For sale this week on eBay:

A PowerMac G5 2×2.5Ghz with w/2.5GB RAM

All tricked out, with original packaging materials.  Only one problem…

… it doesn’t boot.

See below for the listing text, and feel free to bid on eBay:

Apple PowerMac G5 Dual-2.5Ghz Liquid Cooled Workstation
2.5GB RAM – No Hard Drive – ATI Radeon 9600XT – Airport Extreme – Bluetooth – 16x SuperDrive

This listing is for a used, Apple PowerMac G5 with dual-2.5Ghz processors, liquid cooling, and top of the line hardware.  You can read the full specs of this machine here on Apple’s website.

Before you go any farther, please note that this machine does not boot, and is being sold for parts.  The story of how this happened is a bit depressing, but read on and I guarantee you are about to be part of the deal of the year.  As they say, my loss is your gain.

I’m a former software engineer for Apple Computer, and a fairly active computer user.  I tend to demand top of the line hardware for performance, but I also strive to take care of my machines.  In fact, you’ll see that this machine is in almost pristine condition, despite regular use for over three years.  I even save the original box, manuals, discs and materials.  I’ve upgraded the hardware over the years, adding more RAM and a faster SuperDrive (16x) over the years.

One day, as I was just finishing an install of the latest Mac OS X Update, I rebooted the machine and… it hung.  It hung hard.  It sounds the boot chime, gets to the grey mac screen with the rotating lines, and then freezes.  Hard.

I’m no stranger to crashes and fixing Macs, I immediately tried booting off DVD, and external drive – you name it.  No luck.  Same symptoms.  I zapped the PRAM, reset the SMU, same problem.

I took it to the local Apple Store, and they kept the machine for a full week diagnosing it.  The good news – the power supply is good.  The bad news, they narrowed the problem to either the motherboard or the CPU unit, two expensive parts.

Now, normally, I would have ordered a new motherboard & CPU unit on eBay, swapped it, fixed the machine, and sold it for over $1000.   I then would have sold the extra good part as well, leaving just one bad part.  The problem is, with a busy day job and two small kids at home, I just don’t have time to do this right now.

So my loss is your gain!  You can buy a top-of-the-line PowerMac G5 that doesn’t boot, and you have the choice of either fixing it yourself, or selling it off for parts.   My guess is that you could likely fix this machine, put in a new hard drive, and sell it for between $1000 and $1500 today on eBay.  You also likely could sell the parts alone for over $1000, as they are extremely expensive.

To get this auction moving, I’m starting the bidding at just $0.99.  I need the money to compensate for buying a new machine.  This auction includes the following (full specs here):

• Apple PowerMac G5
• Dual-2.5Ghz processors with liquid cooling
• 2.5GB of DRAM (4-512MB DIMMs, 2-256MB DIMMs)
• Original box, manuals & discs (Mac OS 10.3)
• Airport Extreme Card (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth (with antennae)
• ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DRAM
• DVI & ADC Ports
• 16x SuperDrive (only 3 months old!)
• 3 full-length PCI-X Slots, 1 8x AGP slot
• 10/100/1000BaseT Ethernet
• 56K Modem (yes, hardware internal)
• 2 Hard Drive Bays, with SATA cables (empty)
• Firewire-400 and Firewire-800 (IEEE 1394) and 3 USB Ports
• Audio ports
• Original Mouse, extra cables (DVI -> VGA, USB Extension, Phone Cable, Power Cord)
• Original box & styrofoam!

The only things I have taken out are the hard drive and the keyboard.  Everything else is included.

Please feel free to ask questions. I’ve attached pictures to help show the quality of the machine, case, full SKU label.

Please bid with confidence – I have over 800 positive feedback, and I am a former Apple employee *and* a former eBay employee.  I will take care of you and your purchase.

Shipping. Shipping is a flat $35 through USPS Parcel Post.
Payment. I accept payment through PayPal only.  Please note that I cannot ship the machine until PayPal releases funds, which can take 3-5 days if you pay with eCheck.
Return Policy. If you are unhappy with the purchase for any reason, I will accept returns within 7 days for a full refund.  I will refun 100% of your payment upon receipt of the machine back to me in the original condition sold.