Dumpster diving and recycling centres mainly these days. 🤣 Occasionally garage sales etc.

I got my first retro PC from a flea market for 10$ though. It's a PCjr and it's totally complete in the original boxes he also had a 5150 there but this was in 2008 and because I was a dumbass I decided not to grab it since he didn't have the monitor. 😒

My favourate? When folk just give me stuff. Had a 386DX25 system and a dead 486 dropped off under the car port while I was at work. An Intergraph system handed to me at work, as well as a flat screen crt 18.5" monitor and some Dell system with W2K on it.

In the past, as a hobby, I assisted in upgrading people's old PC's and/or went to fix up their current PC's (mostly due to software issues).
After I was done, I usually asked what they wanted to do with the old PC or if they still had an older PC lying around.
In many occasions they were either storing it somewhere in a dark corner, gathering dust, or planning on dumping it. That is how I managed to get my hands on 2 or 3 old retro PC's.
However, these days, the chances of finding a complete "retro" PC (anything prior to 2000, I would say) is becoming quite a challenge.

You might still have some luck with some schools or educational centres if they decided to keep their old PC's in a store room somewhere.
Also ask around between your family members or friends to find out if any of them (or their friends) might still have an old PC stored somewhere (or know of someone that still has one).
I managed to obtain an almost complete Pentium 166 (not MMX) the other day by just asking around.

This might sound strange but, if you're looking for retro PC's from the 90's era, then ask people who are now in their late 30's or early 40's. Back then, they were in their late teens or early 20's and would then have bought their first PC's. Some people tend to keep the first PC's they bought.

My favorite without a doubt is the "electronics fest" the local boy scouts hold once a month here. I've found so really rare and pricy stuff there for a few dollars. It goes on all morning and more stuff usually comes in as the morning goes on. Boxed voodoo 5 = $3, working macintosh se =$7. Last month I got a 486 motherboard and about 7 or 8 assorted isa and pci cards for something like 6 or 7 dollars. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a cheap pentium II overdrive boxed a few years back.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Dumpster diving and recycling centres mainly these days. 🤣 Occasionally garage sales etc.

I got my first retro PC from a flea market for 10$ though. It's a PCjr and it's totally complete in the original boxes he also had a 5150 there but this was in 2008 and because I was a dumbass I decided not to grab it since he didn't have the monitor. 😒

whats a good place to dumpster dive, any particular dumpsters?

What are the odds of finding anything from the early 90s or before in a dumpster these days? I'd think the vast bulk of dumpster pc finds would be Pentium 4 and maybe early duel cores these days.

Back in the late 90's and early 2000's I used to go to swap meets and computer shows to find old computer hardware (I got my SW60XG, SB Pro 2 and Asus TX97-XE that way), and also by helping others upgrade their computers (they never wanted the old stuff back 😁 ).

Nowadays, it's mostly eBay. My local craigslist is useless (I only find overpriced listings, same with the local paper ads) and the recycling centers will not allow anyone to search the place or even buy the stuff from them (and they won't tell anyone why 😐 ); dumpster diving is also off limits (very often the local police will come looking for you). Occasionally I have some finds and tips from garage sales, neighbors, friends and relatives - very recently a neighbor told me about someone in the city of Walnut wanting to sell some old computer gear that had belonged to a deceased relative and it turned out to be true, now I own 2 Asus motherboards, some Pentium 3 CPUs and other stuff that will keep me busy for a while 😀

Ebay and sometimes the computer recycler. Every once in a while at the thrift store. I have been fortunate that the recycler does sell stuff.
But if you are looking for stuff they usually scrap (such as cases), you have to ask them to reserve them in advance.

I Thought trash was considered "abandoned property" or somthing along those lines. I could imagine the police saying to stop it if they caught you in the act and telling you to go home but are you saying they will track you down? Craigslist is hit or miss here. There's some awesome deals in between the nuts that think anything old is made of solid gold or somthing.

For joysticks and keyboards, I've had extremely good luck with Goodwill stores. You just have to be patient, check frequently, and know how to disassemble and clean input peripherals. Especially keyboards. There are some really dirty bastards out there. My personal method involves a few days of soaking in automatic dish soap, then regular dish soap, and finally a key-by-key disinfection using Clorox wipes with bleach. By the time I'm done, they're back to a germ-free almost-new condition. I only go through this much effort for really special items: IBM model M or KB-8923, MS Natural, or other front-tilt ergo keyboards that are hard-to-find nowadays. Joysticks and mice are much easier to clean and usually just require a vigorous scrub with Clorox wipes.

