JFo Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 With all the talk of new PC and Mac purchases running rampant on these boards, I'm curious as to what everyone does with their old hardware after a shiny new machine is purchased. I have a PC I assembled about two-and-a-half years ago that has been gathering dust since my MacBook purchase last February. I'm at quite a loss for what I can do with it now. Aside from a few instances where I need a Windows program for a particular task, I'm more inclined the use the Mac for all my computing needs these days. Add in the fact that I have plenty of hard drive space to install XP or Vista on the Mac if I so chose, and the desktop machine becomes even more unnecessary. The PC in question is still a fine piece of hardware. It runs Windows XP like a champ and could be a fine computer for someone in need. As such, I feel like it would be a waste to dispose of it at this time. I've thought about trying to sell it, but given the age of the machine and the fact that it's running XP, I don't think there's much money to be made on it. I had toyed with the idea of upgrading some components and installing Vista on it, but I think the best I could do there is break even on the purchase. Another thought I had was to donate it to a family member. I do believe my sister's family could use another computer, but I'd have to see if they are interested in it first. Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magness Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 In my case, I typically canibalize old systems to rebuild or upgrade new systems. I almost never have a full spare system, just parts. If/When I do have a whole system thats a spare or I have no use for I would usually try to sell it if it's still worth anything or just give it away to someone who needs one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 My old systems go to Goodwill, minus the HDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I usually give the last one to my parents, and the one they had to someone who wants it. Someone is always willing to take it. Like Brian said if your throwing it away get rid of the HD, but if i give it away I use one of those programs that writes to the entire drive a ton of times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoisonJam Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I keep one machine back, as a backup, and send anything older to the recycle center whenever the town has one of those "recycle your electronics" events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMonkey Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 (edited) In my case, I typically canibalize old systems to rebuild or upgrade new systems. I almost never have a full spare system, just parts. If/When I do have a whole system thats a spare or I have no use for I would usually try to sell it if it's still worth anything or just give it away to someone who needs one. Ditto. I'm still running as one of my optical drives my 4x Pioneer DVD writer from about 4 computers back. I've got a big plastic storage unit with drawers I have spare parts in - comes in handy if I need to fix someone's computer. Stuff like screws and motherboard mounts and CPU cooler/fan combos - they can be handy to fix up an old PC. Most of the time stuff that has some value goes to ebay to help pay for the upgrade - video cards, CPU, motherboard. HDDs I generally have a few spare, as they can be useful sometimes with an enclosure for emergency file transferring and stuff. The case, if I get a new one, goes to my dad to recycle for scrap metal. I've got a case with a 754 socket motherboard out in the garage to go out for recycling. Once in a while I have enough for a whole system that isn't worth enough to bother to sell and it goes to family or a friend or whatever. My dad still has some of my old hardware for one of his PCs - my old 1.1ghz Athlon Thunderbird chip, 384MB PC133 RAM, etc. Runs XP just fine If you want to sell your old PC for like $100 and don't want to screw with ebay, you can try Craigslist...the local paper in my Grandma's city has a Freebies classified section...under $50 you can sell for free. Also, you can donate the computer to the Salvation Army or somewhere like that. Get a receipt and get a tax writeoff for a charitable donation. Ten Tips for Donating a Computer http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/hardware/page5496.cfm There's also Freecycle if you want to give it away: http://www.freecycle.org/ Edited October 13, 2008 by GreenMonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFo Posted October 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 My old systems go to Goodwill, minus the HDs. So, do you put a new hard drive in the machine when you donate? I'm assuming you do, since the computer is pretty useless without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 So, do you put a new hard drive in the machine when you donate? I'm assuming you do, since the computer is pretty useless without it. Nope, Goodwill don't care. HDs are plentiful. They've got refurb centers for computers that they rebuild & reformat the machines before they get sold or used regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMonkey Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 You could also use some low level data destroying software to blank the drive. http://www.killdisk.com/ You might also use Eraser which will get rid of files permanently: http://www.ehow.com/how_4449434_clean-hard-drive-before-donating.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 I've been thinking about this myself recently. I have a custom built pc that I'm looking to get rid of, as well as some parts (video card, motherboard, older cpu, etc.). My Goodwill does not accept computer components, TVs, or monitors. You need to check your local donation organizations to see what they can use. Depending on how environmentally aware you are, you might be upset if you drop something off and they toss it in the dumpster... As for the recycling, my town has a yearly event where you can recyle hazardous goods. Otherwise, you typically have to pay a small fee to have them handle it. A family member recently donated some furniture and a TV to a local veteran's center. That's another possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBardon Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I have a small collection of spare PC parts in my basement that I've gone to more than once to fix either my own or someone else's computer. I'm actually out of spare power supplied because I've had to replace two for people in the last couple of years. There are also lots of things you can do with a spare older machine, like setting up a home NAS, backup server, or box that just downloads stuff for you. You could also do something crazy like building it into a MAME cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFo Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I sent my sister and her husband an e-mail a couple days ago, asking if they would be interested in my old PC. I offered them two options. Either I would let them have it as is for free or I would upgrade a few features and put Vista on it, in which case I would only ask for the money needed to make the upgrades. I still haven't heard back from them yet. If I don't hear from them soon, I may just upgrade the machine anyway and try to put it up for sale at work. I'm sure someone there could use a good, cheap PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James T Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 You can also pull an Attack of the Show and smash it with sledge hammers. They did that yesterday to introduce the new macbooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFo Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 My sister finally got back to me on the offer. Long story short, they'll take the computer, but they're undecided about the upgrades at this point. I'm just happy that someone's willing to take this thing off my hands. Getting a chance to improve some of the hardware would be fun in a nerdy sort of way, but either way someone's going to be making more use of it than I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 This is one good thing about Macs, they retain their value very well. The market for used Macs is pretty strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magness Posted October 17, 2008 Report Share Posted October 17, 2008 This is one good thing about Macs, they retain their value very well. The market for used Macs is pretty strong. I'll say... I was looking at resale value on my MacBook to "Ease" the upgrade to a new laptop for myself and 2 netbooks for my daughters and Holy Hell ?!? Despite the refresh of the MacBook line, despite the new Pro's, despite it's relatively conservative specs, despite that mine is used and over a year old, etc, etc they are still going for close to retail. Good for me to upgrade but, it makes me a little more reluctant to trade it out now too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootzy44 Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Sold my old m7360n HP Media PC (with an added GeForce 8600GT OC card) for 500 bucks on craigslist. This greatly helped subsidize the cost of my new PC which ended up being a net $600 machine to build. Not bad for what I got. See http://www.lcvg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12613 for my new machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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