Where to get cheap MacBook Air parts

[ProjectBox153]

Can someone tell me where online I can get cheap parts for my 2008 MacBook Air 1,1? I have one with a broken display, wireless card, and other things, but I want to fix it up to use it. Don't say eBay, because I've already looked and there are no parts cheap. This was a free laptop, and I want to keep it cheap. Thanks!

[TheWiseGuy]

Sell the macbook and buy a laptop

[DrMacintosh]

That thing is so old, trust me, you dont want to use it. 

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, TheWiseGuy said:

Sell the macbook and buy a laptop

Thanks for the usefulness. I have plenty of computers, but this is my thinnest and lightest, and I can just throw it around. It is a laptop, by the way. I also don't really have the funds to get something new, anyways. 

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

That thing is so old, trust me, you dont want to use it. 

I do. I've been using it, and it's fast enough, not to mention the seamless (mostly) integration with my hackintosh and iPhone. 

[mail929]

Buy another cheap used Macbook Air with the working parts you need but potentially other broken parts. Specifically seek out broken ones so you can get it cheaper.

[TheWiseGuy]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

Thanks for the usefulness. I have plenty of computers, but this is my thinnest and lightest, and I can just throw it around. It is a laptop, by the way. I also don't really have the funds to get something new, anyways. 

You won't have the funds to buy new parts for the macbook... Like I said sell the stuff that works and buy a cheap $80-$100 Windows Laptop. At least when those break I can get a replacement part for 10 bucks.

[JakeNTech]

6 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Can someone tell me where online I can get cheap parts for my 2008 MacBook Air 1,1? I have one with a broken display, wireless card, and other things, but I want to fix it up to use it. Don't say eBay, because I've already looked and there are no parts cheap. This was a free laptop, and I want to keep it cheap. Thanks!

The only place I know of is eBay. Macbook parts are expensive normally anyway, but the prices seem to have gone up in the last little bit. A1181's that you could once buy for £80 fully working are now costing £120+ for a 10 year old laptop. Amazons second hand thing is good for DVD's books etc. but isn't too good for everything else. 

 

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

That thing is so old, trust me, you dont want to use it. 

I have a A1181 from 2006-2007 and have no issues with it. OS X is still ahead of windows by a long shot. 

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, mail929 said:

Buy another cheap used Macbook Air with the working parts you need but potentially other broken parts. Specifically seek out broken ones so you can get it cheaper.

I've tried, but there are none locally, and the ones on eBay are all around $50 and up. That's WAY too much to spend on a free, 9 year old computer. 

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, fixitnow said:

The only place I know of is eBay. Macbook parts are expensive normally anyway, but the prices seem to have gone up in the last little bit. A1181's that you could once buy for £80 fully working are now costing £120+ for a 10 year old laptop. Amazons second hand thing is good for DVD's books etc. but isn't too good for everything else. 

 

I have a A1181 from 2006-2007 and have no issues with it. OS X is still ahead of windows by a long shot. 

Yeah, I guess I'll just have to keep a look out then. I have an HP Envy M6 (using it now) with a Core i5 5200u, 8GB DDR3 and Windows 10, but I'm not going to risk it getting stolen. 

[mail929]

2 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

I've tried, but there are none locally, and the ones on eBay are all around $50 and up. That's WAY too much to spend on a free, 9 year old computer. 

If $50 is too much there is nothing you can do but hope you find another free one.

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

I've tried, but there are none locally, and the ones on eBay are all around $50 and up. That's WAY too much to spend on a free, 9 year old computer. 

You can't get many parts cheaper than $50 for an iDevice. 

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, mail929 said:

If $50 is too much there is nothing you can do but hope you find another free one.

That probably won't happen. Oh well, I'll just use the 2" space between the two columns of jagged lines on this screen. 

[JakeNTech]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

Yeah, I guess I'll just have to keep a look out then. I have an HP Envy M6 (using it now) with a Core i5 5200u, 8GB DDR3 and Windows 10, but I'm not going to risk it getting stolen. 

you might be able to buy a liquid damaged one and harvest the parts, but it may be too far gone. I know you can import parts from the US of A to England but the postage is huge plus you have to bay import tax, ugh. If I count afford the parts/couldn't find them then I would hold on to it to keep for parts for others, apple used to be good about keeping parts the same, in the A1181 line up anyway. You can always put it up on eBay to give you some money, there are people like myself that deal with broken macs and then try to make a profit on them, they tend to have reserves of spear parts fix them up.

If I as in your situation i would connect a ethernet,  and a monitor and use it as a desktop, or use it on the TV for a nice little HTPC.  

[Mooshi]

7 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

I've tried, but there are none locally, and the ones on eBay are all around $50 and up. That's WAY too much to spend on a free, 9 year old computer. 

$50 is less than a family restaurant trip or cheap groceries, it isn't a lot of money--especially factoring in Apple.

 

Edit: Best option would be to get a hold of a donor unit and salvage parts.

[ProjectBox153]

19 minutes ago, fixitnow said:

If I as in your situation i would connect a ethernet,  and a monitor and use it as a desktop, or use it on the TV for a nice little HTPC.  

It would be great for that, and I would more than gladly use it as a desktop, but there is only one, very sensitive USB port. So sensitive that you will disconnect the USB Wi-Fi card (that weighs nothing) just by gently picking up the laptop. It's fine, I'll just get a spare unit if one comes up cheaper. 

[Princess Luna]

It is 9 years old, not even Apple thought it would run this long, I really think you should consider getting something new, these old macbooks were notorious for their low end hardware to begin with.

 

Like stated Apple products are not exactly meant to be repaired either you will not manage to do it cheaply.

[JakeNTech]

16 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

It would be great for that, and I would more than gladly use it as a desktop, but there is only one, very sensitive USB port. So sensitive that you will disconnect the USB Wi-Fi card (that weighs nothing) just by gently picking up the laptop. It's fine, I'll just get a spare unit if one comes up cheaper. 

Could always get a cheap USB hub and celotape it in place, I had a hub that had the same issue as your port, problem solved with some bluetack

[ProjectBox153]

3 minutes ago, fixitnow said:

Could always get a cheap USB hub and celotape it in place, I had a hub that had the same issue as your port, problem solved with some bluetack

Yeah, I may do that. I used Screen Sharing to it from my hackintosh yesterday for the first time, and it was odd to see that desktop without the lines.