I've found two Pentiums, a 386 and a 486 in the roadside garbage over the years. Today I found an old 286 plus an Amber TTL monitor with a slight dusting of snow on it (too bad there's no way to use a TTL monitor on a computer with a composite output).
I've also picked up some old keyboards and modems that the IT people at my work were going to throw out.
I've never found any Commodore stuff in the garbage, nor any Video game stuff.
What computer/videogame stuff have you found in the garbage?
What computer/videogame stuff have you found in the garbage?
Last edited by ral-clan on Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
I've found quite a bit of computer and video game stuff in the garbage over the last 3 years:
1 Amiga 500 with games and joysticks
1 Nintendo NES with 12 games and two controls
1 VIC-20 in original box, but without power supply
1 loose ZX Spectrum 48K
1 Nintendo NES without games and power supply
A couple of old laptops, ~Pentium 233
1 PC with a a AMD 1800 processor with broken harddisk. (I put in a new disk and now my kids has it to play games)
// Z
1 Amiga 500 with games and joysticks
1 Nintendo NES with 12 games and two controls
1 VIC-20 in original box, but without power supply
1 loose ZX Spectrum 48K
1 Nintendo NES without games and power supply
A couple of old laptops, ~Pentium 233
1 PC with a a AMD 1800 processor with broken harddisk. (I put in a new disk and now my kids has it to play games)
// Z
Check out my humble collection of old 'puters an such
http://www.zeela.se
http://www.zeela.se
I find TONS of old computer and other cool stuff in my building's garbage. There are some really selfish people in my building though. I had a conversation with the building maintenence guy about it...
People will intentionally inflict extra damage on objects they dispose just to be sure others won't make use of it. For example, a very nice desk had a leg unscrewed and removed to presummably be thrown away at a different time. That's a lot of effort just to make is useless. I've seen nice sofa's slashed with the fabric slashed on on all sides (one deliberate slash on every side). Every chair will have one leg broken inward.
Computers galore! Plenty of pentium 1 and 2 systems. A few with XP. Suprisingly, few people know well enough to remove or erase the HD. They usually just break up the keyboard with a hammer or poor water on it (or some liquid, once I saw paint!).
People are strange!
People will intentionally inflict extra damage on objects they dispose just to be sure others won't make use of it. For example, a very nice desk had a leg unscrewed and removed to presummably be thrown away at a different time. That's a lot of effort just to make is useless. I've seen nice sofa's slashed with the fabric slashed on on all sides (one deliberate slash on every side). Every chair will have one leg broken inward.
Computers galore! Plenty of pentium 1 and 2 systems. A few with XP. Suprisingly, few people know well enough to remove or erase the HD. They usually just break up the keyboard with a hammer or poor water on it (or some liquid, once I saw paint!).
People are strange!
So how do you usually find stuff then? Obviously it must be visible in order to see it roadside. That's what I find. When people throw out a computer in my town, they usually just sit it beside the garbage can....sort of like "I feel bad throwing this out so please take it". I know I've done that.
Jeff: that's really amazing that people will damage items just so that others cannot gain any use out of it. That is extremely selfish and mean.
It's too bad so much stuff actually ends up in the land-fill. If there were some way of having a mystical handheld detector to let you know where exactly the computer/video game stuff was every garbage day, you'd never need to buy another system in your life (so long as you were content to stay a few years behind the cutting edge).
Jeff: that's really amazing that people will damage items just so that others cannot gain any use out of it. That is extremely selfish and mean.
It's too bad so much stuff actually ends up in the land-fill. If there were some way of having a mystical handheld detector to let you know where exactly the computer/video game stuff was every garbage day, you'd never need to buy another system in your life (so long as you were content to stay a few years behind the cutting edge).
I used to find 386 & 486 curbside. Last year I started seeing P3 systems show up. 
Many communites have FreeCycle groups set up to keep computers and other items out of the land fill. The premise is that you give stuff to others who have a use for it, instead to tossing stuff out. One may also post requests for stuff they need (no Vic-20 poaching
)
http://www.freecycle.ca/
Many communites have FreeCycle groups set up to keep computers and other items out of the land fill. The premise is that you give stuff to others who have a use for it, instead to tossing stuff out. One may also post requests for stuff they need (no Vic-20 poaching
)http://www.freecycle.ca/
Mega-Cart: the ultimate cartridge for your Commodore Vic-20Thanks for the tip!6502dude wrote:I used to find 386 & 486 curbside. Last year I started seeing P3 systems show up.
