I am planning to upgrade my old computer and need some advice from all you experts. What do I do with the old one? The printer is about all that is still good and for that matter I might get rid of that too. The scanner creates yellow lines in whatever you are scanning and the speed of this old clunker is prehistoric. Also suggestions on brands but I think Dude I'm gettin' a Dell.

 

I'm still tring to figure out what to do with my old tv. But an old computer I'd see if the local schools want it. Some schools will give them to students to use at home.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 30-May-02 AT 07:07 PM (EST)]well If you are going to buy a new one see if the memory from the old one will work with the new one. Then sell it on ebay. If you are building a new PC its CHEAPER and all you need a is $20.00 book to tell you how. If you build one scrap the old one and use it for parts IE hard drive CD rom drive memory Video card. Will save you some cash. Or you can do what my buddie did found a Pawn shop and pawned his old PC (really slow) and got like 100 bucks for it with monitor and stuff. Its up to you or give it to your kid if you have one.



DUDE DELLS SUCK bought one and will never buy again. Scanners HP makes nice ones Printers HP also. If you are into gaming try Alienware northwest or even try Tigerdirect.com They have custom built PC's for very cheap with good Parts in them.

 

What about compaq they any good? My oldest daughter won one at school in a essay contest.



Wiz

 

I had the same dilemma with a bunch of really old computers. Called around a lot of places and discovered that if they weren’t at least Pentiums, nobody wants them. Ended up throwing them all away in the dumpster. I saved the old IBM AT just for nostalgia.

Barry

 

Mick;

I strongly recommend that you destroy the hard drive if there is any info you don,t want to get out, ie; CC#, personal info ect. Its hard to try to erase so its best to destroy it. Just my $.02

Jim

 

i would recomend giving your old puter to the schools because they will always pu t it to use like giving it to a child that dont have one

i have a brand new dell and i love it i will never buy another brand stay FAR FAR away from gateway their comps are average but their coustomer service SUX the big chaloupe!! my best friend has a gateway and has spend more time on the phone with tech support then on his puter
with dell coustomer support is quick and they seam to know what they are doing the 1 time had to call them..but like i always say opinions are like rectal areas..everyone has their own

just my $.02

 

I did TWO years of research before buying a computer.

My suggestion and agreeable by at least 20 of my friends that bought computer's from Big box stores.

Buy your computer from a local reputable company that appears to be a solid contender in you locale.
I have three friends that bought Dell and they are very disppointed.
When you buy a computer from a Big Box store you are giving up a lot.
If something goes wrong with it> you have to pack it ALL (the whole system) up in the original packaging and sent it away at your expense wait the usual 7-8 weeks (without a replacement) until you get it back.
This is just one example.


The advantage of buying from a local dealer that will build you want you need or want is that they use *Quality & specially designed parts* for your system.If you have a problems ,you drive to the place have them repair it usually under warranty and you have it back the next day and you're going again.

The benefits to having a local company build it for you are numerous.
Some even take trade-in's and see that it goes to the right place (donation to schools, etc.
How this helps.



[b][i][font color=red]Dennis[/font][i][b]
[font color=red]Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]

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I've got computers I can't give away. They aren't even that old, but everyone wants the newest stuff, even the "poor" kids. This year I bet I've thrown out at least thirty computers because not even the charities would take them.

 

I really think it matters on what you have on your computer. I have a 500mhz emachines. I put into ita 160mb ram and a 32mb 3d card with a 30gig harddrive. My computer runs wayyyy faster than my friends dell and my friends gateway with like 1.7gighertz. I got a cable modem too.

I would really look into emachines. My dad jsut got a 1.4 gigherts emachines for 500$. REally!! dont spend over 1,000 for a computer.

 

this is what i did

recentl bought a 1.2 gHz celeron, 256 megs ram, 4 meg vc, sound blaster compatable sc. 60 gig hdd, 16x4x40 cd burner, dvd rom. vaiop sony pc. good pc. futre shop is where i got it. i want to upgrade the videocard to a trident ot tnt so i can play gta3. windows xp isn't a great operation system. 98 or 2000 is way better. i kept my old pc, and im putting it in my gagrae so if i encounter any problems i can reach you guys here

 

If your computer is workable at all, clean off all of your info and then check with a local foster care program, Boys & Girls club or some children's homes. There are many charities out there that do not receive the funding that the schools and churches have and are begging for stuff like this.

