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Thread: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

  1. #1
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    What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    Curious about what computer treasures you have found laying about, either in thrift stores, garage sales, or back of an alley.

    For myself just a few days ago I sold my laptop, trying to simplify my life. Laptop had become an obsession more than a tool. My wife and I share a computer now and the monitor we had just wasn't good. 19" 1366x768 I think. I found a 1080p 24" led screen at the thrift store for 5 bucks. Not a single dead pixel on the screen. Works great and we are both much happier with it. Easier to use and more screen real estate to work with. Another find same day, same store. 5 port gigabit tp link switch. I've been using a 10/100 in my spare bedroom where our computer is located and it worked, but always wanted faster. Got this thing for 4 bucks at the same store. In total I walked out of the Goodwill with a 1080p 24" monitor, 5 port gigabit switch, 3 music cds for $11.95 US. Was a good day at the Goodwill.

    The ironic part was just that morning I was pricing monitors and switches on Newegg and Amazon. I hadn't decided yet so I hadn't ordered. But these fit the bill nicely.
    Last edited by Tadaen_Sylvermane; April 20th, 2019 at 10:08 PM.

  2. #2
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    I've done very well with clothing (outerwear) at thrift shops, no luck with electronics. I did check thrift shops for IBM Model M keyboards for some time before giving up and ordering a no-name mechanical keyboard which aside from being a bit more cramped that I care for has worked very well. I cannot stand the typical membrane keyboard.

  3. #3
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    I find all sorts of good computers and computer hardware in thrift stores for minimal money.

    I have found graphics cards with bad fans for a dollar to five dollars and I'll remove the fan / fans and shrouds and zip tie an 80 mm fan to the heat sink and use them in my thrift store computers which I have hardly any money in.


    All sorts of old gold jewelry in thrift stores where I live if you are willing to search through the lot of the box of junk jewelry.

    It can be hit or miss and for the most it's miss although I do get lucky now and again and find some really good stuff.
    Last edited by poorguy; April 21st, 2019 at 05:44 AM.
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  4. #4
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    i saw a bunch of stuff (monitors, Pentium 4 and D PCs, that was still working being thrown out (for recycling). asked if i could have some of it and it is not allowed. well, so much for "going green".
    Read the easy to understand, lots of pics Ubuntu manual.
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  5. #5
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    Quote Originally Posted by mastablasta View Post
    i saw a bunch of stuff (monitors, Pentium 4 and D PCs, that was still working being thrown out (for recycling). asked if i could have some of it and it is not allowed. well, so much for "going green".
    I don't understand thrift store logic or policy in not selling items if someone is interested in buying the items.

    I purchased several Dell Opitplex 360 / 380 desktops Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93 GHz processors and 4.0 GB DDR2 / DDR3 ram without hard drives for $5.00 each.

    I pulled from my junk box a couple of hard drives for them and installed Linux on a couple of them and they are quite capable of running Linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Linux Mint LMDE 3 (Cindy).

    These are all originally Windows 7 2010 desktops and work great for my Linux daily drivers.

    I'll keep the extra around for backups and at this point I won't have to purchase any computers for awhile.
    Last edited by poorguy; June 16th, 2020 at 10:42 PM.
    Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.
    (Mark Twain)

  6. #6
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    so far stores here only sell business PC and laptops. so they are a bit pricey. they would add 1 year warranty to it which again raises the price. was just checking a box with i5 4th gen, 4 Gb ram, Intel GPU, 500 GB disk for 220 EUR. that's quite expensive considering you get a new one with similar or better CPU benchmark at only 150 EUR more.

    the only ones that sell without warranty are individuals, but it is hard to know what you will get there. i was just loosing my mind with my wifes PC again. it was working fine until recenly, when it decided to hang every 20 mins or so. it's old, but all looks good. there were not major updates lately that would make it do that. PSU is new, all fans spinning, added a new additional fan in January. so what i did is i pressed all connections. and yesterday it worked without any freezing at all. weird. and his is what happens with old PC. it can work great and then suddenly not work.

    if i got some spares for 5$ - i would buy that too. particularly GPU which i suspect it is causing the freezes. it's fan is not smooth. but it is an AGP card. the motherboard has PCIe slot as well, however i could not get a newer card running. so i so far replaced almost everything except CPU, motherboard and GPU.
    Read the easy to understand, lots of pics Ubuntu manual.
    Do i need antivirus/firewall in linux?
    Full disk backup (newer kernel -> suitable for newer PC): Clonezilla
    User friendly full disk backup: Rescuezilla

  7. #7
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    I believe when Windows 7 reaches EOL January 2020 there will be some computers that flood the thrift stores.

    I notice that when OSs change the computers seem to be everywhere at garage sales / flea markets / thrift stores.

    Sometimes I have people I know ask me what they should do with their old computer and I tell them to install Linux on it.

    I'm amazed at how many actually do install Linux and discover how well Linux works on what they considered an old outdated computer.

    I just like old computers and hardware and like going to thrift stores because you never know what treasures you may find.
    Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.
    (Mark Twain)

  8. #8
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    Many years ago, I was at a "State Surplus" auction, and bid on a 17" CRT Monitor. This was circa 1997.

    I made a $100.00 bid, and won the auction. Apparently, that was too much for others to pay for a 17" Monitor.

    Turned out that I actually won the bid on a PALLET of these monitors. 16 remaining monitors off of a 20 count pallet!

    Now, I had to figure out how to get them home! Fortunately my friend had a flat-bed pickup, and he was good with getting a 17" monitor as payment.

    Then it was off to the BBS's to try and sell them all. I asked for $50.00 each, and had two returned as damaged in the packaging. Still 12 sales x $50.00 = $600.00 return on my initial $100.
    Last edited by Shibblet; April 25th, 2019 at 11:05 PM.
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  9. #9
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shibblet View Post
    Many years ago, I was at a "State Surplus" auction, and bid on a 17" CRT Monitor. This was circa 1997.

    I made a $100.00 bid, and won the auction. Apparently, that was too much for others to pay for a 17" Monitor.

    Turned out that I actually won the bid on a PALLET of these monitors. 16 remaining monitors off of a 20 count pallet!

    Now, I had to figure out how to get them home! Fortunately my friend had a flat-bed pickup, and he was good with getting a 17" monitor as payment.

    Then it was off to the BBS's to try and sell them all. I asked for $50.00 each, and had two returned as damaged in the packaging. Still 12 sales x $50.00 = $600.00 return on my initial $100.
    I have seen some EVE online players utilize about that many screens when playing the game. Could have been a good time for you to try it out
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  10. #10
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    Re: What computer treasures have you found outside of the major stores?

    Not really computer equipment, but I usually go to the local Habitat For Humanity ReStore outlet to get assorted items. Can usually find end tables for $15 that are perfect for putting desktop computers on to keep them off the floor. Also found a really nice adjustable office chair for $5.00. They do sometimes have computer stuff, but unless you're into 15 to 17 inch old Dell LCD monitors, picking is slim.
    This post is like Brigadoon!

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