'm willing to settle for stock hard drive and ram, and any processor is fine as long as it is Intel. While I'd like it to look nice, minor scuffs, scrapes, or dings would be ok, and a working battery would be nice but I can't be too picky. Everything else must work; all ports, keyboard backlight, superdrive, and screen must still be in good condition. I also need a charger, since I don't have any computers that use MagSafe. All I can hope for is a Core Duo, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to something newer. I'd also be willing to discuss trading for the very last PowerBook G4 (1.67ghz, high-res screen, motion sensor), but that wouldn't be ideal. Again, I must stress the 17" screen, please don't offer a white MacBook or 15" Core Duo MacBook Pro. The only 15" I'd consider would be the very first unibody from 2008, the one that still had a removable battery, but even then I'd rather have an older 17" than a newer 15". What I have to trade: The Apple-related items are listed below, and if anyone is interested in a trade I can send the full list which has some other video games/consumer electronics in it. I'll list everything I can think of, and you can pick and choose what you think would be a fair trade. Any spare cash that I have will be needed to pay for shipping, but on the off chance that I find someone in Houston who wants to trade I can also throw in a small amount of cash, maybe $50. Understandably I'd like to ship as little as possible, favoring the smaller/ lighter items, but if you've got a particularly nice laptop I'd be fine shipping the heavier stuff (iMac G3 and Power Mac G4, see below). First, the PowerBook. This is the 1.33ghz late 2003 model with an upgraded 320gb hard drive, 768mb of RAM, and a superdrive. I got it on this list a few years ago, and had almost everything replaced by the Geniuses at the Apple Store in 2009. This includes the logic board, superdrive, airport/bluetooth, screen, and possibly some other parts, but those are the ones I'm sure of. The big feature of this computer is that somehow (possibly by accident) the people at Apple installed a high-res display. That's right, this may be the only 1.33ghz PowerBook G4 with a 1680x1050 screen. About a year later the hard drive was upgraded from stock to the current 320gb drive by an Apple certified repair shop. I've currently got it partitioned into five drives booting Leopard, Tiger, Panther, Jaguar, and Fedora (Linux), but as per list rules the drive will be wiped prior to shipping. It has some minor scuffs and a couple dents one one side, but nothing too noticeable, and nothing that hurts performance in any way. There are two batteries, but each only holds around 15 minutes (considerably less for certain applications), and the charger is third party. The keyboard backlight works well in the dark, but it is a bit dim. If the screen is at maximum brightness, it is more useful to just turn it off. And the only real problem I've noticed, there is 1gb of ram installed (2x512mb) but it only recognizes 768mb. I have no idea what causes this, and since it recognizes some of the ram on the second chip I've always assumed it was just bad RAM. This has never given me a problem. This computer has served me very well since the upgrades/replacements were done, and it should serve someone else well for years to come. While the processor's age is apparent with some intensive applications like Corel Painter, I've found it very usable with Photoshop CS3, Flash CS3, Final Cut Express, and the usual web browsing and word processing. If you've got a 17" MacBook Pro that you use as a backup or as a DVD player, why not trade it for something with most of the same functionality and get a lot of extras in return? The rest (listed in order of value): Two Y2K-era PowerPC macs, a snow iMac DV and a Power Mac G4. The iMac has mainly been used to watch movies and run a few OS X applications under Panther. It's got a 500mhz G3 processor, 512mb RAM, 30gb hard drive, and DVD-ROM. Cosmetically it is better than most iMacs (I've seen plenty abused by schools and children, and while it isn't perfect, there are no cracks or major scuffs), although the CRT is beginning to show its age (sometimes discoloration can be seen, nothing major) and the speakers sound a bit distorted if the volume is turned all the way up. There is no power cord, keyboard, or mouse. The PowerMac G4 is the original G3-style design with an optical drive and Zip drive. I'm not sure about the specs right now, if anyone is interested I'll fire it up and see (no keyboard or mouse for this one either). A Black iPod Classic 80gb. This is the first generation "Classic", I want to say sixth generation overall. Purchased new in 2007, I love this iPod and still use it all the time, but I'd give it up for the right MacBook Pro. Comes in the original box and has original paperwork, but it is missing the cord and headphones (both broke long ago and it currently shares my iPhone's cord). Also comes with a black rubber case. Two boxes of Polaroid single-sided double-density 5.25" floppies. These are brand new, never used, ten disks in a fancy plastic disk organizer case. I got a case of these to use with my Apple II, but I can spare a couple boxes. iMac G3 keyboard (I'm not positive what color, I want to say Bondi or Blueberry, but I could be wrong). Of course, feel free to ask for more information or pictures of anything that interests you, and remember there is much more that I'm not listing here so that I don't violate the posting rules. As I've stated before I'd prefer a local trade because of the heavier items, but I'll consider anything. If I'm unable to find any trades, I'll try to sell some of the more valuable items individually and come back with a standard "WTB" post, but first I'm trying this out. Sorry for such a long post, but if anyone is left reading this, here's the standard information: Steven Fowler eBay ID "Obi1kenobi1" (100% positive feedback) Houston, TX 77083 Also, please send any responses to "oldsmobile314 (at) gmail.com" so that they don't get lost in my swap list inbox. Thanks for reading, Steven -- You received this message because you are a member of the LEM Swap group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email *from your subscribed address* to [email protected] LEM-Swap is not a discussion list; it is for buying & selling Mac stuff. Reply directly to the person who posted, never to the list. Software piracy is illegal and not allowed on LEM Swap. Except for freeware and software originally provided with computers, no software is to be left on hard drives unless the original installer (not a burned copy) is included, along with any required registration number, password, etc. Shipments valued at US$100 or more should be insured, and shipments valued at US$25 or more should be shipped so they can be tracked. See the list FAQ http://lowendmac.com/lists/swap.html for guidelines on postings, feedback, and dispute resolution. Seller feedback at http://groups.google.com/group/swap-feedback
