The Productive Mac

Would You Believe I Picked Up a Decent Old PowerBook for Just $26?

- 2006.02.21

A few weeks ago I received an email from a young family member. It said, "Thomas, do you know of any place where I could get an older laptop computer? Nothing too expensive, just something to play games on and use some old programs."

Well, I figured I'd be able to find something here in Kansas City. We have several computer recycling centers and discount shops. So I sent him a message back saying I'd be at the computer recycler sometime in the next couple of weeks. That Saturday I ended up going down.

It's usually hit-or-miss at these types of places - sometimes they have a whole ton of Apple items, and sometimes none at all. You have to keep in mind that everything there is donated by people because they no longer use it.

Well, when I got there, they didn't have quite what I was looking for in terms of older laptops, just some old Windows ones. They did have a 700 MHz eMac though, which was something very unusual.

I ended up buying a broken WallStreet PowerBook for $5. That wouldn't be suitable for him - it didn't work, and it's a bit overpowered for the type of things he wants to do.

After I left the recycling center empty-handed, I figured I'd turn to the Low End Mac Swap List. With the amount of people there, I knew I'd find something. I didn't even have to make a post saying what I wanted; I found something in someone's listing that day.

Blackbird It was a PowerBook 520c for $16 shipped. This was a great deal, and I bought the computer almost immediately. I purchased a power adapter for it and got it up and running. With a 25 MHz '040, 12 MB of RAM, and a 160 MB hard drive running Mac OS 7.6, it makes quite a good computer for a younger person. With built in ethernet, it also makes a good machine for Web browsing (not too much) and email.

The total amount I spent on the computer was $26, plus some other cash for a new keyboard. I'm sure it will pay for itself with all the usage it will get.

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Why You Should Use Mac OS 7.6 to Get the Most Out of Vintage Macs, 2009.01.29. Although you may be able to run OS 8 or 9 on your old Mac, you'll generally find better performance using Mac OS 7.6.
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