For a couple decades, we had a place like this in Silicon Valley called Weird Stuff; gigantic warehouse full of all sorts of old tech. Computers, blade servers, old telecom equipment, video gear, anything you could imagine, really. Lab equipment, test units, hell even some old traffic lights. Additionally, they sold new stuff, like spools of Cat 5/6 cable, speaker wire, etc. Tragically, they closed down a few years ago.
Yup, WeirdStuff was just a few miles from my house. Great place but Google bought the land out from under them and they couldn't find a new place with reasonable rent so they closed down. It's a shame that here in the heart of freakin' Silicon Valley there isn't a place like Free Geek!
So awesome, wish we had something like this near me. I went to a local thrift store and apparently they get alot of overflow of electronics (untested too) and after about a week they just throw their overflow in the dump! Edit: forgot to mention the real heartbreak was when the guy helping me said they throw stacks of unsold ps2's straight in the dump.
DUDE ! That was something. I haven't seen one of these videos in a long time. Big smile on my face. I started in 1981 and haven't stopped. Total geek blood in my veins. I have a big Atari PC collection with everything that goes with it. Thanks for bringing this to us to see. Like the others say "Wish I had one of these near me". We do have a Ham Radio Computer Fair every year but its not like you showed us any more. To bad you had to rush thru the place. I know it can be semi privet and they let you film it for us .Big Shout Out for that company and You. Thanks...
Hi... You mentioned HAM Radio, N2JZS here. I was hoping to spy something radio-related on this walk-through, but I have a place a couple hours away here in Kansas I can go to get my fix. Anyway, just thought I'd say hi. Zach
We do our best to get the vintage stuff fixed up and back into circulation. The 3 imacs that went to recycling were beyond repair and some of the internal boards were used over time to repair other imacs that went to the store and have since found new homes. For the most part we do not allow (due to insurance) any volunteers to open CRT based products due to the danger of high voltage. As for breaking down CRTs for recycling, we do not have the proper facilities per Minnesota law to do so.
Yep, you could get a heck-of-a-HUGE-shock if you worked directly with the CRT's. I can remember discharging those units - not fun (and would scare the crap out of me!)
You were in there just a bit before I was. I took the little Korg midi keyboard that was sitting in intake. Got it for $5 with a broken USB port, easily fixed.
Nice to see a genuine effort going into recycling old tech. In the UK we seem to do the exact opposite, it all just goes to recycling centres that forbid people from taking stuff, then it’s gets sent off for stripping / shredding / landfill. There are so many insurance liabilities involved with selling second hand electricals in the uk that most places won’t bother.
Wow, what a goldmine. Also, those 2012 MacBook Pros (despite being "2012") were sold well into 2016 as the low-cost "Educational" model. They're still supported, and believe it or not, they can run Mojave. Just throw a cheap SSD in there and you have a very capable Mac laptop for office work, streaming, movies, etc.
I miss my Macintosh LC 2 so bad. I had so much fun playing Sim City, Prince of Persia, Leisure Suit Larry (parents didn’t know about that one), Oregon Trail and so many more. So great.
Great video! Just wanted to put a correction in: The reason we don't have any turntables out there is because they were all in diagnostics! We were backlogged in that area, so it simply wasn't going out for awhile. I just personally tested and moved four of them to the store today.
I worked for a small computer shop in Indianapolis, Indiana oh-so-many-years ago (been closed for many years) and I had a favorite computer on my work bench - a Mac SE-30 with a 30 GB hard drive. I also was privy to a color unit. I loved that little computer and it was a blast working on those units! Kinda getting the itch to start working as a part-timer again. BUT, I am NOT computer poor. In fact I have many I should recycle because I've held onto them for too long. That adapter you showed to us --- I used to use one all the time. Saved me from bending pins in the attached peripheral(s). Your report sure brought back many memories! Some good, some great and some, well............... Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
I love this place so much. Right around the time you posted this I dropped off a blueberry iMac that I just did not have space for. It worked fine and even included the keyboard (but no mouse). About a month later I dropped off half a van full of various tech parts from my office (we cut down the size of our office and uncovered a ton of old stuff). They gladly took it all for free. A while back I had a very old 1950s CRT and did have to pay $30 (as I recall) for them to take it...by far the cheapest price I found in the Twin Cities area.
That place is amazing, like a time capsule bringing me so many memories, it’s so sad see how much items in great conditions are now useless because people prefiere buy a new one instead of spend money repairing the old ones
I didn’t know they were based in Portland! I’ve volunteered there myself a few times but I didn’t know I was volunteering at the headquarters, though it might explain why the warehouse takes an entire city block. I totally love that place and I’d love to go back when they’re open after COVID.
There should be more places like this don't dump you old stuff give it away or to a place like this I would love to volunteer or visit it but unfortunately in the wrong country nobody has the skill or wants repair anything anymore
The number of times I saw a device in this video that I either own or am using at this very moment was unimaginable. The other video on Free Geek had a scene at the beginning of a bunch of laptops, of which half I could recognise and one of which (an HP Pavilion G6) I was using at that very moment.