I also find lots of good old IDE/PATA CDROM and DVD drives at Goodwill. You just have to know what you're looking for. Pretty much all Pioneer, Plextor, Lite-On, NEC, and Sony drives are good. I'm not a real big fan of Toshiba and Samsung ODD's, so I avoid those.

My only good find on craigslist came this past November when I scored a Dell Dimension 4100 for $10. Sadly, after I got it home and opened it up, I found that it was very used and truly worth only $10. There was so much dust and fuzz inside the case... it was really the worst I've ever seen. After cleaning it out and putting a few drops of oil in the CPU/exhaust fan, it is working OK. Seriously, this wasn't some old P3 system that was used in the early 2000's and then stuffed in a closet. It had clearly been used consistently for the past dozen or so years. Well, it still works and I'm in the process of putting it together as a spare Win98SE box. Even after upgrading it to a 1ghz Coppermine and popping in a GF4 Ti4800SE and NEC USB 2.0 PCI card, I've still only got about ~$35 invested in it. Not bad...

I've also scored a few good CRT monitors on craigslist. Check the free section, because CRT monitors are pretty much worthless nowadays and folks just give 'em away. Seriously, never pay more than $5 for a CRT. Even then, for $5 it had better be in damn good shape.

Pretty much everything else I get from eBay, which I hate. I would shop elsewhere for retro parts if I could.

For cases, I don't even bother with period-correct parts. I just buy new stuff that will fit the old gear.

Computer City
Radioshack
CompUSA
Amazon

when they were new 🙁

eBay mostly, or people throwing things out.

Otherwise, a good old bit of common thievery as I reason my needs are probably greater than the existing owner's.

KT7AGuy wrote:

For joysticks and keyboards, I've had extremely good luck with Goodwill stores. You just have to be patient, check frequently, […]
Show full quote

For joysticks and keyboards, I've had extremely good luck with Goodwill stores. You just have to be patient, check frequently, and know how to disassemble and clean input peripherals. Especially keyboards. There are some really dirty bastards out there. My personal method involves a few days of soaking in automatic dish soap, then regular dish soap, and finally a key-by-key disinfection using Clorox wipes with bleach. By the time I'm done, they're back to a germ-free almost-new condition. I only go through this much effort for really special items: IBM model M or KB-8923, MS Natural, or other front-tilt ergo keyboards that are hard-to-find nowadays. Joysticks and mice are much easier to clean and usually just require a vigorous scrub with Clorox wipes.

I also find lots of good old IDE/PATA CDROM and DVD drives at Goodwill. You just have to know what you're looking for. Pretty much all Pioneer, Plextor, Lite-On, NEC, and Sony drives are good. I'm not a real big fan of Toshiba and Samsung ODD's, so I avoid those.

My only good find on craigslist came this past November when I scored a Dell Dimension 4100 for $10. Sadly, after I got it home and opened it up, I found that it was very used and truly worth only $10. There was so much dust and fuzz inside the case... it was really the worst I've ever seen. After cleaning it out and putting a few drops of oil in the CPU/exhaust fan, it is working OK. Seriously, this wasn't some old P3 system that was used in the early 2000's and then stuffed in a closet. It had clearly been used consistently for the past dozen or so years. Well, it still works and I'm in the process of putting it together as a spare Win98SE box. Even after upgrading it to a 1ghz Coppermine and popping in a GF4 Ti4800SE and NEC USB 2.0 PCI card, I've still only got about ~$35 invested in it. Not bad...

I've also scored a few good CRT monitors on craigslist. Check the free section, because CRT monitors are pretty much worthless nowadays and folks just give 'em away. Seriously, never pay more than $5 for a CRT. Even then, for $5 it had better be in damn good shape.

Pretty much everything else I get from eBay, which I hate. I would shop elsewhere for retro parts if I could.

For cases, I don't even bother with period-correct parts. I just buy new stuff that will fit the old gear.

