DON'T destroy your older CPU!

[AnitaPeterson]

The idea for this thread came to my mind after I read somewhere in General Hardware that someone wants to destroy his/her Cyrix 686 and make a keychain out of it.

This summer I'll be going to Eastern Europe, to do research for my doctoral thesis, and while I'm there, I plan to take some books and other things I can dispense of, and donate them to some of the schools I'll be visiting. I'm even taking a computer - nothing fancy, something I made out of parts that I found over time - and I'm sure it will make a big difference to the people who will get to use it. Last time I took a shipment of books to the University of Bucharest (Romania) - and they were genuinely happy to receive them. While that particular area of Europe is not as poor as, say, most of Africa, the average monthly salary still hovers at $100 US/month - no telling how much time it would take a regular Joe to buy some equipment.

So, when I read that message, about destroying a perfectly good CPU, my heart bled.

Guys, if you have little pieces of hardware like that, let me know. I have a few 286 and 386 CPUs for which I probably won't find any interested parties, even in that part of the world - I'd rather swap them with you if you really care about a hi-tech keychain. I have a Socket 7 AT motherboard inside a Dell flat desktop case, so if I find a processor for it, then taking a second computer for charity won't be extra baggage for me.

Cheers, y'all

 

[shiner]

Isn't sending our stuff over there illegal?

 

[ScottyB]

But I want to destroy my older CPU, and I don't care about Africa

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have a Pentium 133mhz and Cyrix 166+(not sure if this 1 works anymore) that your welcome to Just tell me where to mail them. I even have some 8mb sticks of 72pin simms to go with it.

 

[XZeroII]

Do they even have electricity in Africa? I have a 486, K5, K6, and Athlon. The Athlon doesn't work but the others do. I just keep them around as a testament to the past.

 

[Jimbo]

Bump for a good cause.
You could trade naked pictures for hardware. I bet in a week they would have more computing power than NASA.

Bwhahahahaah.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Uhmm, I'm NOT going to Africa - wish I were, but it's not something I work on.

I'm going to Eastern Europe: Moldova, Romania and Hungary, with stops in the Czech republic.

No, I don't think exporting (would that even be called exporting, though?) is limited at all: Hungary and the Czech Republic are full members of NATO, and Romania is associate member (Partnership for Peace and all). Moldova is the most under-developed, both socially and economically... however it's not like the Stone Age or something.

 

[Bignate603]

Sorry, don't have anything to give but up for a good cause. Oh, and shipping this stuff is legal, it's the super computers they're worried about.

 

[rudder]

What type of mobo is that? I've got a k6-2 that may work depending on the motherboard.

 

[Jimbo]

You will also need new power cords or at least adapters/converters. Remember to switch the back of the power supply to 220, or you will see the magic smoke! What about monitors?

Africa; Eastern Europe? Close enough for American public school geography!

 

[ATLien247]

A friend of mine had a similar idea a few years ago. In his case he wanted to ship a large amount of old surplus computers to China. Ultimately, he was forbidden to do so by our federal government. I'm not sure why, though.

 

[CStroman]

I don't destroy anything newer than a 486 or hard drives equal to or greater than 1 GB.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Jimbo - yes, you are right about the cables, but I know they can modify them quite easily, by cutting the plugs and changing them. Most power supplies are dual-switch anyway.

The monitors are indeed a tricky question, but hey - I can't take them everything. Maybe they can figure out that by themselves, but at least they don't have to buy the computers.

As for the Dell motherboard, I'm sure it should support everything Socket7-compatible (which is what, Pentium, K5, K6, K6-2, K6-3, 686 ?..) although I haven't been able to figure out exactly by doing a web search (the model is Dell Optiplex Gn+)

--------

*edit* Found something Here, but it only mentions factory specs.

 

[johneetrash]

<< it's the super computers they're worried about. >>



and ps2's

 

[ys]

<< A friend of mine had a similar idea a few years ago. In his case he wanted to ship a large amount of old surplus computers to China.
Ultimately, he was forbidden to do so by our federal government. I'm not sure why, though. >>



Computer Waste

A new report documents one such "cyber-age nightmare" ? a cluster of villages in southeastern China
where computers still bearing the labels of their one-time owners in America are ripped apart and strewn along rivers and fields.

Looks like your friend was looking to pollute third world countries.