best cheap/free scores 1.1

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Christmas scores... none were true gifts, so I'm counting them here:

-Lenovo Thinkpad T440: $50. Visited my best friend who has been flipping laptops lately. This was one he was given for free (trade for setting up a new laptop). He replaced some broken plastics (still cosmetically rough), but otherwise didn't do much to it (hence the low price; not easily sold due to the crappy cosmetics). The good: everything seems to work and be linux friendly (including the touchscreen!), and it has an intel 7260 AC card in it already (and a spare M2 slot, for future expansion?). The bad: It has a somewhat anemic Haswell i5 4200u (1.6GHz x2) and the embedded windows 8 key is standard, not pro (but might have SLIC 2.1 since windows 7 was an option on these apparently). Has a 120GB PNY SSD in it. Might become my new "behind the truck seat" travel machine, replacing/joining my Asus transformer T200TA and my HP 8" windows 8 tablet. Won't replace my venerable Dell Latitude E6430 (main laptop), whose Ivy-Bridge i7 has double the cores and double the passmark score... :p

-Two old ATI All-In-Wonder AGP cards. My father-in-law was cleaning out the junk drawers of one of his toolboxes, and among other things (to include a SATA DVD Burner) he tossed my way was these two cards and the AV breakout cables to go with them. One of them is a Pinnacle branded card and breakout, the other is straight up ATI (and has a TV tuner, unlike the other card). These will be given/traded to Topcat, so perhaps you'll see them in a future build?

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

1) Crosley CR247 Vintage Reproduction radio/CD/cassette/phono. All the belts are shot (CD struggles to eject, cassette takeup reel belt broke, and playing record sounds like Bob Dylan due to the slowing & speeding back up of the loose/worn belt), easy fix. In the process of tracking down the belts, I was surprised what these radios go for!

Never heard of this brand, but I looked up that model and... looks like the typical cheap no-name China junk. Right up there in the same alley as the white van speaker scam stuff - it probably "works" (well, maybe not yours, given the situation with the rubber parts), but quality is horrible and probably won't work for too long.

5) A big box full of new old stock Radio Shack cables, connectors, and banana clip meter leads.

That's a pretty useful find.
One can never have enough connectors and clip meter leads.

Just pull a Shango066 and EOL it with a MOT on the aux in jacks. Works better that way.

I like PhotonicInduction's idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNGxDAiTxaQ

then refurbish it with the best american parts u can find and make it last for decades.

I don't know about that. Some things are just not meant to be fixed. They were made garbage from the factory with the intention to just make a quick buck and nothing more.

There's always a good one in the bunch....an Inspiron 8100 P3 1GHz mobile (CPU-Z reports it as a Tualatin). Case is mint, battery is good, has PCMCIA WiFi adapter, and charger. Of course all the true legacy devices; floppy, 2x serial ports, parallel... Stuck a 16gb mSATA in an IDE adapter, installed W2K and here we are. Great way to waste a Christmas day. This classic is ~20yrs old....and to be in this condition, it qualifies as a 'vintage'... ...and so classy with the wood grain palm rests.

Very nice unit there! I never knew they even had options for those with woodgrain. Highlights the "vintage" value even more, lol.

Funny enough, I also have an Inspiron 8100 with a 1 GHz P3 CPU, except mine didn't look anywhere near that good. Case is pretty beat up, hinges are starting to get loose, and I don't remember what else looked bad about it (keyboard missing a key or two, maybe?) I acquired it back in 2010 or so, when such laptops weren't old enough to be considered vintage and too old to be useful on a daily basis. Given that back then I still used a P3 Dell Latitude C500 laptop (with only a 850/700 MHz CPU), at some point, I did consider swapping it for the Inspiron. However, the sheer weight and thickness of it made my Latitdue C500 look like a Surface Pro / Macbook Air compared to it. So I stuck with the Latitude C500 until the HDD finally became corrupt 2 years ago. I've partially restored my C500 now, but only enough for bench duty (i.e. pull up datasheets and stuff like that.) It too has a limit on the RAM to 512 MB only. So even with Windows XP, it's nearly impossible to do anything online with it. Best I can do is open email and look for a datasheet or some of the simpler-made websites that run on Opera 12. And badcaps.net, of course - can still fully browse and use it on that laptop.

That must've been a business exec's laptop back when it was new.

Probably!

It's a GeForce2 w/32mb dedicated memory. GPU is a card of its own. This system's kryptonite is its chipset....its an i815, which doesn't support anything more than 512mb RAM. I haven't tried any games on it as of yet.

That's actually really good for its time!
It should make a great Windows 98/SE gaming laptop for just about any 90's game. Might even run the original Counter-Strike 1.1/1.5 and Half-Life just fine with that GPU.

-Two old ATI All-In-Wonder AGP cards.

