Dumpster Diving!

Two weeks ago i happened to find a computer case just off to the side of walkway. Picked it up, took it home and left on my way. Come back and checked it out. The side cover had a dent in it like if someone had kicked it. It had a working PCChips M810L mobo w/ a 950mhz Duron and a 128mb ddr. I updated the bios and got it to work w/ a 2400+ chip.
 
I'd be willing to bet that your 12V 1000mA power supply would work just fine, although you should check the input power jack (if there is one) to confirm the requirements. And you definitely can set up a 12V PSU to run it.

That's true, providing you don't need a fancy connector of some kind you should be okay, I've not used Linux but I know the specs are low so you might be able to use that as well. Check the underside of the unit and see if it has any labels, they normally contain info about what voltage and Amperage can be used on the system.
 
That's true, providing you don't need a fancy connector of some kind you should be okay, I've not used Linux but I know the specs are low so you might be able to use that as well. Check the underside of the unit and see if it has any labels, they normally contain info about what voltage and Amperage can be used on the system.

True... It does. The parts that aren't in Japanese mention 20W and DC16V. The battery, however, is 12V. The thing does have a funky connector that I'd have to hack some bare wires onto, but I'm thinking that maybe I can just run my DC12V/1000mA line directly to the battery contacts.

I apologize for cluttering up the thread, by the way - now that I think about it, I should have posted this elsewhere :\

EDIT: I ran 12V lines to the battery contacts and powered the thing up successfully. The screen backlight came on, but there were no graphics. The machine made a few beep patterns, but other than that, it was pretty uninspiring. Once I can get a floppy disk written I'll be trying to boot NetBSD/pc98 on it.
 
This was actually a couple years ago, around this very time...

I stopped by a local PC store, hoping to find an Athlon XP 2800+ thru 3200+. Ebay prices were ridiculous and none were to be found new, so figured WTH...

Well I walk in on Fri. afternoon and nobody there. Someone finally arrives, and it's the property owner. Turns out the two gents. that ran the store had skipped town and run off to FL, leaving everything behind. Their cars were left with keys in ignition for the repo-man. Furniture was left in the apartments. Store was left with an unpaid lease, and TONS of stuff, new and used. The owner was in process of clearing through the mess so that he could re-lease the store.

I bought a couple misc. cards from him for like $5, then left. Got home and started kickin' myself for my stupidity.

First thing the following Mon., I go back and find the owner. I ask him how much I can take for $25. He thinks for a minute, and tells me the more I take, the less he has to PAY to THROW OUT!! Then he tells me I shoulda' been there a week ago, 'cause the first dumpster load had already been emptied and was full again already!! Well you bet your ass I jumped into that dumpster!!

I have a small station wagon for hauling my drums to gigs. Well, between the dumpster and the shop, I filled that car twice, front to back, ceiling high with all sorts of parts. :D

And yes, I did even manage to score my Athlon XP 2800+ CPU... and then some!! :D
 
This was actually a couple years ago, around this very time...

I stopped by a local PC store, hoping to find an Athlon XP 2800+ thru 3200+. Ebay prices were ridiculous and none were to be found new, so figured WTH...

Well I walk in on Fri. afternoon and nobody there. Someone finally arrives, and it's the property owner. Turns out the two gents. that ran the store had skipped town and run off to FL, leaving everything behind. Their cars were left with keys in ignition for the repo-man. Furniture was left in the apartments. Store was left with an unpaid lease, and TONS of stuff, new and used. The owner was in process of clearing through the mess so that he could re-lease the store.

I bought a couple misc. cards from him for like $5, then left. Got home and started kickin' myself for my stupidity.

First thing the following Mon., I go back and find the owner. I ask him how much I can take for $25. He thinks for a minute, and tells me the more I take, the less he has to PAY to THROW OUT!! Then he tells me I shoulda' been there a week ago, 'cause the first dumpster load had already been emptied and was full again already!! Well you bet your ass I jumped into that dumpster!!

I have a small station wagon for hauling my drums to gigs. Well, between the dumpster and the shop, I filled that car twice, front to back, ceiling high with all sorts of parts. :D

And yes, I did even manage to score my Athlon XP 2800+ CPU... and then some!! :D


pics of loot!
 
pics of loot!
OMG... lol!

Hmmm, actually my workshop is still in a quandry with boxes still yet to be unpacked...
I could take pics of the general mayhem! LMAO

Would'a been kewl to take pics back then, before I ditched some junk, sold some stuff, and put other stuff into use. But still enough stuff to make a really cluttered pic!!

Actually, I'm imagining a pic with JUST the hundreds of brand-new power cords, the dozens of unopened IDE cables, and the hundreds of phone cords. :eek: I could call it Mt. Copper.
 
Does no one go anymore?

If anyone is interested, I'm based in Carlsbad, CA.
 
I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.
 
I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.