4:3 flat panels are sometimes really neat for old systems that would originally have had a 4:3 CRT but you can't get one Great for older dos-gaming laptops. They're also useful for arcade machine builds as an alternative to CRT. For free, I'm surprised those things aren't flying out of the door.
I wish a place like this was around in the early 90s. I dreamed of owning a PC from about 1989 - 1994 when my wife got me one. I would complain all the time. As she said once it was "I want a computer" "I want a computer" every day all the time. Bout drove her crazy lol. A store like this would have been crazy.
I use to have a Graphite IMac G3 with 512 RAM, and OSX 10.2 several years ago where the CRT gave the magic smoke, and unless you collecting one for nostalgic purposes they honestly are not the greatest machines to use with their slow processors, and HDD. Yeah OS 9 runs a bit better on them, but not by a ton. You are better off looking for a G4 system.
@@CommodoreFan64 Speed isn't so much of an issue since I want to run OS 9 as it should be able to run classic stuff a lot easier. It's true that CRTs are hard to repair, but it's not as if the gas-spring flat panel G4 iMacs would be any easier to repair of the panel goes. Your best bet would be to get another one and swap the panel out. In the case of the CRT iMacs, you'd swap out the motherboard and drives into one where the CRT works but the rest doesn't. In the end you still need another machine. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if what failed were capacitors which are easy enough to replace if you can figure out which one failed (if it let out smoke, then it should be pretty obvious).
I fix PC's, and my god I could literally fix about 90% of any and everything in there in a week... and I'd more or less be in heaven the entire time... with that said, man... a slight investment in windex and paper towel would go SO FAR in moving that stuff... oh, and a shop vac on reverse in a well exhausted room. Even if you don't want to open and clean out each PC, at least blow them out with some high(ish) powered air, like say, that of a shop vac in reverse... It also goes quite far in having another human want to touch, let alone pick up and take home an item. No one wants that machine with the visible 4lbs of nicotine chunk dust in the front fan... 2 seconds with the shop vac, another 25 seconds with the windex.... and it would be a gem. We used to have a Goodwill computer center here in PGH PA... which due to poor interest levels, ie. no customers... it recently closed. But it was a lot like this. Semi recently I even got a $9.99 HP Elitebook, first gen i7 720qm with a dream color display, 1080p, professional display... some large gamut of the adobe colorspace, etc... I love it, I use it as much as my thinkpads, new and older... Wonderful machine, and all it needed was ram and a hard drive, and it was good to go... not a scratch or scuff on it either. Beyond that it was the same walls of towers, flat panels, bins of cards, cables, etc. but in the back room, separated via a counter, was a couple of guys who could vend you anything you needed... from as old as SDRAM to DDR4, from P233MMX to 7th Gen i7's, and everything in between... all removed, tested, and maticulously kept, until sale. I went there for everything I ever needed if I could make the trip, and didn't NEED to amazon it. DDR3 Sodimms in 1600Mhz flavor? Sure... Spare i7 980x or 3930K? Sure.... basically anything to add to or build anything, and yeah... they had it... and now it's gone, because well... everyone saw it as Goodwill, and it wasn't "cool" .
There's a place like this near me except it's often booming with people. Sadly they only stock newer PCs as their space is limited. But they have a games section and it's like stepping back into the early 2000s. Tons of PS2 and XBOX, even big box PC games, which is a real treat. To walk into a store and see a shelf of old school big box PC games is awesome. I feel like more than half the time I find a real gem. They even have old Game magazines sometimes like GamePro and GameFan. I can't wait until it opens back up after all this.
It's really great that you're giving places like this some much needed exposure. It's a good cause and probably a place many people don't know about; Many people who would probably be happy to buy a cheap computer from instead of buying new. It would be really cool if you were to visit other eWaste recyclers like this in other prats of the US and Canada.
Wow. Just that cable stock is a fantastic resource. This store/service is fantastic, I wish there was this sort of in the UK (well at least near me). Or maybe not, there would likely be one outcome - a very full house! Taking the time and care to test and wipe hard drives is fantastic.
We need a FreeGeek in Victoria. I've basically started my own before, filling a 2 bedroom home with nothing but recycled electronics and fixing/re-selling everything.
This is my kinda shop! They need to open a branch in my neck of the woods. You mention that they don't stock machines that fall below their "minimum specs." However, there is demand for older beige box gear that is below such specs... I would love a replacement for my old NCR PC4 running DOS.
Looks like a cool store. I wonder if they know how to work on those CRTs. There is still a lot of scrap value in them other than the glass tube. Lots of HQ copper in them.
I got a sticker of their logo at an event a while ago, but I didn't know what it was for. I think it's pretty cool that not only do they have an old electronics thrift store, but it's in Portland which is pretty close to me. Maybe some day I'll check it out.
