I bought my 14" iBook G4 refurbished from Apple years ago (early 2005 or 2006), and I’ve since learned enough to wonder what the heck the refurb tech actually did to it. It didn’t seem to have a clean install on it when I got it, and I found out later when I had to take it apart (screen cable was disconnecting inside, my brother discovered) that probably half the screws were missing. A few screws liked to block the superdrive, sometimes. The speaker socket was loose and I accidentally bumped it, which broke it entirely.
Other than that and some home drama of my father accidentally selling my 10.3 system disks when he was supposed to sell my brother’s 10.2 disks, which left me without my system disks when I needed to do a reinstall (so I bought Leopard, just before the price hike, which enabled me to try & then buy Scrivener), my iBook has worked remarkably well through the years.
I say “remarkably”, because if I started listing some of the things that it’s survived through the years, I’d likely make some of the tech geeks here hate me. 
Suffice to say that I’m clumsy and didn’t have air conditioning until a few weeks ago.
Well, it survived… until a few weeks ago, right after I got the AC. The hard drive died, as was confirmed by the symptoms and with three or four hardware tests. I was able to salvage the novel I’d just finished, but other than that I lost about two months’ worth of data due to my forgetting to make backups. (They’re incredibly slow, so I have to set them up before bed or something.) Okay, no biggie.
This past Saturday, my logic board decided to die, too. (While I was doing my backup.)
This is maddening, because I was trying to nurse the computer for another year or two and save up to build one. I don’t have time to figure out the specs and all I want for that, right now, and I need one ASAP. My computer keeps me sane. (As the explanation of how might land me in a white room, I’ll refrain.)
I can make do with writing (parts of) stories on lined paper, but… it’s not the same. That’s how I come up with the horrific short stories and plot ideas that freak me out. (Okay, that happens on computer, too; just not as often.)
I’m a bit frustrated, now, because I was considering getting an MSI Wind to hack just 2 months ago, and it was on sale then. Now, might cost me twice as much for one of the good hackable netbooks. facepalm I’m trying to get one on eBay, but I’m also planning to visit the Apple store that opened this month, to get a good look at my options.
Even if I can figure out a hack-type fix for my iBook, I still want to get a backup computer. Two significant breakdowns within a month isn’t good.
But thanks, Wock.
That`s what the actress said to the Bishop. 
Animal Rights Supernatural Div. at work? Twas my intention, yesterday, to point out to Mr Grim, that I am in-fact, a Lady Feline, not some brutish, thuggy, spraying addicted tomcat. My intentions however, were thwarted by a sudden and desperate need to evacuate the Writer`sRoom. Vic-k had (surreptitiously), slipped his trainers off! UUUGH!