Man that sucks. You went to find parts, but only found a new partner named bubba.
 
careful diving CC stores in phoenix. i have sex with co workers and throw used condoms out all the time.
 
i found a panasonic laptop that looks about 15 years old, cd drive under keyboard,it wont go past POST tho i got the power and a leather case too! anyone interested on this beast!?! :p

its HUGE lol

oh yeah, i did find this Diving :)
 
I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.

Me and a friend got off easy when we were first caught. Simply explained that we were "looking for boxes."

He let us off with a warning and let us know that this was private property (oops!).
 
i found a panasonic laptop that looks about 15 years old, cd drive under keyboard,it wont go past POST tho i got the power and a leather case too! anyone interested on this beast!?! :p

its HUGE lol

oh yeah, i did find this Diving :)

you sir got a pm


and on the side note, i went to the local rival of mine's dumpster :)p) and found a 200w car amp (works great), 7 band passive equalizer (kinda works), a few socket 370 mobos (havent tested), and a socket A mobo that works (had a dead XP 3000 on it :( )

was a good dive, first time hitting his dumpster and i think i will do it again sometime!
 
BTW, I suppose that checking the "scrap metal" pile at my local land-fill every weekend also qualifies as dumpster diving? ;)

The bounty there used to be much better, before I took on competition. Still not sure exactly who's been beating me out, but all he/she leaves me is useless scraps. I mean this person even takes the 486's and Socket 7's. :(

One day, I decided to conduct a test. I threw out the shell of a cool-looking case. I set it next to the pile rather then toss it. I figured I'd see if it was still there next week, or if the guy/gal would bite. Well, not only did the scoundrel bite... but it was gone by the time I completed my walk around the pile!! :eek: Apparently we were there at the same time, and I STILL didn't get to see who it was. LMAO
 
I live in Texas and in sept 2005 we had hurricane rita:eek: and it was sooo bad that no one could return to there homes for 2weeks the DPS had the roads blocked into beaumont and president Bush:confused: even came to evaluate the damage. Anyway after we returned home everyone was cleaning up and let me tell you it was a dumpster diving dream:) since most people in Beaumont,TX are not very computer savy they threw away all computers that wouldnt boot and used insurance money to buy more. I got so many computers that I literally had to rent a storage building to keep them I only kept the newer ones I had all kinds from Dell(TONS OF THESE), IBM, Compaq, HP. To make a long story short I fixed almost all of them and the ones I couldnt fix I parted them out. I sold most of the computers and all the parts some locally,houston, Internet. It took me about a year to finally get rid of them but man I made close to $10,000:D after about a year of selling them at heavy discounted prices. As a matter a fact the computer I am typing on now has some of the parts from RITA.
 
I live on a university campus, and every year when all the kids leave for the summer, they, especially seniors, who won't be back throw out a lot of good stuff.

Monday the seniors had to be out at 11am, so at 11:30 I went hunting. The "townies" come out of the woodwork to dive as well, so I had some competition, but I got:

1. TV with DVD/VCR combo built in- Works great just no remote and the channel "up" button is smashed.

2. Durabrand Home Theater in-a-box DVD player/amp- Works great and powered a sub I had lying around.

3. Numerous different fans, from column fans to circular ones. I also found a heater that I thought was a fan at first.

4. Nice USB webcamera- I just can't find a driver for it ANYWHERE. ucom cam-700

5. someone threw out a HUGE old fashioned big screen TV with wooden cabinet. Too big for me to grab. The guy who wheeled it to the bin said it worked.

6. Playstation dual shock controller

7. CD radio boombox

8. pack of floppy discs

Some dude found a freaking nice camcorder...I was pissed.
I went back to one spot to get the speakers that came with the home theater unit but they emptied the trash bin!
Also...I'm a member of a Freecycle network and have got TONS of computer stuff for free.
 
Local pickings have been very slim. My competition is beating me to everything. All I ever find is empty cases.

I gotta' find a new source, 'cause I'm spending WAY TOO MUCH $$ buying stuff off [H]! :rolleyes:
 
Local pickings have been very slim. My competition is beating me to everything. All I ever find is empty cases.

I gotta' find a new source, 'cause I'm spending WAY TOO MUCH $$ buying stuff off [H]! :rolleyes:

Of all the stores I've hit in the past, Staples has been by far the most plentiful in selection, volume, and quality. Have managed to grab a $300 leather chair, wheeled shelves, a leather briefcase (BNIB!), a halogen desk lamp (again, BNIB), and a shitload of DVDRs and pens. :)
 
Of all the stores I've hit in the past, Staples has been by far the most plentiful in selection, volume, and quality. Have managed to grab a $300 leather chair, wheeled shelves, a leather briefcase (BNIB!), a halogen desk lamp (again, BNIB), and a shitload of DVDRs and pens. :)

Stores should be fined for cluttering landfills with good product.

But, of course if they were fined we'd never find anything good.