Would be worth checking it out again when it re-opens. There's a ton of modern stuff. Like, high-capacity DDR4 and Ryzen modern. Here's a list of the stuff people have donated that would make you ask, just why: - 3 128GB kits of DDR4, donated by 3 different people on different occasions - 1 64GB kit of DDR4 - 4 ASUS X99 Deluxe II's - 3 1TB Samsung 850 PRO's - 2 GTX 980 Ti's - 2 GTX 1070s - 2 GTX 970s with waterblocks - an RTX 2080 Ti cooler (we've successfully pranked tons of people with this one) - Expensive CPUs (TR 1950X, i7-7700K, J-bin i7-5960X, i5-8400, 2x i7-6700, R5 2400G, many more) - 3 complete custom loops, one of which had 4 radiators and 2 pumps There is legitimately so much expensive stuff now that we have a separate locked area to keep them in.
I can understand doing a fully wipe of the hard disc but that is where I put all the drivers for the hardware when I have donated computers. Along with PDF of manuals. Most machines I have are multiple OS, one had NextStep, Win 95 and NT4 on it with the Win95 partition holding all the extra drivers for these and Win98 and XP. The original CDs, floppies and manuals were included but these too often get separated from the machine.
Cool video. Refreshed my interest in old computing, low level programming, and recycling. Maybe head out there some time. Really like your channel. Thank you
WOW! I think you may be right! I remember - back when I was in high school a friend of mine - his dad was a wheeler dealer - he could come across all kinds of stuff - and a Kaypro was on my friend's desk one day when we showed up to do science homework. I was SO stoked! He even got a printer so we could type up our assignments and print them out.
I used to own one of those indigo & beige computer cases. I had a Intel Pentium II Slot A CPU with an ATI All In Wonder card in it... Used to play a lot of Diablo II on that PC.
That adaptor dongle show at the end is a PS/2 to 5 pin Din AT keyboard port adaptor. That means you must be planning to hook at PS/2 keyboard to a older IBM AT or capatable PC, unless there is some other use for those I am unaware of.
The closest thing to this here in the Boise Idaho area is called "The Reuseum". Prices are kind of hit and miss though, but they've got stuff in there from probably the 70's and older at times. I have bought a couple of laptops from them in the past for less than $50 which were pretty decent machines that had windows 10 running on them. I don't get over there very often, but last time I was there they actually had a Commodore 1571 disk drive, and they had a Commodore 128 over there as well that I think they wanted $190...already have a C128 and a disk drive. They wanted $50 for that 1571, should have bought it but didn't have the extra money. They also do some technology classes over there for kids too, and some small 3d printing stuff too. I believe they do some robotics stuff over there occasionally too.
LUV'ing Free Geek!! Ours (Vancouver, Canada) pretty much the same. Great Source for 'older' tech. and standardized components. PLUS you are helping the more needy. Here, they even hold Classes to help you get used to Linux ;) , without the gouge from MS! But Linux runs better on older boxes than Windows ever did. Thanks this! Cheers!!
A couple Sony ES decks of all kind. Nice, I'm a sucker for those. Ahhhhh, I can always use some more 1/4"-to-1/8" jack adapters and vice-versa, can never get enough of those
Really cool! I have been looking for a place like this since I moved to Minnesota from Florida. There we had a warehouse that had bins full of nostalgia. I wish I lived closer though I would seriously be interested in volunteering. I just watched a video from 8-bit Guy that gives me an idea about those I-macs in the back. He turned a broken one into a cat tower by gutting it out and putting a cushion inside.
Belinda Carlisle was right "Heaven IS a place on earth" !.....I had heard tell that such Utopian places doth exist..but i dared not dream..until now bro ! ..as your camera panned around i was like "i want that, i want that that that that n that". My heart was actually beating a bit faster which confirms what i already knew..i am a geek . ..Respect, peace
Oh man. I doubt I'd ever be able to actually use anything in one of these places, but I'd love to go and just look at everything. I'd think about volunteering, too, as it seems like a great way to learn how to crack something open, diagnose it, and repair it. Shame there's nothing like it in the Houston area, as far as I can tell.
I paid $20 for a PATA drive for my recent Win98 retro build. And there is a box of 'em for $1 each!... Too bad this store isn't closer to me... Teasing the AT to PS2 keyboard adapter w/o saying what it is, so sly of you! I want one that goes the other way, so I could hook up an IBM Model M keyboard to a modern PC. When you go back, keep your eye out for 3-head cassette decks, especially one with Dolby C, dbx, or Dolby S...
I fix classic Macs as a hobby, I'd love one of those SE/30's. I also have one of those XServe RAID storage arrays, the problem with them is they require PATA hard drives that are 'blessed' by Apple, which limits storage options. The thing also weighs like 100lbs fully populated.