Nice!
Good save on the retro AGP cards there.

[dmill89]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Never heard of this brand, but I looked up that model and... looks like the typical cheap no-name China junk. Right up there in the same alley as the white van speaker scam stuff - it probably "works" (well, maybe not yours, given the situation with the rubber parts), but quality is horrible and probably won't work for too long.

Yep, Crosley was an American radio manufacture from the 1920s-1950s, but the rights to the name where sold off and now it is used for cheap Chinese "retro" looking radios/record players (They have more or less become the "poster child" for this, but the same junk is also sold under many other names).

Here's a Crosley Collegiate I picked up cheap at a yard sale a few years ago, it is one of their "premium" models (which even has a magnetic phono cartridge) for reference.

Doesn't look too bad on the outside:



But open it up and it is pretty obviously a cheaply made piece of junk (tiny DC motor for the turntable, tiny IC amp, thin particle board and plastic housing):






And for a completely unfair comparison, here's a legitimate "retro" portable record player (Audiotronics 612, circa early 1980s):

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

It's a GeForce2 w/32mb dedicated memory. GPU is a card of its own. This system's kryptonite is its chipset....its an i815, which doesn't support anything more than 512mb RAM. I haven't tried any games on it as of yet.

That's actually really good for its time!
It should make a great Windows 98/SE gaming laptop for just about any 90's game. Might even run the original Counter-Strike 1.1/1.5 and Half-Life just fine with that GPU.

yea thats nice. my thoughts exactly! i was thinking of using it as a diablo 1 and 2 mobile gaming rig on the go. can play starcraft 1 on it too tho thats not one of my fav games. i'd be playing command and conquer (1995) on it instead along with half-life 1 with opposing force and blue-shift like momaka said. should be good for any 90's era game titles plus a few from the early noughties.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

And for a completely unfair comparison, here's a legitimate "retro" portable record player (Audiotronics 612, circa early 1980s):

Nice!

Yeah, it's quite obvious they cut way too many corners with that cheapo Crosley.

On that note, perhaps I should find some vinyl to test my Garrard Zero 92 record player. I got it a few years ago on Craiglist with a set of speakers. Basically, I wasn't really looking to get the speakers nor the turntable. But the guy said he was moving out and didn't want to toss these things out in the trash. So I messaged him and said if there are no takers to let me know. A few days later, he did message me back and asked me if I'm still interested or if he should just toss them in the community dumpster. So I went for it. I was really going for the speakers only - a pair of JVC SP-75BK large tower speakers with 12" woofers - nothing to write home about, though (typical lo-fi large tower speakers from a few decades ago with small-magnet Japanese speakers... though they do still pack a punch, thanks to the large cabinets.)

Anyways, the turntable was sort of a last-minute "do you want this too" type of things. So I was like, wth, why not? He did mention the turntable needed some work though. Top cover hinges were broken, among a few other small stuff. Unfortunately, I can't really tell if the mechanism is working properly or not without a record, because the needle might touch the table if I let it. If i do try to hold the arm with a finger so it doesn't go all the way down, the turntable does start to turn... but then stops after a revolution or two. So no sure if the mechanism needs work or not too. I've been thinking about giving it out, since I have no records (and no intention to start collecting)... but everyone who's seen it says I should keep it. IDK, though. I feel like someone out there might get better use out of it than me.

From what I read about it online... it's not a high-end turntable, but it's not low-end either. Most places say it's decent "every-day beater". Rim-driven too, so no belts to rot... and no rumble like a direct drive.

That said, I fixed some of the cracked/broken plastic on the top case and really just mostly kept it out as a display pieces. But it's sad to see it sit like that. I think it ought to be made working and play again.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Been garbage pickin' again....saw a TV sitting on the side of the road... Philips 50" LED. Screen is broken, but lights up. Good for some boards and some LED strips.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Found a Ralink RT5390 WLAN card in a smashed HP G6 at the dumpster

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Today's barn find (in a goat barn, and it smells like goats) is a Dell XPS 625. Very interesting aluminum case, and despite the dust & smell, its in very good condition.

It's a really interesting case, uniquely lighted but not overdone. 750W PSU. System works, but a pretty worthless system (Athlon2 5600+ @ 2.9GHz)....but it appears to be a standard full ATX with removable IO shield. I have some things that would be interesting in this.





I've never seen one of these cases before....but very interesting.

[MikeRWK]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I got a 48" 1080p Insignia TV for $20, owner said it would randomly shut off. It was either one of his connected devices or the tv was close to a heat source because it hasn't shut off randomly on me yet. The 32" Toshiba beside it was free, it just needed an led replaced.

I got this 50" Insignia 4K Roku tv for free, the guy said his kid threw a controller at it but there aren't any signs of physical damage to the screen. I might gamble $20 on a tcon board.

