QOTD: What Do You Do With Your Old PCs?

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When you have 22 siblings its not hard to give your old computer away as a hand me down. Though my last computer a Phenom 9850, is currently my workstation at the shop.
 
i'm planning on starting a local program to turn old, obsolete computers into working, functional ones for the less fortunate or people who don't need the latest and greatest out of a machine (netbook type performance, email and web browsing or basic office functionality).

the plan is to require some basic type of 'application' and try to offer some type of receipt for tax write-off purposes for the donations...wipe a machine clean of past owner's information and either restore the OEM install or put something newer (linux install, probably) and get a working machine with as few hardware updates as necessary --perhaps a memory upgrade and potentially a wireless NIC of some type.

my only hesitation is that people who can't afford a $400 Dell computer (or $100-$200 used one from craigslist) will probably not be able to afford the monthly internet access. i'm thinking of trying to encourage open network sharing or to offer a place where people can find local network passkeys from those willing to share them with people in need. realistically, though, it won't happen and I'm seeing more and more secured networks these days...so i'm not holding my breath.

maybe...first, healthcare for everyone...next, free internet access for everyone. hey, it could happen.
 
[citation][nom]dotaloc[/nom]i'm planning on starting a local program to turn old, obsolete computers into working, functional ones for the less fortunate or people who don't need the latest and greatest out of a machine (netbook type performance, email and web browsing or basic office functionality). the plan is to require some basic type of 'application' and try to offer some type of receipt for tax write-off purposes for the donations...wipe a machine clean of past owner's information and either restore the OEM install or put something newer (linux install, probably) and get a working machine with as few hardware updates as necessary --perhaps a memory upgrade and potentially a wireless NIC of some type.my only hesitation is that people who can't afford a $400 Dell computer (or $100-$200 used one from craigslist) will probably not be able to afford the monthly internet access. i'm thinking of trying to encourage open network sharing or to offer a place where people can find local network passkeys from those willing to share them with people in need. realistically, though, it won't happen and I'm seeing more and more secured networks these days...so i'm not holding my breath.maybe...first, healthcare for everyone...next, free internet access for everyone. hey, it could happen.[/citation]


First off, thanks for doing this. We are trying the same thing here without the tax receipt part. If you want to bounce ideas off of me feel free to send me a pm.

As for the internet access, there are still quite a few subsidized/free places out there but sadly they are getting harder to find.
 
hahaha, i still have my Parkardbell 486dx2 running windows 95b with a 66mhz cpu 64mb of ram and 1 gig maxtor Hd also with 4mb of video memory.
After reading this article i went and got it out from my basement and for shits and giggles i turned it on. Damn thing stil works. I played megarace on it for an hour. Ah good memories.
 
My latest build I gave my Athlon 64 3400 to my stepdad, as well as my Radeon agp 3850, and 2 gigs ram. Then took his Sempron 3300 and radeon x1300 along with some spare parts from my old compaq to upgrade my grandparents centrino 1.2 with 256 gigs. They think it's great! It's a win win for everyone! Trying to convince my stepdad to upgrade to a E5200 and a new board, so I will probably start the whole process over! With the old ones (which I think numer about 6 or 7 these days) I make linux machines and servers and what not. And we have the whole order again only on MAC lol Oh and laptops...way too many PC's!!! Now if only my ISP was worth a crap.
 
I like to look at the insides of our "ghetto" machines and just compare the boards and design of the internals to our modern ATX designs. I can't believe out Pentium powered IBM from like 9 years ago was $1,000+!?!?! It was like the i7 of the 90's lol. But otherwise I just kinda let them pile up in the room. I've got 5 in here right now... and only one works well. Sometimes I find that the internals can fetch quite a bit, but usually it's just dated junk.
 
I only have one old computer, It could play oblivion , but either the graphics card is out or the MOBO is , but once I find out and replace it then I will probably give it to my friend , or to my greedy dad. -.-
 
Lets see...I have 1 brother that keeps almost as up to date as I do, but I have 3 others that I can sell my old parts to as well as both my parents.

I usually use them to buy my old parts when new ones come out so I have an excuse for upgrading to the latest and greatest about 3 months after they come out (that way the prices have dropped below the initial "early adoption" phase but I still get the best hardware).

Right now I'm using an i7 920 and a gtx 260 cuz of that. Already have one brother lined up to buy my 260 when the new dx11 cards come out (whenever THAT ends up being crosses fingers for September release) and another that I am building a new pc for that I'm giving my Asus P6T and getting a Rampage II with in the next couple weeks :)
 
... some of them i just give away... some i keep... i have a Pentium!! 500Mhz with 2Mb ATi and 32Mb RAM with Windows95... then i have a monster Windows98SE machine with AMD AthlonXP 2500 Barton OC @ 2300Mhz + 2x512Mb of DDR400Mhz CL2 and ATi 9600pro + 3DFX VooDoo... it iz a hell of machine for WIN98SE... all the good games, that don't work with XP... sweet goodness...
 
... some of them i just give away... some i keep... i have a Pentium!! 500Mhz with 2Mb ATi and 32Mb RAM with Windows95... then i have a monster Windows98SE machine with AMD AthlonXP 2500 Barton OC @ 2300Mhz + 2x512Mb of DDR400Mhz CL2 and ATi 9600pro + 3DFX VooDoo... it iz a hell of machine for WIN98SE... all the good games, that don't work with XP... sweet goodness...
 
Someone throws them away on me.
Have a 1.6ghZ athlon desktop at my side right now, and I'm using a pentium D system. I just ordered the parts to build a i7.

The 1.6GHz athlon is dead (as it has been for a while. I used it as a video player hooked up to my TV for a while, but I eventually broke a pin in the CPU playing with it). Right now,it's just making a bedside table taller.

My Pentium D with 1GB or RAM and a 512MB 4670 will go to my brother. He just watches anime and read comics online with very light gaming, so it's perfect for him until I buy him a deent lappy (because his died).

People throw them out for me when they realize they've been sitting around too long without any reason. I think my last CRT was recently recycled (died on me... too bad, was a decent 1600x1200 screen).



 
my systems get passed down as everyone in my household is a gamer, my girlfriend or son get my old rig, and the one they gave up if everything is in good working order gets a clean format and given to a family that otherwise wouldnt have a pc....and being i usually replace my system completely every 5- 7 months, the family i donate too still gets a mid to high end pc.... i donate 3 - 4 a year and it is an excellent tax write off for me
 
I force my new-to-computers sister to use ours. She was a web-tv only user when I moved here and she wanted to spring for that new 1500 dollar mega laptop that I saw myself fixing ALOT. This one is nice and easy, a frankenstein I worked myself to A. keep her out of trouble and B. its much easier to fix! I kinda like a puter to stupid to communicate with newer viruses hahahaaaaa. Now that she actually knows a little bit about a computer I can let her upgrade. Either way I take advantage of the latests at my work and come home to fix some screwy crap atleast three times a week thereafter. She is getting much better though. imagine someone who doesnt know what the start button does and how the hell do I get there when the little picture thingy isnt on the screen (desktop icon)...yeah its that bad shes lucky I dont have her trying to play pogo on a commodore64...haha.
Keep them....theres always someone who needs your help learning the hard way...always....
 
All of my old PCs (from appleIIc to 486sx to PentiumII to AMD1700 to AMD3700 to Intel Quad6600), still run to this day.
 
All of my old PCs (from appleIIc to 486sx to PentiumII to AMD1700 to AMD3700 to Intel Quad6600), still run to this day.
 
Since I am not as good as DELL is about convincing people to pay outrageous amounts of money for obsolete computer components, I just give them away to people who need them.
 
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