I remember getting rid of my last CRT monitors and TV sets one at a time. I loved my SONY TVs, but I don't miss them. 50~60" LCD TVs are easy to carry. A 32" CRT really should have 2 people to move them. That said, I still have a CRT monitor for my old old Commodore/Amigas. A friend used to work at a TV, he did board-level repairs on TV. Such repair abilities are mostly gone nowadays. Those TV repair shops have died out or they do basic modular repair on LCD TV. = PSU, screen, Light system, and motherboard. There is basically no profitable business model for repairing TVs anymore. Those guys have retired or died. Compare 2002 to 2022. There used to be 4 repair shops that I used to know of. There is now only one left that covers about a 100mile x 100mile repair service area. In 2002 it had 8~9 employees. In 2022, its just the owner and 1 employee. Many of the TV companies just replace warranty TVs. Once your 75" TV is out of warranty and dies - good luck in fixing it. It'll be trashed and you'll drop $400 for a new TV. Even those $1000 TVs may live for 2-3years. $1PATA drives, LOL. Worthless, But for an old PC rebuild - can't be a $1. Still amazing that today, a 1~2TB SATA drive isn't worth much. I see four homebrew PC, in the video - I've sold to clients Like the blue one. Which was a pretty sharp case, its front bezel is metal, even the black grating. The 4:3 LCDs are great for retro gaming consoles and older PC setups. Hey, yo know anyone from Twin Cities 128? - from the 1980s? No more Amigas? *SIgh* I remember seeing Amiga 2000 setups with a Toaster and monitor on Ebay for $200 and Amiga 500, 600 and 1200 for $75~100 and I didn't any of them.
Gaaah. I can only dream about a place like this in the UK. Thrift stores very very rarely sell electronics here, and when they do they're ludicrously overpriced. Those scratched up 4:3 monitors you see being given away for free will sit in a BHF store indefinitely for the equivalent of $30 a pop. No thanks.
Awesome place!!! Holy shit MDD with a very rare IOMedia Zip drive face plate kit @ 17:10. I've been looking for this kit for several years now, but could't find any.
I'm in rural central Kansas, I need a place to send my e-waste to for proper tear-down and recycling, and somewhere to donate to like that! Great video, and I just subbed your channel!
Super Cool!! Thanks for doing this vid! I like this one almost as much as the pile of servers you had on the cart at your work - that one ranks in my top 10 of all time - I'm a car guy and in computer terms a server is a muscle car with a huge amount of power! :-D
I am very very very very very jealous that you have that place. I need one of these near me.
Me too, @Windows reviews and more 254. I live in France but I don't know of any French equivalent to Freegeek. :'(
I live in the southern US, and yeah we have thrift stores, but nothing like this.
Yeh, exactly
@@CommodoreFan64 There are thrift shops in my area, but they're not specifically for tech. :'(
@@Poire33 Same unless you count the flea market sellers that mark stuff up for more than it's actually worth a lot of time.
For a couple decades, we had a place like this in Silicon Valley called Weird Stuff; gigantic warehouse full of all sorts of old tech. Computers, blade servers, old telecom equipment, video gear, anything you could imagine, really. Lab equipment, test units, hell even some old traffic lights. Additionally, they sold new stuff, like spools of Cat 5/6 cable, speaker wire, etc. Tragically, they closed down a few years ago.
Yup, WeirdStuff was just a few miles from my house. Great place but Google bought the land out from under them and they couldn't find a new place with reasonable rent so they closed down. It's a shame that here in the heart of freakin' Silicon Valley there isn't a place like Free Geek!
The Past: “We Want New Stuff!
The Present: “We Want Old Stuff”
Think has to do with age and nostalgia. Tried to get my son into retro gaming but thats in vain its all about fortnite and mobile games theese days...
n the new computers be like "we are on the cutting edge of technology"
Colin summed up pretty well in the Thinkpad x220 video: We just don't have the need to upgrade as frequently anymore.
So awesome, wish we had something like this near me. I went to a local thrift store and apparently they get alot of overflow of electronics (untested too) and after about a week they just throw their overflow in the dump!
Edit: forgot to mention the real heartbreak was when the guy helping me said they throw stacks of unsold ps2's straight in the dump.
That's just sad
I love this store! I'm usually in here at least once a month. I bought a desktop from them and it's been fun to experiment with Linux.
nice! ubuntu?
DUDE ! That was something. I haven't seen one of these videos in a long time. Big smile on my face. I started in 1981 and haven't stopped. Total geek blood in my veins. I have a big Atari PC collection with everything that goes with it. Thanks for bringing this to us to see. Like the others say "Wish I had one of these near me". We do have a Ham Radio Computer Fair every year but its not like you showed us any more. To bad you had to rush thru the place. I know it can be semi privet and they let you film it for us .Big Shout Out for that company and You. Thanks...
Hi... You mentioned HAM Radio, N2JZS here. I was hoping to spy something radio-related on this walk-through, but I have a place a couple hours away here in Kansas I can go to get my fix.
Anyway, just thought I'd say hi.