I almost did a double take while reading this... almost everything you mention is something I have specifically noticed or done. Right down to scoring a $10 Dimension 4100 and $5 CRT on Craigslist. I also find that Goodwill is a good source for mice, joysticks, and (filthy) keyboards, though I did get a non-working CD-ROM drive one time. For the record, Goodwill's return policy kind of sucks, as they only give you store credit with a very short expiration date.

soviet conscript wrote:

I Thought trash was considered "abandoned property" or somthing along those lines. I could imagine the police saying to stop it if they caught you in the act and telling you to go home but are you saying they will track you down?

Around here trash is considered public property only if it's out on the street, and even then someone will get mad at you if you start snooping around their trash too much. And yes, the local police will come after you for dumpster diving; it became outlawed by a city ordinance back in 2007, carries a $250 fine, misdemeanor charges and jail time if you're a repeat offender (one of my cousins recently got busted for his fourth offense, checking out a Walmart dumpster without permission; he'll be out of jail in September of this year). And no, don't ask me why something like this even exists; just about everyone around here wanted this to become law for whatever reason - except for me and a few others, and we were told to just shut up, sit down and like it, or get out of Dodge 😒 😐 😠

Craigslist is hit or miss here. There's some awesome deals in between the nuts that think anything old is made of solid gold or somthing.

I don't even bother anymore, there's too many who believe they own something rare or unique and ask for too much IMO. I've even seen ads for CRT monitors what were very obviously bashed in with a baseball bat or hammer, yet still ask for $50 or better for them 😵

that sucks, maybe the ban on dumpster diving has to do with concerns about identify theft...still that should be the burden of the one throwing out sensitive info.

I've done pretty well on Craigslist. sure there are the people selling things for outrageous money but I've had some decent scores in the Pheonix area in the past 2 years. $25 Voodoo 5, $15 boxed Tandy 1000EX + monitor, $25 boxed Atari ST + monitor. just last week I grabbed a $30 working 486 system plus a Pentium 1 machine with it.

When I lived in Pittsburgh I did really well on Freecyscle and got quite a few mint condition classic PC's for free including an Apple IIgs, At&t 6300 and a Tandy 2000. Since moving to Phoenix though I haven't found a single PC on Freecycle.

And no, don't ask me why something like this even exists; just about everyone around here wanted this to become law for whatever reason - except for me and a few others, and we were told to just shut up, sit down and like it

California. 'nuf said.

All the dumpster is P4 stuff around here anyway.

but where is a good place to dumpster dive??

I also have had decent luck with craigslist. I picked up 2 complete atari ST;s with a ton of software and midi hardware for 100 bucks.

Ive also scored a ton of amiga stuff, im talking like 3 a4000s, 2 a2000s, 1 a2500, 2 a1000s, most all loaded to the gills with video editing stuff.. i forget how much i paid total because it was multiple hauls.

when it comes to pc stuff i dont know what to search for on CL.. Ill give freecycle a try. As far as thrift stores go ive had 0 luck. none of the goodwills in so cal have any computer stuff. They told me they all send computer stuff to be sold on goodwill online.

im wondering why no one has started an online retro pc trading post? Vintage computer has a section but its mostly not PC related.

is it a liability thing? Im willing to spring for the cost of setting one up if there is no liability.. It would be awesome to find a place to trade retro pc hardware with other enthusiasts for decent prices.

Recycling centers, asking around, ebay and... trading things I no longer want for other things.

I once asked for old stock in a shop that have been selling computers for 20+ years... and i have to say that is not uncommon for them to have sealed things gathering dust.

My local thrift store sometimes has some awesome things. I got almost every single computer I have from there (286, 386, 486, lots of pentium 1-2-3's). I even found a 386/486 hybrid motherboard with a SELECTABLE CPU TYPE/Mhz SWITCH that allows me to clock my 386DX-40 from 12Mhz, 16Mhz, 25Mhz, 33Mhz, 40MHz (VERY VERY handy for time-specific games) and then that same board doubles as an early 486 motherboard to boot!

Lately for rare hardware, such as sound and video cards, I've gone to ebay. Sometimes you get some fantastic deals, other times if you really want that piece of hardware you'll have to splurge.

I recently obtain an original 8-bit adlib card on ebay....and paid the collector's price. 😒 But, i have an empty box with all of the original papers/etc so I needed my collection to be complete. 😎