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Used computer parts...

M

MaxCool

Member
About 10 years ago when I 1st started building systems, used computer parts were PLENTIFUL. I used to find dumpsters at college or other schools filled to the brim with old towers, which I would often find tons of parts in.

There was about 8 computer shops, that had used parts fairly cheap.

Fast forward to today....

I don't see used towers anywhere, except for maybe an old dell or two.

Down to about 3 computer shops, and they don't carry used parts.

Why is there such a lack of used parts anymore?
 
Probably because unlike in the 90s the computer that came out this year is more or less just as good as the one that came out last year. So the turnover is way less. Not to mention the rise of laptops versus desktops.
 
Because people just throw their PC's away rather than recycle parts.

(this doesn't apply to "enthusiasts" though.)

Try surfing the various "for sale" sections of the geek sites.
 
PCs became a mainstream commodity. They're now cheaper than ever with systems can be had at as little as $300.

Kind of like flying. They were an elite luxury thing back in 60s. Thanks to globalization, it's a cheap transportation commodity.
 
I think most of the things you'd actually want are probably still in use. I wouldn't run anything P4 or AMD athlon at this point, has to be ddr2 at least. Most things that meet those qualifications are still responsive enough to use since dual core became common.

Not to mention, the only stuff get in thrown in dumpsters are faulty parts like the Nvidia chipsets a few years ago.
 
The 90s were great. Lots of local shops building clones. If a company needed 25 PCs they let all the local shops bid and then went with one of them. The winning shop would buy the parts, assemble, deliver and support the PCs.

Today, it's easier and cheaper to just go on HP, Dell, Acer, etc's website, build the PC you want, change the quantity to 25 and click submit. Two weeks later your PCs come via FedEx.

Most PCs being sold these days are small form factory anyway, with a custom motherboard designed by the manufacturer. Not a lot of reuse value compared to the towers and desktops of 15 years ago.

Look at my P183. People see and are amazed. It's huge (but we PC enthusiasts know it's by no means the biggest). People are shocked when they see it. They know it looks new and modern, but it's big so they assume it's old and slow. 🙂

Funny how times change.
 
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Computers were significantly more expensive back in those days. Without even an inflation adjustment it seems your run of the mill system cost 2 grand. 😵 I imagine there was much greater need to fix something that was broke when only one component was out of whack.

These days everything is cheap as hell. If it's broke, get another system. It's the new American mentality.
 
Yes, they were much more expensive if you bought a name brand. The clones were less.

Who remembers the $1,000 Pentium Gateway PC? We were all amazed. A Pentium PC for a grand and Gateway was on cloud nine. I wonder if YouTube has any of those old commercials?
 
I chat with some old friends that are actually still in the repair business, but they only want PC3200 memory in 512's or 1GB.
 
Vic Vega said:
Yes, they were much more expensive if you bought a name brand. The clones were less.

Who remembers the $1,000 Pentium Gateway PC? We were all amazed. A Pentium PC for a grand and Gateway was on cloud nine. I wonder if YouTube has any of those old commercials?
Click to expand...

Gateway 2000 baby!!

Better than the Tandy or Packard Bells of the day...

I remember when the 400+ Mhz Pentium 3 came out...at about $3000 in early 99.
 
Upon seeing a pile of "old" monitors, computers, etc., I asked, "why aren't these sold on Craigslist or given away to needy people or something?"

The answer: "They have to go to a recycler now. Because of some sort of legislation, we're responsible for them for 10 years. So, if we do anything other than send them in for recycling, it can become a big headache for us down the road."

I'll bet there's 10's of thousands of dollars in used computer equipment (at ebay prices) that cannot be sold because of some well-meant but poorly implemented legislation.
 
I work for a shop that resells pallets of old P4 stuff. They have surprisingly little value other than for startup businesses and grandparents.

The price of new stuff is so low these days that unless you are a PC enthusiast, it is cheaper to buy a new system than to remove malware from your old system, for example.

Old video cards made before the last few years are basically unsellable. We attempted to sell old nvidia quadros and AMD x300s for $5 each. Couldn't find any buyers. Wound up selling some at $5 for 20 of each.
 
DrPizza said:
Upon seeing a pile of "old" monitors, computers, etc., I asked, "why aren't these sold on Craigslist or given away to needy people or something?"

The answer: "They have to go to a recycler now. Because of some sort of legislation, we're responsible for them for 10 years. So, if we do anything other than send them in for recycling, it can become a big headache for us down the road."

I'll bet there's 10's of thousands of dollars in used computer equipment (at ebay prices) that cannot be sold because of some well-meant but poorly implemented legislation.
Click to expand...

I remember when I had to start sending our old equipment to a "recycling" company back in 2005. Company policy required it after some IT guys in another division "threw away" a dozen or so year old notebooks which ended up on eBay magically. So we started paying this company to take the old hardware, and we had age requirements, etc.

Well, basically we paid these guys to "recycle" the hardware and it was on eBay a week later, talk about getting ripped off. I started stripping everything of value out of the machines before sending them out. Our HD people had spare parts forever. I had this big 10lb coffee can full of memory... there had to be 500 sticks in there of various sizes and speeds.
 
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