Zach
We do our best to get the vintage stuff fixed up and back into circulation. The 3 imacs that went to recycling were beyond repair and some of the internal boards were used over time to repair other imacs that went to the store and have since found new homes. For the most part we do not allow (due to insurance) any volunteers to open CRT based products due to the danger of high voltage. As for breaking down CRTs for recycling, we do not have the proper facilities per Minnesota law to do so.
Yep, you could get a heck-of-a-HUGE-shock if you worked directly with the CRT's. I can remember discharging those units - not fun (and would scare the crap out of me!)
You were in there just a bit before I was. I took the little Korg midi keyboard that was sitting in intake. Got it for $5 with a broken USB port, easily fixed.
What a heavenly place. I've got nothing that compares to this near me, and I could almost justify a flight down there just to fool around there.
LOLZpersonok same!
Nice to see a genuine effort going into recycling old tech. In the UK we seem to do the exact opposite, it all just goes to recycling centres that forbid people from taking stuff, then it’s gets sent off for stripping / shredding / landfill. There are so many insurance liabilities involved with selling second hand electricals in the uk that most places won’t bother.
Wow, what a goldmine. Also, those 2012 MacBook Pros (despite being "2012") were sold well into 2016 as the low-cost "Educational" model. They're still supported, and believe it or not, they can run Mojave. Just throw a cheap SSD in there and you have a very capable Mac laptop for office work, streaming, movies, etc.
I miss my Macintosh LC 2 so bad. I had so much fun playing Sim City, Prince of Persia, Leisure Suit Larry (parents didn’t know about that one), Oregon Trail and so many more. So great.
Parents didn't know about my LSL collection, either!
Great video! Just wanted to put a correction in: The reason we don't have any turntables out there is because they were all in diagnostics! We were backlogged in that area, so it simply wasn't going out for awhile. I just personally tested and moved four of them to the store today.
I worked for a small computer shop in Indianapolis, Indiana oh-so-many-years ago (been closed for many years) and I had a favorite computer on my work bench - a Mac SE-30 with a 30 GB hard drive. I also was privy to a color unit. I loved that little computer and it was a blast working on those units! Kinda getting the itch to start working as a part-timer again. BUT, I am NOT computer poor. In fact I have many I should recycle because I've held onto them for too long. That adapter you showed to us --- I used to use one all the time. Saved me from bending pins in the attached peripheral(s). Your report sure brought back many memories! Some good, some great and some, well............... Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
I love this place so much. Right around the time you posted this I dropped off a blueberry iMac that I just did not have space for. It worked fine and even included the keyboard (but no mouse). About a month later I dropped off half a van full of various tech parts from my office (we cut down the size of our office and uncovered a ton of old stuff). They gladly took it all for free. A while back I had a very old 1950s CRT and did have to pay $30 (as I recall) for them to take it...by far the cheapest price I found in the Twin Cities area.
That place is amazing, like a time capsule bringing me so many memories, it’s so sad see how much items in great conditions are now useless because people prefiere buy a new one instead of spend money repairing the old ones
I didn’t know they were based in Portland! I’ve volunteered there myself a few times but I didn’t know I was volunteering at the headquarters, though it might explain why the warehouse takes an entire city block. I totally love that place and I’d love to go back when they’re open after COVID.
0:07 I could dance to that intro music on repeat all night. Thank you so much Colin for having made such cool videos.
There should be more places like this don't dump you old stuff give it away or to a place like this I would love to volunteer or visit it but unfortunately in the wrong country nobody has the skill or wants repair anything anymore
The number of times I saw a device in this video that I either own or am using at this very moment was unimaginable. The other video on Free Geek had a scene at the beginning of a bunch of laptops, of which half I could recognise and one of which (an HP Pavilion G6) I was using at that very moment.
4:3 flat panels are sometimes really neat for old systems that would originally have had a 4:3 CRT but you can't get one Great for older dos-gaming laptops. They're also useful for arcade machine builds as an alternative to CRT. For free, I'm surprised those things aren't flying out of the door.
so much memories. must be nostalgic to walk around the place.
I wish a place like this was around in the early 90s. I dreamed of owning a PC from about 1989 - 1994 when my wife got me one. I would complain all the time. As she said once it was "I want a computer" "I want a computer" every day all the time. Bout drove her crazy lol. A store like this would have been crazy.
I live in Minnesota I really gotta check this place out some time I've seen many videos about these places.
Same here, looks pretty cool.
I love it, volunteering in the recycling room is the best and you can get really insane deals
bro the free monitors!
imagine puting together a dope-ass flight sim rig with those
Love your video/channel and overall style, etc. your voice is so chill, I love it! Like a laid back radio voice
It hurts to see those G3 iMacs going away. I've been looking for one. There's absolutely nothing like Free Geek near me.
I use to have a Graphite IMac G3 with 512 RAM, and OSX 10.2 several years ago where the CRT gave the magic smoke, and unless you collecting one for nostalgic purposes they honestly are not the greatest machines to use with their slow processors, and HDD. Yeah OS 9 runs a bit better on them, but not by a ton. You are better off looking for a G4 system.
