Hi there--

You can look at TechSoup's list of recyclers where you can find a place in your area that will recycle this equipment.

Best,

Megan

Or you could post them on Craigslist and you will likely get more response than you can handle!

Hey, Tim,

That's interesting. Have you tried it? I've been finding that it is difficult to off-load old computer equiptment, but have never tried Craiglist.

Thanks,

I have had great luck with Craigslist, but you need to temper your expectations.

If I post something, whether it be for sale or free, I will get dozens of emails asking for close up, detailed pictures of the item. I respond to each one, but never hear back from 95% of the people again.

Four of the remaining five percent will email back and forth a couple hundred times about each and every scratch on your absolutely free item and then not show up at the agreed upon time.

Two of these people will contact you a week later and wonder why the item is no longer available, since you agreed to give it to them last Saturday. Sometimes they will ask if you will deliver your absolutely free item, too.

The remaining one percent actually follow through with the deal and appreciate your gesture.

HINT: Don't bother promising to hold something for someone. If they don't show up, the other legions of people that emailed you after the slacker are left hanging.

HINT: Post a picture of the item with your ad. Even if your item looks just like every other item out there, it may very well eliminate a high percentage of the emails from "photo collectors".

HINT: Remove your ad from Craigslist when the item is no longer available. I have had people contact me MONTHS later concerning an ad that I forgot to pull once the item was gone.

HINT: Be prepared for emails from people with poor English asking if you will take double your asking price via certified check from some foreign country.

After dealing with this nonsese way too many times with a rental property, I finally told EVERYONE that I would be there from 10 - 12 on Saturday morning. If one person (or more than one person) shows up, great. If nobody shows then I have only wasted one trip to the rental property as opposed to five or six had I set up individual appointments.

Unfortunately, while you are obviously someone keen to make an altruistic donation to needy people who could benefit from these computers... I really don't think you will find much demand for PII and PIII workstations, CRT's etc.

A lot of companies are finding themselves with surplus P4 workstations and notebooks due to the 3-year warranty cycle running out on older machines. Just this month we donated a dozen noteboooks and (not sure how many) workstations to local NPO's and groups. It's certainly getting tougher to find a home for older hardware - late last year I even sent a crate full of P3 notebooks to Sri Lanka as a donation!

Good luck with this effort - although you might find yourself having to pay a disposal fee instead :-(

Don

Thanks for the reality check on Craigslist and older computers.

I hope that the refurbishers on the list have more luck making connections to people who need computers.

Best wishes,

I agree with Tim.

I also had older PIII desktops and CRTs to get rid of. I tried several different NPOs but found that I would end up paying processing fees in order to donate the gear. Craig's List worked very well for us.

You do have to manage the expectations of the respondents - both in terms of the number of units available and the condition of the same. 'As-is where-is' is probably the best phrase to use.

In addition, one would not want confidential HR or sales data inadvertently walking out with your computer. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you either remove and physically destroy the computers' hard drives or make use of a disk-erasure utility on all hard drives prior to release of the gear.

There are several good erasure utilities on the market (and several respectable free-ware utilities too). I would recommend that you make sure that you employ a utility that can perform a Department of Defense (DOD)-compliant wipe of the drives. This is what I would consider to be a 'base-line' requirement. There are more stringent standards out there for data erasure - but DOD-compliant is a good place to start.

Best,
Charles

Hi guys, I'm looking for laptops right now for my nonprofit in Toronto (I've already contacted the organizations listed in the Used Hardware listings).

When you posted to Craigslist, which topic did you post to? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I can't seem to tell which one is most relevant. I'd like to post a request for donations in the correct area.

Thanks,

Rohit

I would search the "for sale" section under "free". If you're posting a request, you would want to do it under the for sale "wanted" section.

HIH,

Megan

Been a couple a years but I used to take complete working systems to Goodwill.

I emphasize working because at another job we had an evil accountant that took all the junk monitors out one evening, and after drilling him on it he admitted he dumped them all on Goodwill. He figured they wouldn't get into trouble with the EPA as we would if we dumpstered them.

Old systems are full of lead and stuff, so watch the laws. We were allowed to toss one system per week. Recycle or reuse is really better.

We have donated some working equipment to a local education foundation. They are great learning tools for kids to be able to take apart and see how they work. We don't provide hard drives to them due to HIPAA. Those get the wrath of a blunt instrument.

Gary,

That's a good point, about cleaning up the hard drive. Is there anyway to be sure that it is wiped clean without destroying it physically?

Thanks,

To wipe a hard drive so it is reusable use a tools like

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

which is a boot CD or floppy and will wipe the data from the entire hard dive compliant with some military data destruction standards.

Then you have to reinstall the operating system and software for most orgs receiving the donation to be able to make use of the system.

In a case of a company with HIPPA rules I agree with the hammer and certified destruction of the drive. You can buy new and used hard drives to make decent used donated systems usable.

Dave

Our local MicroCenter http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/index.html
routinely will accept old computer hardware at no cost and dispose of it for you. Their only requirement is to bring the equipment (no limit) to them at their dedicated day & date.
Debbie