There's a little place down that takes care of aides & crack babies (newborn thru teens) and they appreciate anything they can get. We even quit giving to Toys-for-Tots and instead give to this place. Places like this are always wanting things for the older kids to do since most people like giving the cute little stuffed animals.

Carlene

 

Don't listen to the negative stuff about Dell. We use them at work. Have 1200 + running every day. VERY FEW PROBLEMS!! Dell Support is excellent.

If you buy a PC from a local shop that "builds" them from components, good luck trying to fix/upgrade that thing after the local shop goes belly up, like so many of them do.

Just my .02 worth..

Bru
2002 F150 Super Crew
Black 4X4 Lariat
5.4 Engine Ford Chrome Bars

1979 Bronco 351M 75K orig.

 

After you decide which new brand to buy, I would use the old one to open up and learn about the workings inside that metal box. I have opened my casing several times to upgrade the modem, replace the CD-ROM drive and generally dust and keep clean. I just saved over a thousand dollars by replacing my CD ROM drive rather than buying new. You will be surprised to learn how intercangeable the parts are inside that little wizard. Learning how these little machines work can be very valuable to you in the future when it comes to working on them yourself as oppossed to sending them out for repair. By experimenting on the old one, you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They are not really that complicated as all of the boards are removable, replaceable, and in some cases, brand interchangeable. Who knows, you may be able to rebuild that little guy into a custom job that after updating, works better and faster than many newer types. This of course, all depends upon how old the unit is, and what type of components it is built with. Generally speaking, if it has a CD ROM drive, and 3.5 in floppy drive, you should be ok. When you replace components, they usually come with instructions in several different languages. Think of it as taking an old Ford Truck and replacing the original worn out parts with newer, faster and more reliable parts. Like converting from 6 volt to 12 volt. Working on computers is much easier. The Dells, Gateways, HP's and Compacs(owned by HP) are all pretty much the same because they all have their areas of drawbacks and expertise. I would stay away from the Celeron chips and stay with the Pentium III and IV chips. You can't beat the Pentiums. The new Windows XP programs are still working the bugs out and if you buy a computer with that software then you may have problems that Microsoft will have to patch in the future. In other words the bugs are not all fixed yet, so I would look for Windows 2000 Professional, even though it is getting more difficult to find systems that will come with that software. It is all a crap shoot. I agree with the person that says to shop local if you can't afford to be without for warranty work. Good Luck!

 

For the old PC convert it to a Garage DAQ (Data Acqusition) setup.
A simple build it yourself circuit coupled with your serial or parallel port can be used to retrieve and store your truck codes. If you are really into it look for a PC oscilloscope set up on ebay. Radio Shack in there catalog has inexpensive voltmeter setups for the PC which record(? I believe) as function of time. Could use that as well.
Add the Ford CD service manual to the PC plus 10,000 mp3's (+ Stereo
in garage) and your setup for the garage. (Or create a home based
server for photo and mp3 playing)
I have lots of stuff I take a part and leave for long periods of time. So I started taking digital pictures of items before disassembly
helps in reassembly. (...for instance I've been looking at a Ford 8N
tractor the one I'm getting is a truck of parts so I stop at Farms
on the way home and take pic's.Ideally I'll figure out sooner than later what I'm missing plus its fun stuff).
I'm a DELL user. Servers and desktops. Not one complaint. Building
PC's has gotten real easy but I'd go the purchase route if its your
primay PC. Instead spend the time converting your old one to
a home server or DAQ machine.
Recycling PC's most charities don't want them unless there of the PI
processor family at least. But theres plenty speed for songs,DAQ and
light file sharing in 386,486 and PI's.
Once again I wrote to much.

Have fun,

Ray
1988 F250 4x4 302 5spd