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Where to find old unwanted PC's?

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K

Kamel

Member
​
Joined
Jan 7, 2005
Location
Dallas, TX
Hello everyone... I kinda scratched my head thinking about where would be the most appropriate place to post this, I didn't come up with much so I figured I would post in the catch-all general discussions. I apologize if I have placed this incorrectly.

I'm very good with networking and try to do a lot with my local church. I found out that many of the mission organizations (we have two in particular, one in Guatemala, one in Kenya) have some pretty severe technology needs. Their needs are fairly simple, and I figured I could easily just scrounge up some old PC's people throw out daily and just breathe life into those by either installing linux, or whatever.

I found out that for some reason I am having extreme difficulty finding old used PC's. People used to give me them all of the time, but for some reason it has been some time since that has happened. They used to be a dime a dozen, I literally had so many PC's before that I've thrown some out because they were just so old or what have you. Now, I am regretting that but I digress.

I'm looking for the best way to find old, unwanted PC's. Condition etc aren't a concern, I just need to figure out where the heck all these old PC's are going when people throw them out. Please don't mistake my question as begging, I am in no way requesting any of you to send me a PC or something. Instead, I'm just curious where I could go? Contacting the local PC recycle center was a complete dead-end, they pretty much gave me the cold shoulder. Any ideas where to turn next?
 
Local universities usually have the hookup for this. When I did this in Belize for underfunded primary schools, all the old PCs we had to work with were tossed out by government agencies when they did their upgrades. Our networking teacher had arranged for us to pick them up instead of them being taken to a landfill somewhere. In any event, good luck. I hate to see old computers go to waste when someone could actually just throw Linux on there and give them to people in need.
 
Good suggestions above. Also, check in with local hospitals and large corporations IT departments and find out what their policies are. You will need to present your Charity creds to them but they may be prepared to help out. They normally are paid some nominal fee by PC recyclers or the vendor that supplies their hardware in bulk at the time of upgrades. There is a fairly large recycler across the parking lot from our warehouse and they are pleasant but all business when it comes to the recycling of PCs; no feebies, no donations, period.
 
i would try craigslist for older pc's you might even want to put a add on there saying what you are looking for free old PC and why
 
Well part of the issue is old PC's are lasting forever. An old Athlon or P4 does fine for daily use.
 
Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm going to check into some of them. I do not have a non-profit entity myself, but maybe I can operate under my church.

As far as asking the members of the church, I'm recognised as one of the three "IT" guys at church, so they might just say if anyone would know it would be me LOL.

All great ideas though, I think ill begin by trying to get an official plan together and speak to the pastor. Then maybe I can operate under the entity of the church and see if this will help participation.
 
Kamel said:
Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm going to check into some of them. I do not have a non-profit entity myself, but maybe I can operate under my church.

As far as asking the members of the church, I'm recognised as one of the three "IT" guys at church, so they might just say if anyone would know it would be me LOL.

All great ideas though, I think ill begin by trying to get an official plan together and speak to the pastor. Then maybe I can operate under the entity of the church and see if this will help participation.
Click to expand...

Check with the local waste disposal authority.
 
Check with craigslist and freecycle. I got a free P4 that worked off freecycle. Cleaned it up, used it for a few years as a spare, and then eventually gave it away.
 
Check around to see if there is a computer recycling place in town. I did this to drop off a broken monitor. After getting to the place, they told me to just "put it out there." I went around back and there were at least 200 computers laying about. I'm positive they would have let me take anything I wanted.
 
i would like to have let me know email me [email protected]

Kamel said:
Hello everyone... I kinda scratched my head thinking about where would be the most appropriate place to post this, I didn't come up with much so I figured I would post in the catch-all general discussions. I apologize if I have placed this incorrectly.

I'm very good with networking and try to do a lot with my local church. I found out that many of the mission organizations (we have two in particular, one in Guatemala, one in Kenya) have some pretty severe technology needs. Their needs are fairly simple, and I figured I could easily just scrounge up some old PC's people throw out daily and just breathe life into those by either installing linux, or whatever.

I found out that for some reason I am having extreme difficulty finding old used PC's. People used to give me them all of the time, but for some reason it has been some time since that has happened. They used to be a dime a dozen, I literally had so many PC's before that I've thrown some out because they were just so old or what have you. Now, I am regretting that but I digress.

I'm looking for the best way to find old, unwanted PC's. Condition etc aren't a concern, I just need to figure out where the heck all these old PC's are going when people throw them out. Please don't mistake my question as begging, I am in no way requesting any of you to send me a PC or something. Instead, I'm just curious where I could go? Contacting the local PC recycle center was a complete dead-end, they pretty much gave me the cold shoulder. Any ideas where to turn next?
Click to expand...

i would likes to have 1 if they still avalible
 
LOcal colleges throw out their old PCs after a few years.
You can look to buy some from them.
Other than that, you can also find old PCs at the end of the financial year at the local computer hardware store.
They return the unsold PCs back to the manufacturers.
Maybe you could get some slice of the pie when you buy from them for lower price than usual.
 
Hah, count me in on the "feeling old" list... Though I will say the thread has aged well.

If anyone is curious about my original concern, it didn't ever go anywhere. I had ideas about nothing ever materialized. I've since moved, but I'm still in touch with the organizations. I think these days the issue is far less difficult to solve though, as I could literally just use Raspberry Pi's if it came to it. I may give it a try, thanks for bringing it back to my attention
 
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