best cheap/free scores 1.1

[dmill89]

Nice score, especially to be in such good condition.

It looks like it was hardly used. There wasn't even any dust to speak of in the heatsinks (though I did replace the rock-hard thermal paste), and the 18 year old battery even still holds a charge (only for about an hour, but I believe these only lasted around 2 hours when brand new).

I'm not sure why someone spent $3k+ on a laptop back in 2006 and didn't use it, though I suppose since this was quickly rendered obsolete once the Core2Duo came out only a few months later, someone may have bought it, used it for a year or so and then immediately upgraded and threw it in a closet.

[Dan81]

Just got these recently:

- Antec Earthwatts EA-500 - Seasonic OEM
- PS1 SCPH-7002 + Dualshock
- 2x ASUS P8H61M LX + 2x Celeron G530 Sandy Bridge
- PS3 CECH-2503B 0D w/ overclockable GPU
- Galaxy S5 G900F that needs a new battery
- HP 90W charger

[Hondaman]

For $2 at a barn sale, I got an Apex DRX-9200. It is a DVD recorder, but it probably only has a pre-2006 NTSC tuner, not an ATSC tuner. But rumor has it this unit IGNORES MACROVISION VHS copy-prevention used in the USA. If it works, and if I can get an old / universal remote to work with it, I can play a VHS tape into it and it will record the footage onto DVD with chapter markers every 5 minutes (crude, but effective). (I suggest my ATSC Toshiba D-R550 will probably see the Macrovision and refuse to make a copy.)

I have a couple of VHS tapes that will never, ever be on DVD.

I have a VHS copy of "Where the Spirit Lives" (1986?) which involves kidnapping Canadian First Nations children in 1937 and forcing them into boarding schools, and beating them if they wet the bed or cry or don't finish their meals or try to speak their native languages. Something like the recent "Indian Horse" produced by Clint Eastwood.

I also have a VHS copy of "Convicted" (1986?) with Carroll O'Connor and John Larroquette. A postman is wrongly convicted of rape in Tennessee, even though the real rapist confessed. Similar to "An Innocent Man" (Tom Selleck plays an airline mechanic) or "The Thin Blue Line" (music by Philip Glass) or or "In the Name of the Father" or "Hurricane" with Denzel Washington. EDIT: Blind Justice (Tim Matheson, Bryan Dennehy) is also a great example of innocence, before DNA made it cool. But that one did make it to DVD.

If I can't get this Apex to work, it is still available online NIB (but since it was a dodgy brand, it might be DOA and NIB at the same time). I think I also finally found my old Win 98 32-bit AMD Athlon 2900. It has the ATI All-In-Wonder 9200, which should let me copy VHS to digital. At least, I think it will. You might think a TOWER COMPUTER would be hard to misplace, but my basement is VERY messy.

[Max029]

Hondaman thanks for the comment here. I guess I finally have a good reason to hold onto my All-in-Wonder card. Burn some older things to DVD, which I have a ton of quality discs as well as systems I can put the card into. Some day. When I have time...

[TechGeek]

I've got a GoVideo DDV9500 VCR for that sort of thing. Macrovision Level I and II it spits out without an issue, but Level III it struggles with.

[Dan81]

Got a Soltek SL-75KAV. Neat KT133A mobo w/ ISA and some more interesting OC support.

[Topcat]

Got another Precision T7910. Motherboard is bad and case is rough. Has 2x 2.3GHz 18 core CPU's, 256gb PC4-2133P (8x 32gb modules), 1300w PSU, and a quadro M5000 in it. A board can be for ~50 for one of these. Worth the board replacement...but the finish on the case is poor. I'll be creative with it. 🙈

[Dan81]

Recapped the Soltek. Chap that I got it from was Ukrainian, moved into Bucharest. It seems the board had went thru a (rather poorly done) recap prior... only to discover to my horror that the 3300uFs used were all Licons, several Choyos that were about 2x the diameter of the cap they were replacing and some slightly-suspicious-but-looking-fine 2005 Nichicon HMs were used mostly. Oh, and two lone Rubycons MBZ sitting on the CPU filtering. Surprisingly, VRM high was done with Panasonic caps, for reasons that absolutely elude me as of writing this post. First off, the board in its original state is presented below.



