What should I do with old laptops

Posted by Dry-Brain-7671@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 12 comments

I've got about 10 old laptops (my father fixes computers) and I don't know what to do with them. It seems a waste to throw them all away.

I don't know if any work, but they definitely won't work well.

Any ideas?

Thanks

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dominus_aranearum@reddit

Wipe any important information and sell them on eBay as non-working.

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Ok-Actuator3498@reddit

You mean testing them and selling all the non-working as untested, as everyone else on eBay does?

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NeatTransition5@reddit

Install NetBSD 32-bit under lightweight XFCE. Learn some (real - not systemd) Unix.

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sf_sf_sf@reddit

Before you get rid of them, you will want to erase all the hard drives so it’s not to give away your father‘s personal financial and other data

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Laser_Krypton7000@reddit

If you wanna just get rid of them with free pickup.

There will be people who take care of them.

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LuigiTeaching@reddit

Cool, I’m new here and never heard of that, looks like I just missed a huge convention nearby with an amazing consignment table, thanks for posting!

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Terrible-Bear3883@reddit

I've got more than 20 stacked up, I recently got rid of 15 desktops so I'll need to sort through the laptops.

In our area we can take them to local recycling and there's a dedicated section for computers, you could sell them on Ebay etc. for spares/repair, a lot of people still want and collect old equipment, I've given quite a few away, there is also a local company that will evaluate for reclaiming the gold content and pay you.

For myself, I tend to offer all my old equipment free if anyone wants to collect, one person had a fully working Tecra laptop but his case was badly damaged, odds are most of the laptop I gave him worked, he can transfer whatever he needs into the "good" case for his vintage collection, he was happy to drive an hour each way, I got rid of some old clutter and its a win that it keeps being of use.

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Away-Squirrel2881@reddit

List them on craigslist Free Stuff or Computers for sale (set a low price to sell quickly)

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jessek@reddit

I’m sure a local weird will take them for free if you put them on marketplace

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YandersonSilva@reddit

That would be me lol

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Scoth42@reddit

How old are we talking? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Hard to answer without more information on the specs. There are charities that will take computers that are still usable for low income folks if we're talking remotely recent ones. If you're talking more vintage ones, then that's getting into collector and enthusiast territory.