What do you do with old computers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nil
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Nil

Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
 
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

I doubt anyone can use them. Our schools accept used PCs, but nothing
less than Pentium IV. The best course is to part them out. A
newly-built PC can always use an extra fan!
 
I have 2 old pcs for old dos games that dont work well on Win Xp or with
dosbox you could easly sell the lot on ebay as there are people out there
that want old pcs. What country are you in?

GK :)
 
In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt Nil
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

If you find out, let me know ....
 
Nil said:
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...
I would think if you were kind enough to wipe the drive and clean
install whatever linux distro will operate on the equipment, so that it
actually functions, that SOME school would be happy to use them, or
libraries, or social service orgs that help unemployed locate jobs, or
any type of teen centers. Most of these would not have the resources to
futz with old junk to get it working. Kids and underprivileged need them!
 
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

Keep using them until they die. :-)

Seriously, though, you could turn them into print servers, or
paperless fax machines/servers. There are some people who collect old
machines for their private museums.

- Franc Zabkar
 
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

What kind of MONSTER are you!?!

Giving away or throwing out your computers! That is both insane and sick!
 
What kind of MONSTER are you!?!

Giving away or throwing out your computers! That is both insane
and sick!
Click to expand...

It's all part of my mission to destroy civilization as we know it. My
next targets are zippers and velcro.
 
Phisherman said:
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

I doubt anyone can use them. Our schools accept used PCs, but nothing
less than Pentium IV. The best course is to part them out. A
newly-built PC can always use an extra fan!
Click to expand...

Nobody "can" use them, or nobody "wants to" use them?

For simple web browsing and e-mail, a 486 with Linux or Win98 should do fine.
I would try setting one up with Ubuntu, and look for places that need machines
for web work.
 
It's all part of my mission to destroy civilization as we know it. My
next targets are zippers and velcro.
Click to expand...

Oh no! These days that's all that's keeping our social fabric
together.

- Franc Zabkar
 
For simple web browsing and e-mail, a 486 with Linux or Win98
should do fine. I would try setting one up with Ubuntu, and look
for places that need machines for web work.
Click to expand...

Do you really think a 486 can adequately run a recent linux
distribution with a graphical interface? My experience is that even a
middlin' Pentium labors slowly under that setup. If you mean by "web
work" to mean a server, that might be OK.
 
Nil said:
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

There are programs to give our old computers to schools in
3rd-world countries where their budgets can't afford even refurbished
computers. Otherwise, there are re-cycling programs to keep electronic
components and their toxic and sometimes valuable materials out of
landfills. Just Google on "recycling recycle computers PCs electronics",
and you'll find dozens of organizations that perform this valuable service.
Some are local, some are national. But whatever you do, don't just
throw them in the trash.

*TimDaniels*
 
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...
Goodwill.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951
 
Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:04:06 +1000: written by Franc Zabkar
Seriously, though, you could turn them into print servers, or
paperless fax machines/servers. There are some people who collect old
machines for their private museums.
Click to expand...

This is a good suggestion depending on how you operate your home
network. I have an ancient Toshiba 305CDS with a Pentium (no number)
and 32MB of onboard RAM. I installed the stripped down version of Win2K
called Win2K SP5 (http://www.vorck.com/2ksp5.html) which runs fine, but
don't expect to open multiple apps or interact with it in a timely
manner.

I bought the max RAM it could accept (128MB) and now I use it as an
audio player in the garage when I exercise and I also have it hooked up
to a Venus T4U RAID external drive, so it serves as a file server for my
home network as well as an FTP server.

There are plenty of low level tasks to which you can dedicate an old PC,
again it all depends on your home network.


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There are plenty of low level tasks to which you can dedicate an
old PC, again it all depends on your home network.
Click to expand...

I agree in principle, and I do keep a couple of my more recent cast-
offs around for various projects and testing. But I'm talking about
*really* old stuff here. The 486 could run Windows NT and some versions
of linux, but I can't think of a practical use for the 386SX or Apple
II. I don't want to dump them in the trash to end up in a landfill, but
they are just taking up valuable storage space in my house - I want
them out of here. I haven't looked that hard yet, but so far I haven't
found a home.
 
Say you've got a bunch of old obsolete but working PCs, including a
386SX, a 486, and an Apple ][. Would you part them out, try to sell
them intact, donate them, toss 'em? Who would use old stuff like this
these days?
Click to expand...

I remember when 486's were used for company servers. The early slow
one's too.

I'd suggest that if a school picked up 50 old 486 machines, they
would have a good cheap computer programming lab for grammar school
students. Things like fortran, basic, assembly, C, all work fine at
the beginning level.
 
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