We are performing a public service:p
 
I found a beeper the other day at the dumpster. I remember when high business suit men used to carry it all around. LOL
 
I found a 19" LCD on the dumpster in the complex where I live. there was no power chord or base, but it does have both vga and dvi inputs. I think this is going to be the new monitor for my test kit. I looked up the model number and found an ac adapter on ebay for $13.

there are accomodations for wall mounting but I think I will make my own desktop bracket. I believe it would have actually been in the dumpster if it were non working, wish me luck.
 
i hit a pretty good mother load today, not exactly a dumpster, but it was going to the dumpster at the end of the day!!!

Goods found:

2 R/C batmobiles, one with battery and charger and remote, one bare

1 Lexmark Z72 3 in one printer, scanner, copyer, works great just needs ink, and came with the power and 6ft usb cable!

100ft of network cable, just need one end redone since a few wires came out otherwise perfect!!

1 spray paint hander for spray cans (makes it alot easyer to paint with!)

1 vintage tool box with some PVC pipes and a nozzle of some kind in it (latch and everything still works)

1 empty tackle box (plastic)

1 12v automotive vacuum cleaner thingy

1 aluminum clipboard thing that opens and has a paper holder!

1 Very nice dartboard in a wood box with a neat design on the front!

1 propain tank (half full)

1 half full can of WD-40

1 Full bottle of Meguires NXT Tech Wax for cars

1 half can of break cleaner

1 full can of PB Blaster lube stuff (like wd 40 but better)

1 12" or 15" truck box (needs plugs on back, and re carpeted)

And i think that covers all of it!

ill post pics in the pics thread for you all!
 
Scored four socket F Opterons, two 2216s, one 2218 and 2220, two 512s of DDR2 ram, some ddr1, and a 1gb CF card. Looks like I'm buying a cheap server board to see if any of them work.

right now they are safely wrapped in some ESD baggies until I get the hardware to test them out.

I am sporting a tremendous woodie right now!
 
Found a HP F2105 at my work today in the trash. Hooked it up at the house and it has about 5 small vertical lines through the screen. I know it's the board or something but it's a 399 dollar montior, I'm going to see if I can find parts somewhere
 
i should do this when i get a car, its a good thing here in vegas theres an apple store right across the street from frys =D
 
i should do this when i get a car, its a good thing here in vegas theres an apple store right across the street from frys =D

At least you HAVE a Fry's. Closest one around here is 7+ hours away.

Instead, we get Worst Buy, Crapshoot City, Staples, and OfficeMax. Believe it or not, the most consistently fruitful of the bunch of Staples ... picked up a $300 leather chair, a couple hundred blank DVDs, and some other awesome stuff (back in the day).

Blah. :p

/rant
 
actually frys is down the street from the strip, its near the ruins of this one awesome hotel
i think they cleaned that up though, thats were the new mall that the apple store is in

the traffic there is pretty long to, so it takes like 45 minutes to get there
 
Me and my friend went dumpster diving last night, and got a TON of stuff from this local computer repair shop. I'll get pics in a few.

Honorable mentions that I can remember:
DDR ram for my dads computer,
17 inch widescreen lcd (perfect working condition),
19inch lcd (needs power cord),
DVD drives,
a shit ton of hard drives,
a dell crt monitor (lulz),
and a few power supplys.
Oh, and a case

I'll get some pics in a minute.
 
is this legal???
in some places i believe it is
oh well
this is what i got

0725080920tp5.jpg


0725080921tb7.jpg


0725080922sp9.jpg


0725080923mz6.jpg


0725080925xh0.jpg


0725080926ow7.jpg
 
Not a trash find but good as one. Over 2 months ago, student just moved into a house and was selling a socket a mobo in box. She decided to just give it to me since in the box was other items that didnt appear to be related w/ the mobo. When i get there i get the mobo in box but she says i can heve box full of other stuff that she just wants to be rid of. Sure i said. Later at the busstop, i look thru the box. This is what i find:

2 belkin 3' and 6' a/b usb cables new in package-one is usb 2.0
2 256/333 sodimm memory sticks
1 very long ethernet cable
1 unused in box cooler master socket a heatsink/fan w/ plastic protector covering the bottom
1 strip of green amd duron stickers(6)
1 939 heatsink/fan
1 k7s5a mobo w/ duron 1000 chip
2 xp 1800 chips
1 ati 9800 vid card w/ an artic cooling vga cooler fan
1 32mb agp card
1 linksys 10/100 ethernet card w/ install cd, instruction manual and unused warranty card
2 pci tv cards-one is pinnacle and one unknown
1 older sony/panasonic sound card

I think the guy i spoke to about the same items 4-5 months back was trying to sell the box full for $100. I remember this because it was on the same street and she said the guy that moved had left all this box of stuff behind.

a month ago bought an Alienware tower for $20 w/ the following inside:

asus a7n266 w/ a xp2200
768mb memory
160gb hdd
ati radeon 9700 pro agp card
sb audigy eax sound card w/firewire
cyclone blower
liteon cdrw
samsung dvd rom
56k modem
chieftec psu

and had bought a 300gb hdd WD(used in box) at the same sale for $5
 
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