Community weekly poll: What did you do with your last old computer?
- 11/21/06 11:44 AM
Other
by Cad_1.0 - 11/23/06 11:02 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I remove the hard drive, crush it and burn it, then sell it without a hard drive
Disposing of old computers
by cgsx - 11/23/06 11:18 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I gave my last system to the local area vocational technical school and received a receipt as documentation for a charitable deduction.
I also give parts and peripherals to the computer service company that installs and occasionally updates my systems.
Old computers.
by James K. Farley - 11/23/06 11:31 AM In reply to: Disposing of old computers by cgsxI turned my old computers into Novell 3.12 and 4.11 servers. I
currently have 6 computers, all on a Novell system. Unlike MS
networking, very old computers can run older Novell systems.
Recycled Computers
by daney12345 - 11/23/06 11:20 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I salvaged it for parts, but also I have friends who have a habit of throwing them in the trash. That has now been discouraged by one of the Universities in our city which recently advertised for people to bring in their old computers, including peripherals and they would repair them and donate them to schools in locations which cannot afford to purchase them. The university restricted the donation to 3 per household and they collected 30,000 from the city. Over a period of two weeks these computers have overwhelmed the university but they are working very quickly to get them repaired and out to the people who need them.
Linux Cluster
by irignak - 11/23/06 11:42 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I take my old computers and hook them up to my openmosix linux cluster. Right now I have a 4 node cluster consisting of 3 P1 MMX's and 1 Celeron (333Mhz). Its really neat to work on it and having a lab to screw with always keeps me entertained.
Some I keep. others I donate
by mjd420nova - 11/23/06 11:58 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
The local high school had an E-cycle event, and I was able to get rid of four computers, minus the hard drives, six monitors(CRT type) and two very old TV's. I also have kept three other units that are old (P1, PMX, P3) but still functioning. I set them up with LAN cards and added them to my home network as depositories for music, photos and to act as a print server, scanner server and FAX units. This leaves my main units free of clutter and the data available to all units.
What did you do with your last old computer?
by aumanaur - 11/23/06 12:50 PM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I gave my old computer to a friend of my son who goes to a university and he gave her old computer to a child to be used at her home for internet and to write her schol reports.
Recycling a dinosaur?
by nicko56 - 11/23/06 2:42 PM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I would love to recycle my old computer, but I can't think of anyone who would want it - an early-1980s vintage NEC PC-8201, the very first battery-operated portable computer on the market! It runs on Basic, has a total RAM capacity of 96Kb, an eight-line LCD screen, a rudimentary text editor, and a 300 baud rate output to a modem. I think it belongs in a museum!
Nick Carroll
Hauled off by a collector
by Batchain - 11/23/06 3:16 PM In reply to: Recycling a dinosaur? by nicko56One HP PC, one Gateway PC and one Mac 5500 were hauled off by a collector for $30 who, if he had no use for anything would dispose of them properly. Otherwise, it would have cost $25 *per item* in this city to bring them to the dump/"recycling center" myself. There is no pick-up for those (or TVs!) and it's illegal to put them in the trash. Basically, they were, *dead animals* -- but possibly not entirely so for [name omitted].
Do you still have your nec 8201
by eaceaceac - 2/21/07 11:10 PM In reply to: Recycling a dinosaur? by nicko56Hi, I've been thinking about buying one. I had one years ago.
I collect some older computers as a hobbie.
What I did with my old computers
by andtfernandez - 11/23/06 6:33 PM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
I did some research as to whom may benifit from my old computers...and I found a few places to give them.
1) Women's shelters
2) Daycare centers/homes
3) Not for profit youth centers. The one where I lived has collected donated computers (has a friend come in and clean the hard drive off and download educational and non violent games, for the kids to play). I thought that was such a great idea...that I have spread the word out to friends and family members and I think that the youth group has been blessed with many old computers of all types.
I recycle old PCs et al thru Computer Renaissance
by J William - 11/23/06 7:38 PM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
As IS/IT Manager at Matrix Essentials we decided to recycle our old PC through the local franchise of Computer Renaissance, a subsidiary of Hollis Technologies LLC, They cleaned the HDDs and de-fur-ed the PCs inside and out. In return, the equipment was recycled into our locat comminity. Additionally, Computer Renaissance became the repair & Tech Support for these refurbished PCs; not my technical team.
J William Finkler
Cleveland, OH
Other, because I keep older systems...
by MichieS - 11/24/06 5:44 AM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
for alternate use. Actually I rarely ever buy a new computer, instead I 'acquire them'. Buy used (Ebay, Craigslist) or get from friends and clients. Such systems are more than adequate for most uses, and can be used for alternate operating systems, when you need access to a particular type of OS. I have W98s, W2k and XP and, soon, Linux.
Also, systems that I do real work on (financial, etc; and want it kept safe) NEVER see the Internet.
All this requires far more computers than I could afford to buy new.
When I get too many (wife always says I have too many-- doesn't everybody have 18-20 systems? <g>), I sell or donate them to our church's annual garage sale (where I work getting tech stuff more saleable).
As an old retired computer engineer, I get a lot of pleasure from tinkering with all sorts of computer related stuff.
BTW, good subject for a discussion like this. I gleaned a number of good ideas from the reponses (like FreeCycle).
Thanks for the platform, and I like the new message format.
Editing my 'Other'.....message
by MichieS - 11/24/06 5:53 AM In reply to: Other, because I keep older systems... by MichieSI should have said that the great majority of my old systems are laptops. Much easier to store in a small condo.
Also -- bad English. I should have said I sell some to others (like Ebay) -- NOT imply that I sell them to my church garage sale. I *give* those....
Ho, boy....
Destination for donated PC
by jm3017 - 11/24/06 3:45 PM In reply to: What did you do with your last old computer? by Marc Bennett
The last time I ran in to this situation I gave away a CPU, monitor and scanner to a local charity invovled with the support of those who are considered developmentally disadvantaged. The CPU was a Gateway PIII; 300 mghz...I had uppped the RAM to 326 meg, upgraded video card too. Went out the door with a 19 inch CRT and a (newly purchased) Microtek 8 X 14 inch flatbed scanner. Also had Gateway's speakers and subwoofer. I was not as disciplined as I should have been, only deleted files of concern, did not zero-out the drive, thinking this "charity" would not go "digging" for data. I was given a reciept stating all the particulars of system configuration when donated, complete with OE OS and drivers. In similar situation now, will keep CPU as a "storage" device for files.
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