@@CommodoreFan64 Speed isn't so much of an issue since I want to run OS 9 as it should be able to run classic stuff a lot easier. It's true that CRTs are hard to repair, but it's not as if the gas-spring flat panel G4 iMacs would be any easier to repair of the panel goes. Your best bet would be to get another one and swap the panel out. In the case of the CRT iMacs, you'd swap out the motherboard and drives into one where the CRT works but the rest doesn't. In the end you still need another machine.
Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if what failed were capacitors which are easy enough to replace if you can figure out which one failed (if it let out smoke, then it should be pretty obvious).
I fix PC's, and my god I could literally fix about 90% of any and everything in there in a week... and I'd more or less be in heaven the entire time... with that said, man... a slight investment in windex and paper towel would go SO FAR in moving that stuff... oh, and a shop vac on reverse in a well exhausted room. Even if you don't want to open and clean out each PC, at least blow them out with some high(ish) powered air, like say, that of a shop vac in reverse... It also goes quite far in having another human want to touch, let alone pick up and take home an item. No one wants that machine with the visible 4lbs of nicotine chunk dust in the front fan... 2 seconds with the shop vac, another 25 seconds with the windex.... and it would be a gem.
We used to have a Goodwill computer center here in PGH PA... which due to poor interest levels, ie. no customers... it recently closed. But it was a lot like this. Semi recently I even got a $9.99 HP Elitebook, first gen i7 720qm with a dream color display, 1080p, professional display... some large gamut of the adobe colorspace, etc... I love it, I use it as much as my thinkpads, new and older... Wonderful machine, and all it needed was ram and a hard drive, and it was good to go... not a scratch or scuff on it either. Beyond that it was the same walls of towers, flat panels, bins of cards, cables, etc. but in the back room, separated via a counter, was a couple of guys who could vend you anything you needed... from as old as SDRAM to DDR4, from P233MMX to 7th Gen i7's, and everything in between... all removed, tested, and maticulously kept, until sale. I went there for everything I ever needed if I could make the trip, and didn't NEED to amazon it. DDR3 Sodimms in 1600Mhz flavor? Sure... Spare i7 980x or 3930K? Sure.... basically anything to add to or build anything, and yeah... they had it... and now it's gone, because well... everyone saw it as Goodwill, and it wasn't "cool" .
There's a place like this near me except it's often booming with people. Sadly they only stock newer PCs as their space is limited. But they have a games section and it's like stepping back into the early 2000s. Tons of PS2 and XBOX, even big box PC games, which is a real treat. To walk into a store and see a shelf of old school big box PC games is awesome. I feel like more than half the time I find a real gem. They even have old Game magazines sometimes like GamePro and GameFan. I can't wait until it opens back up after all this.
It's really great that you're giving places like this some much needed exposure. It's a good cause and probably a place many people don't know about; Many people who would probably be happy to buy a cheap computer from instead of buying new.
It would be really cool if you were to visit other eWaste recyclers like this in other prats of the US and Canada.
Great video Colin. I really hope that you keep visiting the free cycle centre for updates.
Wow. Just that cable stock is a fantastic resource. This store/service is fantastic, I wish there was this sort of in the UK (well at least near me). Or maybe not, there would likely be one outcome - a very full house! Taking the time and care to test and wipe hard drives is fantastic.
We need a FreeGeek in Victoria. I've basically started my own before, filling a 2 bedroom home with nothing but recycled electronics and fixing/re-selling everything.
This is my kinda shop! They need to open a branch in my neck of the woods. You mention that they don't stock machines that fall below their "minimum specs." However, there is demand for older beige box gear that is below such specs... I would love a replacement for my old NCR PC4 running DOS.
Looks like a cool store. I wonder if they know how to work on those CRTs. There is still a lot of scrap value in them other than the glass tube. Lots of HQ copper in them.
I got a sticker of their logo at an event a while ago, but I didn't know what it was for. I think it's pretty cool that not only do they have an old electronics thrift store, but it's in Portland which is pretty close to me. Maybe some day I'll check it out.
Would be worth checking it out again when it re-opens. There's a ton of modern stuff. Like, high-capacity DDR4 and Ryzen modern. Here's a list of the stuff people have donated that would make you ask, just why:
- 3 128GB kits of DDR4, donated by 3 different people on different occasions
- 1 64GB kit of DDR4
- 4 ASUS X99 Deluxe II's
- 3 1TB Samsung 850 PRO's
- 2 GTX 980 Ti's
- 2 GTX 1070s
- 2 GTX 970s with waterblocks
- an RTX 2080 Ti cooler (we've successfully pranked tons of people with this one)
- Expensive CPUs (TR 1950X, i7-7700K, J-bin i7-5960X, i5-8400, 2x i7-6700, R5 2400G, many more)
- 3 complete custom loops, one of which had 4 radiators and 2 pumps
There is legitimately so much expensive stuff now that we have a separate locked area to keep them in.