I got a free snow blower last month the needed a tune-up and a few welds.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
Not bad!!

...but I'm so glad I'm in a place that I don't need a snow blower!!

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored a HP DV7-4040sb that needed reflowing, a 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD and a Samsung TS-L633C/3D DVD-RW from an ASUS K52N.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
That 1tb SSD makes it all worthwhile....

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Thanks!

Yeah, Samsung's SSDs do wonders, regardless of the machine. I have the 250GB variant running on my main work laptop - an HP G6 with an AMD A4-3300M APU and 8GB of RAM, plus a 750GB HDD in caddy replacing the DVD drive. That lil' 15.6 inch machine absolutely flies on browsing or doing anything for that matter.

The DV7 I just reflowed (and repasted with MX4 while at it) runs wonderful and sounds just as great, despite running an Phenom X2 N620. The 1TB 860EVO runs just fine as well.

Managed to get the switchable graphics to work (with one small issue) under Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. HP didn't ever release any ATI drivers past Windows 7, but alas, I managed to install them in compatibility mode and got PowerXpress along with that.

This one will also get as decked out as my wallet can! Caddy w/ another 1TB drive (rust spinner tho since the SSD was already a luxury ) as well as filling up the second internal slot with... I don't know, maybe another HDD of smaller proportions (320GB is what I'm thinking of) or just go nuts and plop a 2TB Seagate (bought last year) in there.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Update on the DV7-4040sb:

Running great - had to disable RAPID on the Samsung SSD (caused the laptop to freeze shortly after booting - around 3-4 minutes in). Also added a hacked up slim caddy w/ a 1TB Apple/Seagate ST1000LM024 (bought almost brand new, along with a WD7500BPVX that resides in a HP G6-1250ss I also use - that one also has the same type of SSD except it's a 250GB) and so far so good.

Temps are surprisingly low for the Phenom II X2 it came with, as well as the HD5650 it came with - CPU idles at 44 degrees, with maybe 50-55 in load, and the GPU at 41 degrees!

I'm still in search for the second HDD connector (as I'm also not entirely sure in which way it's positioned in the second slot - this would at least help me figure out the length of the cable, as I could maybe rig up one from a G6 or G62 (IIRC these have the same type of connector that is required for the second HDD in this DV7) and drop a 3rd hard drive in there.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

One of my EDU customers gave me 3x Dell CRT monitors, 1x 15" and 2x 17"..... Momaka, I thought of you as I loaded these in my truck, all 3 work.

The 15"



The 2x 17"



VGA splitter running off a trusty old CM2250....these were made for analog monitors.



This one needed a little adjusting....it was a little out of focus.



All that's left is cleanup and rehome them at some point. There seems to be a weird little niche of fellas that like these for retro games.

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I have several times have found tv on the side of the road and took them home and most of the time it bad capacitors is the problem except for one of them it would not power on even after recapping it

I would then give them to coworkers that need or wanted another TV set

I remove the the new capacitors and other parts and send back ( cutoff the power cord ) to the street where someone else picked up a few hours later

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

One of my EDU customers gave me 3x Dell CRT monitors, 1x 15" and 2x 17"..... Momaka, I thought of you as I loaded these in my truck, all 3 work.

damn i could use one of those 17 inchers too! are they universal ac compatible for 240v land?

[speter]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Today's barn find (in a goat barn, and it smells like goats) is a Dell XPS 625. Very interesting aluminum case, and despite the dust & smell, its in very good condition.

It's a really interesting case, uniquely lighted but not overdone. 750W PSU. System works, but a pretty worthless system (Athlon2 5600+ @ 2.9GHz)....but it appears to be a standard full ATX with removable IO shield. I have some things that would be interesting in this.





I've never seen one of these cases before....but very interesting.

That looks similar to one of mine,(XPS 720) a quad core 3ghz. nothing was standard on mine, a nonstandard power supply, and motherboard. The computer ran fine, if it started, but 1/2 of the time it would just blink the power light, until unplugged a while, then it would start fine again. because it was proprietary, I didn't bother looking for a board or power supply, as it wasn't worth spending money on.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That looks similar to one of mine,(XPS 720) a quad core 3ghz. nothing was standard on mine, a nonstandard power supply, and motherboard. The computer ran fine, if it started, but 1/2 of the time it would just blink the power light, until unplugged a while, then it would start fine again. because it was proprietary, I didn't bother looking for a board or power supply, as it wasn't worth spending money on.

...and half the fun is making it 'not' proprietary...and fixing things that don't work....hence the reason this forum is around in the first place. A quad core @ 3GHz is still a very viable system today.....

[speter]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

the card slots and IO plate were on opposite sides of the board. Imagine my friends surprise when he was going to do a drop in MB upgrade!, he had to do a case also!