TheMacGuy's Latest

I was just going through the documentation for the 650, and inside the back of the "Resource Guide" was some booklets about the software license. I started flipping through the pamphlets, Software License, Limited Warranty, Tech Info,

and my first set of rainbow Apple Stickers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't tell you how cool this is for me! Completely unused, both the full sized and little sized ones. So cool!

Picked up a brand new iPod nano 6th Gen off of Craigslist for $90. It's the watch style one, and it looks really cool! 8GB orange (more like gold) bought in November of 2010. Seller said it was his elderly roommate's iPod which she got as present, and she didn't know how to use it. She later passed on and it got passed to the other elderly roommate, who didn't know anything about iPods or computers, and tried to charge it. She then put it back together in the box, and set it on the shelf. They started spring cleaning, and the iPod was the first to go. I love it so far. I like how I can listen to live radio on it without using data.

I used to have a 16GB Graphite model, but I sold it about a year ago.

Also, swapmeet tomorrow! Excited to find some awesome Apple stuff!

Well, I didn't get anything at the swapmeet yesterday. Not very much to grab since I only had $40:

iMac (Aluminum Intel model, mid-2007 to early-2009) $550

iMac G4 (15" OS 9 model) $40

2 PowerBook G4s (#1 1.5GHz with 10.4.10, bottom half of screen didn't work #2 for parts, working LCD no HDD, ODD, battery) $70

4 Power Mac G5s (different models, one was a dual processor, dual core model (4 cores)) $250 each

2 more Power Mac G5s (unknown specs) $350

1 Power Mac G4 MDD (unknown specs) $20

There was also a PB G3, I couldn't tell what model it was. The guy who was selling the 2 G5's and the MDD who bought it before I got there (I asked).

Walked away with all my money.

Went to a couple yard sales on CL before heading home, one listing was from the thrift shop where I bought the Sawtooth. Nothing much, mostly antiques. They did have an Imation SuperDisk Drive. They wanted $10, brought it down to $7 and brought it home. The outside box is torn up, but the drive and software were brand new. The only remaining part of the external box was a part that said Mac with the pre-OS X Finder logo.

Picked up a Centris 610 off craigslist today for $20. Decent shape, but I had to take it down about a flight and and a half of short, slippery and crooked stairs. I hate stairs and have big feet, so walking down with the Centris and keyboard was not easy when I was trying to keep my balance and keep the computer from slipping out of my hand. When I got it home, I couldn't get it to boot up. I will hear the hard drive and fan kick on, but it won't chime unless I hold down the reset button. Even then, no image is displayed. Any ideas?

It also came with a generic power cord and a very dirty Extended Keyboard II.

those always need caps as well...



I am able to do so if interested.

We can do all tantalums on that one if you want.

I'll have to think about it uniserver. I'm practically broke right now. I will have to recap it at a later date.

When I had to hold down the reset button to even hear the chime, I knew it was probably the caps.

Also worth mentioning that I did remove the PRAM battery.

Try a good PRAM battery first and see if it gets any further. Very solid score!

And the grand finale!:
An iPhone 3GS!

It was his old phone, had no use for it, so he gave it to me. Upgraded it to 6.1.3 (I'm surprised that it is still supported!) and it runs like a champ! The only problem is, since my cousins were using it in the later part of its life, the glass is starting to bow inward, so I'm going to try and fix it with a new panel.

Click to expand...

I think it's supported because it's the current bottom-rung budget option.
Anyway, I am getting one for myself soon, except it has cracked (but functional) glass.

I intend to replace it anyway, so that's not a big deal.

It's a GSM model, so it should work for any experiments I might have to perform.

I'll post more details in my own thread later (like, when I get it : ).

c

p.s. How's your iPhone working for you? What carrier, if any?

Just to add to the iPhone discussion, after my AT&T service was over, I removed my sim card, the wife and I have been using Google Voice + Talkatone (iPhone App) to make free Wifi phone calls and TXT MMS messages as well.

On the road we can still use our phones wtih TruConnect, Its a Wifi Hotspot that is billed by megabyte, 3.9 cents per.

+ as you know, most everywhere has WIFI nowadays, so the hotspot works out good for phone calls, great for TXT's/eMail (low on the MB's).

Been using this for about a year now, its really saved us A-LOT of money!

p.s. How's your iPhone working for you? What carrier, if any?

Click to expand...

Depends, which iPhone? The original iPhone and 3GS are both essentially glorified iPod touches. My iPhone 5 is on Verizon.

Just to add to the iPhone discussion, after my AT&T service was over, I removed my sim card, the wife and I have been using Google Voice + Talkatone (iPhone App) to make free Wifi phone calls and TXT MMS messages as well.

Click to expand...

That's good for metropolitan and/or urban areas where WiFi is common, but out here in rural California, WiFi hotspots are practically non existent (except for our house and a couple neighbors), so if we want a wireless phone, it has to be cellular (i.e., something that uses either CDMA or GSM signals to do its thing).
c

where do you most often use your phone?

places like Friends|Home|Work|School|Restaurants - all have WIFI,

For all else there is TruConnect, It uses sprints data network, Is Sprint out there?

where do you most often use your phone?