Many communites have FreeCycle groups set up to keep computers and other items out of the land fill. The premise is that you give stuff to others who have a use for it, instead to tossing stuff out. One may also post requests for stuff they need (no Vic-20 poaching
http://www.freecycle.ca/
I've seen plenty of PC computers by the curbside, along with VGA monitors...unfortunately, I already have too many old PC's to add to that collection. I actually wouldn't mind exchanging some of my PC collection for some Commodore computer stuff. I wonder if someone wants to swap a 1541 for one of my 5.25" PC floppy drive?
That's the problem. People hang on to Commodore stuff, but no one wants old PC stuff. I have a garage full of found or free PCs. I just want to get rid of some of this stuff. I've tried advertising locally for Commodore stuff in trade, but no luck.
So it's going to Goodwill once I get the opportunity to salvage any useful parts.
So it's going to Goodwill once I get the opportunity to salvage any useful parts.
You're telling me. On the hard drive of this 286 I discovered a lot of documents. It was owned by a contracting/construction firm and there are invoices, price quotes, mortgage information, etc.Jeff-20 wrote: few people know well enough to remove or erase the HD.
The computer must have been owned by a number of different people. There are also notices by a landlord company warning tenants of voilations, specifying the rent for each suite in a apartment building.
There are personal letters, resumes, and even a bunch of fairly well written stories by a woman suffering from a degenerative nerve disease. She is writing about her history as a nurse and experiences with the disease. She also wrote some short stories about a guy who is facing a cancer diagnosis and another cowboy story. The files have dates from the late 1990s (which is pretty late considering this is a 286).
Since we live in a small town, we have identified the previous owner/writer as someone we know of in town. We also recognise some of the adresses on the construction invoices, etc.
Last edited by ral-clan on Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
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saundby
- Vic 20 Enthusiast
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:55 pm
- Website: http://saundby.com/
- Location: Gold Country, CA
A complete Tandy T1000 PC-compatible system at the roadside, several Timex-Sinclair 1000 software cassette tapes "Astrology" and a 16K RAM expansion for same. A "TV Fun" pong-chip-based video game system, a sega light gun, an apple II joystick.
A C-64 with a bad RAM chip, since repaired.
An Atari 5200 system with about half a dozen carts.
An Odyssey 2 with about 10 carts, keyboard non-functional but since has been repaired.
Several early PowerPC Macs, two Mac IIs, and one Mac Si.
Lots of PC bits and pieces.
A pair of HP-UX systems, a 710 and a 735/30 along with HP-IL keyboards and mice.
An HP-41CV with a printer and a cassette tape drive. (*SCORE!!!*)
A book on the 6800 uP with an inscription by the author to his son.
A Vic-20 Programmer's Reference manual.
A copy of Easyscript for C64, along with some other C-64 software in the Commodore folders, I've forgotten the titles but they were other productivity apps.
A copy of Merlin 64 with docs, box and all (this was in 1986 or so that I pulled that out of the trash.)
An S-100 system with an 8085 CPU and a 128K memory card (and a fried power supply and corroded backplane.)
A controller board for a Volvo with an RCA 1802 CPU on it.
A bunch of Mylex SCSI controllers for EISA bus that had 8Kx8 NOVRAMs onboard.
A box of 16Kx1 SRAMs, and about 30 tubes of 4Kx1 DRAMs.
About 10 tubes of Z-80 uP's and support chips, mostly 2.5 or 4MHz.
A tube of 8748s with one 8742 in it.
Some oddball proto board with a 6507 CPU and a ROM on it and a bunch of huge PCBs covered with RAM and logic.
A working ultrasound machine with a box of transducers, one of them an array transducer.
A replacement parts kit for a 1979 typsetting system that was stuffed with SSI, MSI, and LSI logic.
A perfectly good 1702 monitor (just last year.)
And bunches of other cool electronics.
-Mark G.
("Say, you mind if I pull that out of your trash can, there?")
A C-64 with a bad RAM chip, since repaired.
An Atari 5200 system with about half a dozen carts.
An Odyssey 2 with about 10 carts, keyboard non-functional but since has been repaired.
Several early PowerPC Macs, two Mac IIs, and one Mac Si.
Lots of PC bits and pieces.
A pair of HP-UX systems, a 710 and a 735/30 along with HP-IL keyboards and mice.
An HP-41CV with a printer and a cassette tape drive. (*SCORE!!!*)
A book on the 6800 uP with an inscription by the author to his son.
A Vic-20 Programmer's Reference manual.
A copy of Easyscript for C64, along with some other C-64 software in the Commodore folders, I've forgotten the titles but they were other productivity apps.
A copy of Merlin 64 with docs, box and all (this was in 1986 or so that I pulled that out of the trash.)