🤩 This was amazing! I could watch this for hours!
They got one in Vancouver...BC I got a free Dell desktop for volunteering. Can't beat there prices and Linux!
I can understand doing a fully wipe of the hard disc but that is where I put all the drivers for the hardware when I have donated computers. Along with PDF of manuals. Most machines I have are multiple OS, one had NextStep, Win 95 and NT4 on it with the Win95 partition holding all the extra drivers for these and Win98 and XP. The original CDs, floppies and manuals were included but these too often get separated from the machine.
Cool video. Refreshed my interest in old computing, low level programming, and recycling. Maybe head out there some time. Really like your channel. Thank you
Is that an Osborne at 13:26? Wow!
WOW! I think you may be right!
I remember - back when I was in high school a friend of mine - his dad was a wheeler dealer - he could come across all kinds of stuff - and a Kaypro was on my friend's desk one day when we showed up to do science homework. I was SO stoked! He even got a printer so we could type up our assignments and print them out.
I'm from the UK and would love to have access to a place like this!! Amazing. Thank you for the insight. Great video.
4:15 - that magnavox box though...
Wish there was one of these in Nw Fl, not only would I love to shop there, but I would work there as well.
Wish we had a place like that here in southern UT, I'd be in there all the time.
I used to own one of those indigo & beige computer cases. I had a Intel Pentium II Slot A CPU with an ATI All In Wonder card in it... Used to play a lot of Diablo II on that PC.
That adaptor dongle show at the end is a PS/2 to 5 pin Din AT keyboard port adaptor. That means you must be planning to hook at PS/2 keyboard to a older IBM AT or capatable PC, unless there is some other use for those I am unaware of.
The closest thing to this here in the Boise Idaho area is called "The Reuseum". Prices are kind of hit and miss though, but they've got stuff in there from probably the 70's and older at times. I have bought a couple of laptops from them in the past for less than $50 which were pretty decent machines that had windows 10 running on them. I don't get over there very often, but last time I was there they actually had a Commodore 1571 disk drive, and they had a Commodore 128 over there as well that I think they wanted $190...already have a C128 and a disk drive. They wanted $50 for that 1571, should have bought it but didn't have the extra money. They also do some technology classes over there for kids too, and some small 3d printing stuff too. I believe they do some robotics stuff over there occasionally too.
A flashing folder would be the least worry for a Freegeek staff member!
LUV'ing Free Geek!! Ours (Vancouver, Canada) pretty much the same. Great Source for 'older' tech. and standardized components. PLUS you are helping the more needy. Here, they even hold Classes to help you get used to Linux ;) , without the gouge from MS! But Linux runs better on older boxes than Windows ever did. Thanks this! Cheers!!
I freaking LOVE Free Geek. I wish some of that other stuff was sale.......
You should come check out Tech dump in Saint Paul. I could probably convince my boss to let you check out our operation if you're interested.
I was there recently and saw that 'portable' system. It was so heavy haha
Those iMac shells can be reused, specially the rare color ones
A couple Sony ES decks of all kind. Nice, I'm a sucker for those. Ahhhhh, I can always use some more 1/4"-to-1/8" jack adapters and vice-versa, can never get enough of those
Really cool! I have been looking for a place like this since I moved to Minnesota from Florida. There we had a warehouse that had bins full of nostalgia. I wish I lived closer though I would seriously be interested in volunteering.
I just watched a video from 8-bit Guy that gives me an idea about those I-macs in the back. He turned a broken one into a cat tower by gutting it out and putting a cushion inside.
The museum area reminds me of ACME Electronics 'Museum' that used to be in Downtown Minneapolis on Washington.
looks like I may need to take my prius on a trip to portland and load up on goodies
Belinda Carlisle was right "Heaven IS a place on earth" !.....I had heard tell that such Utopian places doth exist..but i dared not dream..until now bro ! ..as your camera panned around i was like "i want that, i want that that that that n that". My heart was actually beating a bit faster which confirms what i already knew..i am a geek . ..Respect, peace
There's a sort of cool store like that, but not nearly as much old stuff, near me in NC. Called "The Grid" it's a branch of Goodwill
Oh man. I doubt I'd ever be able to actually use anything in one of these places, but I'd love to go and just look at everything. I'd think about volunteering, too, as it seems like a great way to learn how to crack something open, diagnose it, and repair it. Shame there's nothing like it in the Houston area, as far as I can tell.
I paid $20 for a PATA drive for my recent Win98 retro build. And there is a box of 'em for $1 each!... Too bad this store isn't closer to me... Teasing the AT to PS2 keyboard adapter w/o saying what it is, so sly of you! I want one that goes the other way, so I could hook up an IBM Model M keyboard to a modern PC. When you go back, keep your eye out for 3-head cassette decks, especially one with Dolby C, dbx, or Dolby S...