Click to expand...

Out here in the country [] ]'>
Sometimes we do go down to San Francisco (and surrounding areas), so it would work there, but we use it for the most part in places where WiFi is hard to come by.

As for Sprint, well, I don't know if it's available here, but we have the other four (US Cellular, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile).

Our TracFone works splendidly, so we'll stick with that for now. I want to try using an iPhone 3GS on their network, so we'll see how that goes.

c

Bought a dead Plus off of Craigslist today. Guy said it would boot to a blinking floppy, I get it home and it just keeps beeping. Opened it up and found the entire lower half of the computer's chassis was rusted. Stuck with it and can't do anything with it. I hope the guy feels good about ripping me off.

well how much did it set you in the hole?

get a wire brush , clean it up. maybe its just something stupid like , popping the roms in and out... and maybe it will work.

$30. I offered $20 but he couldn't accept less then $30. I'll try the resetting the ROMs after dinner.

I think you did ok , did you get keyboard/mouse ? cables? books?

I wish. There was a set on CL for trade, a Plus upgrade. Couldn't tell if it was a 128/512/512kE, but it was YELLOW. Came with keyboard and mouse. The guy was creepy as hell though, and kept changing his mind on what he wanted. I just dropped it and went for the one I have now. I tried using the keyboard and mouse from the 512kE.

Try resetting the ram also. If the roms are suspect the ram will be also. Keyboard and mouse from the others should work. I think I have a spare plus board if you need it.

Thanks for the offer macdrone. I'll let you know if I get it working. Is the keyboard platinum or beige? I need the platinum one.

I need to double check the serial, but IIRC, the first 4 digits were F907, so Fremont and a manu date of 1987?

This is odd. The Plus' serial is not showing up in the chipmunk.nl database. It is showing a build date of 2004.

Can anyone give me more info? Compared to other Plus serial numbers, mine seems rather long. Also, thought it was worth mentioning, it is a Plus 1MB.

Serial: F90796PM0001A

Manufactured in: F => Fremont, California, USA

Year of production: 1989

Week of production: 7

Production number: 96P => 10631

Modell ID: M0001A => Macintosh Plus

Your Macintosh Plus was the 10631th Mac manufactured during the 7th week of 1989 in Fremont, California, USA.

http://myoldmac.net/FAQ/Mac-Serialnumber-decoder-e.php

Huh. So it was made in late February of 1989. Thanks for the info uniserver!

Picked up a nice PowerBook G4 12" off of eBay! I have been wanting one for so long. Paid $75 for it since the seller mislabeled it as a "11 inch PowerBook G4". This one seems to be in great shape, although there is some scratching on the back right corner and a dented front corner on the left side. Some light scratching on the bottom and some scratches on the top. Everything seems to work great. Pics to come. Here are the specs:

1.5GHz G4

512MB of RAM (256MB soldered, 256MB SODIMM)

60GB 5400rpm HDD

10.3.9 Panther (currently upgrading to Tiger until I get some more RAM, then bump to Leopard).

Turns out that 1 USB port on the PowerBook is dead, thanks to the former user either forcing something in or out, as the 2 middle pins are pushed back and up into the plastic (what I call pallet) inside the port. It will need a logic board replacement to correct the problem, otherwise no other issues. Turns out that this is the lower-end Rev. D model, with a Combo Drive. I have already swapped some RAM sticks with the iBook G4 to max out the PowerBook, since I plan to use it a real secondary computer and not a backup. The iBook now has 768MB of RAM (good enough for Leopard) and the PowerBook has 1.25GB. Went ahead and upgraded to Leopard.

In the coming weeks I plan to swap the logic board and replace the Combo drive with a Superdrive and upgrade the original 60GB 5400 rpm Hitachi HDD (shivers recounting the problems he has had in the past with Hitachi). I'm looking into a small SSD, but PATA SSDs aren't cheap at all.

One day, one day....

If it is just the two middle contacts on the USB connection that are damaged, you should be able to remove the bad USB socket and solder in a new one.

After inspecting it further, the damage seems to be worse. It looks like the entire port was actually forced back, and probably damaged the connections to the logic board. I will have to inspect it, but a used logic board with a 14 day return policy on eBay is only $35. I have $10 sitting in PayPal and probably another $10 coming in from one of those online survey websites.

Ended up getting the board for next to nothing thanks to selling some screen protectors before my purchase. Install took 3 hours to do. Everything seems to work fine, but I will have to do more testing on it in the morning.

Well, the new board's optical drive connector is dead. I've contacted the seller to see what he wants to do.

Also, I will be posting about a fairly-rare conquest later this week. Any guesses on what it might be?

Any guesses on what it might be?

Click to expand...

I'm thinking either an Apple III or a Lisa.