An S-100 system with an 8085 CPU and a 128K memory card (and a fried power supply and corroded backplane.)
A controller board for a Volvo with an RCA 1802 CPU on it.
A bunch of Mylex SCSI controllers for EISA bus that had 8Kx8 NOVRAMs onboard.
A box of 16Kx1 SRAMs, and about 30 tubes of 4Kx1 DRAMs.
About 10 tubes of Z-80 uP's and support chips, mostly 2.5 or 4MHz.
A tube of 8748s with one 8742 in it.
Some oddball proto board with a 6507 CPU and a ROM on it and a bunch of huge PCBs covered with RAM and logic.
A working ultrasound machine with a box of transducers, one of them an array transducer.
A replacement parts kit for a 1979 typsetting system that was stuffed with SSI, MSI, and LSI logic.
A perfectly good 1702 monitor (just last year.)
And bunches of other cool electronics.
-Mark G.
("Say, you mind if I pull that out of your trash can, there?")
-
saundby
- Vic 20 Enthusiast
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:55 pm
- Website: http://saundby.com/
- Location: Gold Country, CA
No, but when there's one nearby I go through their trash. The same goes for clone shops, repair shops, and so on. Several places around here don't throw certain kinds of things away unless they give me a shot at it first.Jeff-20 wrote:What? Do you live next door to a vintage game/computer shop?!
It works if you take whatever they save for you (and dispose of it yourself if you don't want it) because if you turn stuff down they stop saving much at all, if anything, for you. And it works if you stop in regularly so that they don't worry about trash hanging around the shop for too long.
The stuff I mentioned came out of trash cans. If I started listing things people hung on to for me, I'd probably exceed the post length limit (and get cramps from typing.)
I also keep track of interesting stuff. If I see some older electronics in somebody's office or shop, I'll ask them about it to get a read on how they feel about it, then, if they seem to think of it only as "old stuff" I tell them to call me if they want to get rid of it someday, and leave a card. I'll then stop in every so often to see if it's disappeared, and I can't tell you the number of times I've done that just after it's ended up in the dumpster and managed to pull it out.
My great shame is that I've missed out on at least 3 Commodore 128s at various times and places because I didn't get there before the trash pick-up. Otherwise I've done pretty well.
-Mark
Last year I got a Yamaha 60 watt per channel amplifer (with noisy gain pot & one burned out indicator lamp) from one neighbour's trash. There was also a matching tuner. I repaired the amp and both units work fine.
From another neighbour's curb side treasures, I picked up an 80 watt per channel Rotel receiver, a very good quality Dual cassette deck, and a pair of Gennesis II speakers http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/gen2.htm. The only problem with the lot, were the foam surrounds on the woofers and drones. They suffered from classic foam rot that occurs after 10-15 years. With four bucks (plus taxes), an hour of my time, and a bit of contact cement, I have a really decent system for my garage. The speaker cabinets are oak and in excellent shape. Replacement woofer & drone surrounds are now not green
A couple of years ago a neighbour tossed out a fully operational Commodore 1802 monitor and a Luxman 1040 receiver in near mint condition http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/view_ima ... _id=229885. The Luxman receiver will often sell for $400 (CAN) to collectors of vintage hi-fi gear. But, I'm keeping mine
It is a shame the amount of stuff people toss in garbage becuase they don't like the style or a simple fix will restore unit to operation. But I don't complain when folks in my neighbourhood toss stuff out.
It's really helpfull to walk the dog in the evening before trash day. It will be good when weather warms up and people start doing their spring cleaning.
From another neighbour's curb side treasures, I picked up an 80 watt per channel Rotel receiver, a very good quality Dual cassette deck, and a pair of Gennesis II speakers http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/gen2.htm. The only problem with the lot, were the foam surrounds on the woofers and drones. They suffered from classic foam rot that occurs after 10-15 years. With four bucks (plus taxes), an hour of my time, and a bit of contact cement, I have a really decent system for my garage. The speaker cabinets are oak and in excellent shape. Replacement woofer & drone surrounds are now not green
A couple of years ago a neighbour tossed out a fully operational Commodore 1802 monitor and a Luxman 1040 receiver in near mint condition http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/view_ima ... _id=229885. The Luxman receiver will often sell for $400 (CAN) to collectors of vintage hi-fi gear. But, I'm keeping mine
It is a shame the amount of stuff people toss in garbage becuase they don't like the style or a simple fix will restore unit to operation. But I don't complain when folks in my neighbourhood toss stuff out.
It's really helpfull to walk the dog in the evening before trash day. It will be good when weather warms up and people start doing their spring cleaning.
Mega-Cart: the ultimate cartridge for your Commodore Vic-20