Apple addicts bid for Flower Power

Mac enthusiasts will have a chance to bid on leftovers from Apple Computer's warehouse in an online auction Friday.

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DoveBid is hosting an auction of about 200 new and refurbished machines being put on the block by Apple. The auction is made up primarily of large groups of machines, but it's possible to bid on a single machine within a larger lot. There are also a few lots composed of just one or two products.

The items up for bid include:

• a collection of 40 500MHz iBooks

• a collection of 39 5GB iPods

• a pair of 500MHz Flower Power iMacs with CD burners

The Apple auction comes two days after DoveBid held an auction for the assets of defunct high-speed Internet company Excite@Home. DoveBid was also responsible for auctioning off the remains of Webvan last October.

Although DoveBid is well known for auctioning off the remnants of dead dot-coms, it is also a regular clearinghouse for tech and other companies looking to shed unwanted gear. Upcoming auctions include offerings from Boeing, Ford, JDS Uniphase and Solectron.

Apple has used the company in the past to sell excess equipment.

The items Apple is auctioning are somewhat similar to the types of products Apple lists on occasion in the Special Deals section of its online store. For example, Apple began selling refurbished iPods through its online store last month.

The DoveBid auction is slated to begin 9 a.m. PDT Friday.