pentiumspeed wrote on 2020-06-01, 23:16:Good score, then. Our scrappers are bound by the rules of recycling where I live so I cannot buy off or pick up anything that […]
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bearking wrote on 2020-06-01, 22:44:
pentiumspeed wrote on 2020-06-01, 19:59:
Bearking,
Been searching the ebay for long time and this is not among these. Where did you get this Deskpro XE?
Cheers,
Bought it from a scrapper locally, Romania... This one was the first I saw here in more then a year... Wasn't looking for it specifically, just bumped into it...
Good score, then. Our scrappers are bound by the rules of recycling where I live so I cannot buy off or pick up anything that they collected and they chase away collectors from the open bin and drop off areas.
So I ended up paying a fortune on two compaq computers one is deskpro M in good condition but need more work and missing power supply and 486/33i from another, with some rust and front bezel broken. both are from ebay.
Cheers,
Let me describe you how things are going here regarding recycling. And I guess it is valid for all of the Eastern European countries ...
Basically there are three levels of recyclers. At the top level there are large recycling companies, also multinational companies having contracts with cities and other smaller businesses for gathering waste or recycling basically anything. They have all kinds of recycling plants or they are exporting to other countries, like China, everything they gather(like iron, aluminium, copper, plastic or electronics waste). They are the "big guys". Usually they get the stuff already in pieces and sorted. From these guys you can't get anything!
At the second level are local businesses, with only a few employees(let's say 5 to 10), and they are gathering waste(electronics, household appliances, plastics, metals, etc.) from other local businesses or companies. Also, they are buying waste from anybody, of course for a small amount of money and per kilogram. Usually they dismantle and sort everything and sell the sorted wast to the big guys. Sometimes you can buy things from these recyclers, most of the time without a receipt 😀. they are the "middleman".
And in the third category are, what I call "the scrappers". They represent the lowest level in the chain of recycling(oh, big words...), and are individuals making a living(mostly honest living, not stealing...) gathering all kind of stuff for reselling or selling to the middlemen.
I can put them in three categories:
- individuals gathering all kind of shit from Western European countries(Germany, France, Austria...) and selling it on-line or at the flea markets. This is how I got a Roland SCB-7 for 1 euro(!!!), a SB Pro 2 CT1600 , a SB32 CT3670 and other nice mainboards and ISA/VLB expansion cards for like 65 euros(this was a bigger lot, also posted here...), just to mention a few... They really make a living from this activity.
- other individuals gathering from only God knows where, again, all kind of stuff and selling it on-line or at the flea markets... I got a lot of things from them too...
- lastly, the really low level scrappers, gathering "interesting" things basically from the trash bins or things thrown out by people or smaller businesses and selling these things on flea markets or to the middlemen. Mostly they are homeless or really poor people, trying to make a living without stealing... From them I got another SB Pro 2 for 2 euros, a SB16 CT2770 for 1 euro, an MSI K7-D Master-L dual socket A for like 3 euros, etc. I always pay what they are asking!
Most of the scrappers, when it comes to PC's and components, they really don't know what they are selling and the prices are really low. BUT, take a look at this on-line ad, I couldn't believe my eyes...
2500_euro_siemens_486_DX2.JPG
You can look it up on olx.ro, a local classified ads site... This is a screenshot of a valid ad posting from a few minutes ago... 😀
Putting it all together, the "scrappers" are my best friends when in comes to retro hardware hording...
LE: I saw on German ebay a similar Siemens DX2/66 for an asking price of 3500 euros, and another one for 1500.... what is so special with this systems, anyway?