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New Computer Has Arrived, What Should I Do With the Old?

by Flexo on December 20, 2006

in Uncategorized

Dell InspironYesterday, the shipment containing the new Dell Inspiron E1705 arrived. I took it home, configured everything and put it through the motions. It looks and runs fantastic, especially after today’s shipment, 2GB of speedy RAM, arrived.

I got a great price on a machine with all the features I wanted, so waiting four months paid off. The price was great due to a combination good timing, coupons from Dell, and a coupon and 3% cash back from ebates.com [aff].

Now I have to decide what to do with my October 2001 vintage Fujitsu Lifebook C-6631. The AC connector doesn’t stay in the jack in the back of the computer without holding it continuously, and the battery won’t hold a charge. The display flickers occasionally. I upgraded the memory a while ago from 128MB to 256MB. Please leave me some suggestions.

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Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • TMT
    Check around with local schools and/or non-profits to see if you can donate it.

    Often, smaller non-profits are in need of all the resources they can get their hands on, especially if they're constrained by a small budget.

    Ideally, it's a win-win. You can help out an organization (hopefully one you believe in and care about) and maybe get a charitable donation tax deduction in the process.

    Good luck with it.

    TMT
  • Is there a Freecycle site in your area? I've never tried it, but you might get some takers. I have an old computer I'm thinking of listing on there soon.
  • Kathy
    I don't know if your laptop will work but the below website show steps to how to convert it to a digital pic frame. Sounds cool. I'm going to accept to do it myself w/ no male supervision. Let us know what u end up doing.

    link
  • Donate it, sell it, or throw it if you want...just make sure that you "wipe" off your hard drive before doing anything. Especially since you must be having a lot of your personal finance information (if you used it for blogging) on it.

    Use a free program like Simple File Shredder 3.2, or other similar program.

    I formatted a hard drive at work a few days ago..loaded a new version of windows on the hard drive and after all this I was able to retrieve about 17,000 files from the "before-formatting" state.
  • Whenever I upgrade my computer, I usually donate it to a local school. They're usually more than happy to take it.

    Another idea is to have a garage sale and sell off all your old goods along with your pc.

    FT
    http://www.MillionDollarJourney.com
  • Donate it if you can.

    But I agree with Golbguru, make sure you wipe it clean!! You don't want any information getting into the wrong hands.
  • I'll give you five bucks for it.
  • ebay it.

    Take the hard drive out or wipe it very clean first. Be very clear about the issues(battery,flickeringscreen,ac adapter) and you should still net a couple hundred out of it.

    Donating it might just cause issues if it decides to stop working.
  • I agree with Kathy to make it a digital picture frame. If you have a Flickr account, there is a free screensaver program called Slickr that will play a slideshow of the pictures you have.

    Popular Science had a great article about how to build it. Do -It-Yourself
  • Give it to a 15-year-old geek. They'll love it.
  • Tighmir Sayles
    You can send it to Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown Delaware. They will except it for their Electronics Technical Major. Look it up, its a wonderful school. Blue Ribbon, National School of Excellence
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