All Licons and Choyos went out. I left the '05 Nichicons since IIRC the plagued HM/HN datecodes stopped around 2004.
The CPU got a very sweet round of 8x 3300uF 6.3v Ruby MBZ.
Two of the Choyos in vicinity of the VRM low caps (the 8x MBZs) were replaced with Panasonic FJ 1500uF/6.3v.
The 3rd one beneath DIMM3 was replaced with a 16v 1500uF Ruby MCZ since the silkscreened diameter allowed it.
The 4th one near the AGP Pro slot (yes, this thing sports a AGP Pro slot!) was replaced with a 1000uF 6.3v Nichicon HM of 2008 datecode.
The 5th and final one inbetween PCI1 and 2 was replaced with a 270uF 16v Fujitsu poly.

While at it, I've also replaced two of the GSCs near the audio/gameport socket with 270uF 16v Chemicon polys, pulled from a Lenovo 775 mobo.

Finally, while not the best pic of it post-recap, here it is. I'm planning to get a ceramic Thunderbird going on it and downgrade its Q12 bios to REV Q8.1.
It currently runs the latest version, which supports mobile Bartons and Applebred/Thoroughbred chips, which look a bit out of place for the 2000/2001 target vibe I'm trying to get it at.
Heck, its main drive is a 20GB IBM Deskstar 60GXP, the few drives that (at least to what I found) has metal platters and not glass.

[Dan81]

More goodies to come in the following day and week:

- MSI 815EM Pro (MS-6315) - needs a recap as far as I can tell - Chhsi all around along what looks like either Teapo/GSC 🤢
- Soltek SL-75FRN3-L - also needs recap. Bad KZGs 😥
- ABIT KR7A-RAID + Athlon T-Bird 1000 - next week

[Dan81]

Small updates:

- MSI - dead as a doornail, POST card shows flatline
- Soltek - same situation
- ABIT - might be a KG7-RAID instead of KR7A... will update soon hopefully.

[Xenon-Codex]

Two damaged laptops, the newer Lenovo had a 512GB SSD and a 4GB Ram stick.

[Dan81]

A lot of great scores:

- 3dfx Voodoo 3 2000 16MB
- MSI MS-6168 w/ same GPU but 8MB RAM
- 2x ASUS A7N8X-X
- GB 7N400E
- DFI CS32-TC w/ Tualatin support
- Gigabyte GA-7VR
- ABIT KR7A (w/o RAID)
- DTK PRM-0076I E1
- Fastfame 9VAAV + Celeron 533
- MSI K7 Pro + 700MHz Thunderbird Athlon Slot A
- 700MHz Athlon Pluto Slot A
- ABIT BX6 R2 + 650MHz P3
- Riva TNT2 Pro Medion OEM

[Hondaman]

Okay, scratch what I said in my post number 6003 in this thread, about one month ago (a few posts above this one). It turns out my Toshiba D-R550 will record the output of a VCR, even for VHS tapes that used to belong to a video rental store (tapes that had MACROVISION copy-preventing signal recorded on the tape).

So if anybody wants a copy of those two movies ("Convicted", with Carroll O'Connor and John Larroquette, or "Where the Spirit Lives") I can get you a copy. I don't really believe copyright law applies to out-of-print stuff. I can also get "50 years of The Tonight Show" converted to DVD, as well as "The 80s -- an NBC Retrospective". No fancy menus, and chapters ever 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, whatever I set my equipment for. I can also get my sister's VHS wedding converted (Cincinnati, Ohio, 05-16-1992). I'll have to send my sister a DVD of the wedding. I'm not sure if she even has a VCR, or knows where it is.

(I suppose if I wanted fancy menus, I would have to play the DVD into the All-In-Wonder 9200, and turn the footage into one giant MPEG, then use DVD FAB, which I do have a license for. Sounds like a lot of work though, because it truly would be a lot of work.)

I've had the VCR and the D-R550 for many years now (2010?). I'm sorry it took me so long to get the two together like this.

If anybody wants any of these, let me know.

(I also may have found a DVD copy of "Where the Spirit Lives" from a merchant in Pakistan, but shipping could be 5500 Pakistan Rupees, or $55 US. Plus $15 for the movie.)