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Mine came with chipped paint--I bought mine used from MacResQ (buy stuff from them, they are teh rock). I couldn't generate enough enthusiasm to care. I got a good deal from a reputable company--I knew that if the thing was DOA that the ResQ folks would take it back, unlike a random eBay asshole--and I couldn't care what it looked like. It looked used. Big whoop. A laptop with obvious wear means you actually use the thing, rather than just carry it around for show. I'll bet Stallman's laptop looks like a dog chewed it.

The important thing is that 667mhz G4 makes a sweet-ass machine. I use it as my main axe these days, and it's done yeoman's labor. It's super-sweet-ass with 10.3.

Paint chipping, feh. Sexcellent laptop for under $1K? Niiiice.

Fine, then compare resale value. 333 Mhz iMac vs. 350 Mhz PII Compaq.

That's $330 vs. $59 for machines that are about the same age. Given, the Compaq doesn't have a monitor or modem like the iMac. Those two things can hardly make up for that much price difference though. It's simple. A four year old PC is crap. A four year old Mac is still useful. Remember that the next time you bemoan how expensive Macs are ;-)

What's $500+$129/year and 10 hours/year watching the WELL RENDERED ANTI-ALIASED beachball between friends? ;-)

Yikes!!
That's a bunch for an iBook. I don't work for any of the following companies but I do keep an eye on the used Mac marketplace. Ebay is not a buyers market btw.
As of this writing Smalldog has an 800MHz iBook for $899.
Macofalltrades usually has good deals on portables and desktop Macs.
MacResQ has good deals occasionally(sp?).
I would certainly put PowerMax at the bottom of the list pricewise. They want $729.00 for a G4 400 desktop!!
Macofalltrades wants $500 for a better equipped G4 450
Note: direct links subject to not work as both sites update stock quite regularly.

To keep this post somewhat on-topic, I want a Pegasos. They are supposed to support up to a PowerPC G4 MPC 7450. A G4 @ 1GHz is still a lot of computer.

OK, last post by me on this one, I hope. MacResQ now has bare drives for sale, 1x DVD-R/RW speed, and one-year warranty for $299 with the exchange of your exising (working) drive. It's $50 extra if you don't want to send them your drive. The link above is a direct link to the drive, but if you want to kick me some spare change with your order, here's my affiliate link to MacResQ. There are a couple of clicks to get to the drive, but it's easy to find. Thanks!

On December 19, 2002, Tech TV's The Screen Savers aired an episode in which Kevin Rose built a G4 in an ATX case. Most of the parts came from Mac Resq and others. It's an interesting article for anyone who wishes to tackle the project by themselves.

The segment was inspired by an aricle on MacOpz Web Site. I urge all to check it out.

Though this might end up costing a little more, there are benefits: You get to choose your own case (which must be slightly modified), and get the pleasure of building a computer that normally isn't built by anyone except Apple and the pizza box guy.

The link for the motherboard in the story points to a refurbished motherboard which also costs $200!

I have built systems for the last ten years not because of the geek factor, but because most premanufactured systems are crap, and the ones that aren't cost way too much money.

given that I think most are looking for quality, who would put a refurbished motherboard in their system, let a lone a $200 one.

Guide to Mac CPUsThis is Apple's own site for detailed specs on all their machines ever. I'm starting you off on the page for older machines to remind you that a well-configured 1996 Mac w/ a USB/Firewire card can run OSX just fine, thank you very much.

Mac of All TradesGetcher used macs here! Pretty visuals, delicious prices, detailed info. Selection could be better and there's no old stuff at all but I can deal with that. Have I bought from them yet? Nope. Am I likely to in the future? Yep.

MacResqThe best place I've found overall to pick up gear. Even the guys in that article figured that out.

Focus of Mac Hardware good workaday resource for doing mods. No cool toys. Considerable good data.

Missoula Mac User Group, Yeah, I know that you haven't heard of them; neither has anybody else outside of Montana AFAIK. Best place for overall newbie resources.

Powermax Cheesy setup, improving selection, good prices.

ResExcellence In the old days I would have suggested MacFixit, but these guys have taken their place. If you've been in the Mac world for a while you'll recognize them as the old-time source extraordinaire of ResEdit hacks.

Small Dog Shrinking selection, great quality, excellent service, annoying interface. Bottom line, these are the guys to turn to for premium service, support, and savvy. Been around quite a while and, hey, they enclose coupons for Ben and Jerry's.

applefritter. They've built Macs into everything from 1930's radios to LEGO people to ziplock bags. You can't buy anything there, but still much fun.

Think Secret Nice little rumor site. Some cool moments.

Of course, for those of us in the New York City area, there's always TekServe, an Apple and media gear mecca. You want to know what Lou Reed, Jam Master Jay, or Oliver Pratt are using? Ask them. You want toys? They got 'em. Ten cent cokes, vintage radios, serious testing gear, and a massive knowledge base. Hell, I once even applied for a job there when it would have meant giving up a far-better paying sysadmin gig. If they're good enough for Steve J., then they're worth a look.


Oh, by the way, the last time that I posted this list I included Shreve. What did I say?
ShreveExpensive, distracting, but the best place to get weird low-end stuff like Mac Plus manuals and Daystar cards.
There. You all feeling better now?
Rustin

And you don't have to wait until January for them to be released, either.

Motherboards can be found at http://www.macresq.com and http://www.shrevesystems.com/ although a lot of times they are refurbished and processors new can be found here http://www.sonnettech.com/ and http://eshop.macsales.com/ . Of course if you have time all these things can be found on http://www.ebay.com/. And for everything else use http://www.pricewatch.com/ for ram, video card, etc. As for specifications on each board starting from g3s go to http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.html.

I disagree about there being no DIY: While you usually don't start with a motherboard, choice of power supplies and processors, etc., there's a pretty large assortment of choices to start low and build big.

My 8500 (~8 years old) was designed with a PPC604 CPU running @ 120MHz. Standard buss was Fast-SCSI-2.

It's now got a relatively recent G3/400MHz in there, and ATTO Ultra-Wide SCSI controller, lots more RAM and DASD. All of this, I've Done Myself, and the box is MORE than usable for the variety of tasks I throw at it; if i needed more juice, I could certainly add it.

If you go to Mac Rescue, or David Baucom's site and the like, you'll see plenty of 'barebones' Macs and the add-ons you can buy to soup-up yourself pretty nicely.

You can get yourself a pretty nice LinuxPPC box for around $200.

Takes a bit more looking than on the PC-side (it's sort've like finding Linux-compatible componants was ~3 years ago ...), but it's definitely more than do-able.

Get them at Macresq