I just googled to see where the closest one is to me and found one within a 30 minute drive. Guess I'm gonna go check it out
Really wish that existed when I lived there. I hauled an IBM XT home on the city bus from savers
I fix classic Macs as a hobby, I'd love one of those SE/30's. I also have one of those XServe RAID storage arrays, the problem with them is they require PATA hard drives that are 'blessed' by Apple, which limits storage options. The thing also weighs like 100lbs fully populated.
15:50 And a lovely eMac down there, too
I need to find one of these in Chicago, I miss living near one of these places in my old city.
I was at that free geek like the day before you lol. I bought one of those TV tuner ati cards. They had a bunch.
Benchmarks on used computers is a wonderful idea.
We have a FreeGeek in Toronto. Most items sell for market value and don't make sense to buy from a value perspective.
That place looks like heaven.
This is beautiful. I want one in Nashville!
I had that CD player at 17:40. Weird seeing it again, especially same color.
We need something like this in the UK, I'd love to volunteer somewhere like that in the UK.
thanks for the tour! gonna have to head up there sometime.
15:20 "Mostly newer these days" Spoken filming a phatt stack of PowerBooks and iBooks, a few G3s and 2002-2005 era Apple Keyboards
I had that Pioneer CD changer, and an ATI All-in-wonder.
I still have that translucent swoosh case still... Built my first PC in it.
Is Prince's old computer there?
And maaan, that place is like an inversion of my local thrift stores, who has like zero electronics.
I live in the Twin Cities area, so I might have to go to this place. I wouldn't mind doing some volunteer work.
I remember getting rid of my last CRT monitors and TV sets one at a time. I loved my SONY TVs, but I don't miss them. 50~60" LCD TVs are easy to carry. A 32" CRT really should have 2 people to move them. That said, I still have a CRT monitor for my old old Commodore/Amigas.
A friend used to work at a TV, he did board-level repairs on TV. Such repair abilities are mostly gone nowadays. Those TV repair shops have died out or they do basic modular repair on LCD TV. = PSU, screen, Light system, and motherboard. There is basically no profitable business model for repairing TVs anymore. Those guys have retired or died.
Compare 2002 to 2022. There used to be 4 repair shops that I used to know of. There is now only one left that covers about a 100mile x 100mile repair service area. In 2002 it had 8~9 employees. In 2022, its just the owner and 1 employee. Many of the TV companies just replace warranty TVs. Once your 75" TV is out of warranty and dies - good luck in fixing it. It'll be trashed and you'll drop $400 for a new TV. Even those $1000 TVs may live for 2-3years.
$1PATA drives, LOL. Worthless, But for an old PC rebuild - can't be a $1.
Still amazing that today, a 1~2TB SATA drive isn't worth much.
I see four homebrew PC, in the video - I've sold to clients Like the blue one. Which was a pretty sharp case, its front bezel is metal, even the black grating.
The 4:3 LCDs are great for retro gaming consoles and older PC setups.
Hey, yo know anyone from Twin Cities 128? - from the 1980s?
No more Amigas? *SIgh* I remember seeing Amiga 2000 setups with a Toaster and monitor on Ebay for $200 and Amiga 500, 600 and 1200 for $75~100 and I didn't any of them.
Hey, it's in the Twin Cities? Hmm... might be time for a road trip! Thank you for the video!
12:41 that phone bin 😍 I wonder if there are 2009 windows mobile devices in there back when windows os was wince
your work is inspirational to other people
Gaaah. I can only dream about a place like this in the UK. Thrift stores very very rarely sell electronics here, and when they do they're ludicrously overpriced. Those scratched up 4:3 monitors you see being given away for free will sit in a BHF store indefinitely for the equivalent of $30 a pop. No thanks.
Awesome place!!! Holy shit MDD with a very rare IOMedia Zip drive face plate kit @ 17:10. I've been looking for this kit for several years now, but could't find any.
All-In-Wonder... lol I haven't heard that in years!
I'd love to volunteer at somewhere like that just to see all the pcs what come in
13:32 I own that beige case with the blue-green translucent accents! I have a Socket A board in it.
Also you somehow missed the Osborne computer, unless you just don't know what an Osborne is...
I'm in rural central Kansas, I need a place to send my e-waste to for proper tear-down and recycling, and somewhere to donate to like that!
Great video, and I just subbed your channel!
Super Cool!! Thanks for doing this vid! I like this one almost as much as the pile of servers you had on the cart at your work - that one ranks in my top 10 of all time - I'm a car guy and in computer terms a server is a muscle car with a huge amount of power! :-D
Man those keyboards are making me jealous
This is very cool! Do you know if there is anything like this in Australia?
Great Channel, glad I found you :)
Yeah! I volunteer there!
ugh wish i had one near western pa
I'd take that copy of Andy Griffith. One of the best comedies ever.
It's all on Netflix last time I checked.
I can't think of any equivalent here in Texas and that is a huge bummer!
1:47 in the backround theres a usb creative sound card! i still use it to this day!!!!!!!
I'm up in St Cloud, I really need to stop down there some time.