I ❤️ You, @freegeektwincities202 - and now @Technotim, too! Next time I’m in your store, and also if I ever meet TT too?, I’ll tell you how I ended up “right here” where I just started watching my first TT video, and realized it was about Free Geek 😇👍🥰…
Thank you for advertising this place. I was just there today to unload a ton of vintage hardware, install media, docs and books, and other stuff for recycling. Fantastic people and volunteers working there. And a very important role helping hardware get a new lease on life.
Free Geek is such a gem! I just donated a number of parts that I finally convinced myself I was never going to use. It feels good knowing that some of those parts will have a second life. It feels even better knowing it won’t just end up in a landfill. Thanks for putting in spotlight on everything they do!
I just have to say, I’m so glad you made a video about this! There’s so much tech in my house that I’ve been starting to wonder what to do with it all. And to think, these guys are less than three hours from me-it’s crazy I’ve never heard of them before! I’m definitely going to give them a call and plan a visit. I’m genuinely excited to check this place out! thank you TechnoTim
This is where I bring items, and volunteer there as well. Great place! The Retro PC area is really cool. So many folks out there looking to play old games, and/or run odd OS's.
Good on you, Tim. Bringing this stuff to us home lab people, because we love old tech, a lot of us do anyway. And showing us something like this, me being right on the other side of the world. It's really cool to see.
Got a place similar near me, Green Earth Recycling. They recycle a lot of corporate equipment, so their ebay presence is pretty decent for a homelaber like me. Bonus is no shipping costs...it's literally 10 minutes south of me. When I get around to disposing of my old tech...definitely taking it there.
Tim can you please do a whole home tour? Would love to see how your home is wired up for networking. Love the home studio video. Your attention to detail is unmatched.
I went through my collection last weekend and had some of the same gear you showed...just in case. This, just in case, horde included a PCI 3D add-on card...it was a tough decision but I recycled it, hope I don't regret it.
10 years ago I got rid of all older gear with PCI, IDE, .. I kept "just in case" but never used them in years. Next day I needed the PCI VGA Card I trashed the day before for an embedded MB. Last year I gave away some random stuff and just needed some of the stuff the next week. Now I have a tiering system: Things I think I do not need anymore goes into a separate box and I wait some time. If I then dont need the stuff, I is recycled.
god I wish we had such a store over here in Germany, berlin! that would be so awesome. I would really volunteer as repair technican, my Home looks like on of their shops :D :D
Very cool concept, actually surprised how such thrift shops aren't a bigger thing. Sadly across the ocean, otherwise Free Geek would be my candy store :D
I remember seeing the Osborn 1 in a magazine when I was kid, it was way too expensive for most people, but it sure seemed cool. That machine should go to a computer history museum. I expect there are very few of those still in existence, there were never many produced in the first place, and Osborn was one of the early pioneers trying to get computers into the home. Like all "personal" computers from that time, you better know how to program in at least Basic, because you will likely be writing most of your own programs to get it to do anything at all.
Free Geek is cool, there is one in Portland, OR. We have a similar place here, which I worked for for a little over a year. The sad thing is they stopped serving the dyi/hobbist/tinker, and went full retail style second-hand store. They recycle way too much fixable stuff these days. 😞
The portable label in the 70/80's is for transportable. "It's not a computer of the size of a room" meaning. I remember my dad getting a portable form work in early 90's. A white toshiba with a clock for the estimated remaining time of the battery, with win3.11. It was closer to the thinkpad, but THICC
I wish we had something like this in the UK. I would even appreciate having a store that actually has PC components (Currys sell some computers, but rarely any parts. All of which are super over priced).
An FYI to UK viewers, and possibly other nationalities; you have to get permission from whoever has hired/owns the skip before taking anything, as you could be charged for theft. In the UK it is called "Theft by taking", and IS a criminal offence. yeah, most times it wont matter, but you will always get that one asshole who doesnt want the stuff, but doesnt want anyone else to have it either. I used to do a lot of skip diving in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and made decent pocket-money from using/selling what I found/made.
what a luck, that no shop like this is around here in Germany. I would buy more and more old tech, but have no space left for more than I've collected in the past 30 years to repair in the future that perhaps will never come
I have the blue retro laptop, used for serial work on hardware. It's actually faster than some modener laptops. But it runs old hardware and has old tools that you just don't get these days. Some of the enterprise hardware is way cheaper than we can get here in the UK. Lucky guys. If it don't cost a lot to run (I have solar) and it will do the job you want, why buy new? I have quite a lot of retro hardware, it doesn't break as much as the new (yet old) stuff.
Best Buy will take a lot of your stuff as well. Just not confident what they do with it. If anyone works there or did and can chime in, it would be great to know.
I wish I had something even remotely close to Free Geek by me. We only have stores that only take donations and then sell a 4th gen i3 as a “gaming pc” for $700.
donating a USB 3 mobo and 2012 mac mini for being obsolete? wow, here in central-east Europe some people and companies still keep using much older hardware :D
There's so much life left in a lot of the technology we upgrade! I decided that rather than keeping it on the shelf at home, it should go to someone who can use it!
00:46 giveaway if user pays shipping. Free Geek is a fantastic idea. This would be a great way to get tech into the hands of underserved communities in my area
I tried to give away a 4th gen intel system for free on Facebook - they wanted me to deliver it 35 miles away...like if they'd said they were skint and it was for one of their kids, fair enough, but they are got hostile when I said sorry no it'll cost me about £15 in fuel, you'll have to collect it.
I was surprised to learn that Logitech unifying mice and keyboard or anything that uses the unifying receiver does not work easily on Windows 11. A reddit comment directed me to download the Logitech set point program which has drivers that work, but before I download it nothing was working. Even Windows update and autoplay would not detect the Logitech unifying receiver and the Logitech unifying software didn't detect it either. So that could have been close to e-waste just because of the change to Windows 11
I work for a company, a Macbook was stolen so we bricked it with Jamf, message to return to our company on the screen is all you get. Ended up in FG and rather than try to return it, they requested we unlock it so they could resell it, even after reading the message which was how they contacted us, would not ship it back to us. Went to recover it and they had removed all the screws and at first didn't want to return it like it was theirs. I like the mission and fully support their goal, these were the actions of a single person but is the reason why we will never do business with them. There are many other options for e-waste recycling in my area so no worries.
Thanks for this comment. We believe that everyone deserves access to affordable technology and have an convenient way to responsibly recycle e-waste. Our whole team is very much dedicated to doing good for the community and sharing their passion for technology with others. Sounds like we really messed up in this case, and appreciate you acknowledging it was just the actions of a single person, and that those actions don't align with the FGTC mission/goals. If you or anyone else wants a tour of FGTC let me know, we committed transparent on how we operate.
getting rid of old soundblasters? hardcore trippin! Old ram? use it in retro builds! Old motherboards with cpu and heatsink? Test em and put em into use! Really you've just forgotten about your project ideas or are simply slacking on getting to them
Tim! Thanks again for taking the time to make this video about Free Geek Twin Cities!
Thank you for letting me interrupt your day and for letting me share your story!
I ❤️ You, @freegeektwincities202 - and now @Technotim, too! Next time I’m in your store, and also if I ever meet TT too?, I’ll tell you how I ended up “right here” where I just started watching my first TT video, and realized it was about Free Geek 😇👍🥰…
Thank you for advertising this place. I was just there today to unload a ton of vintage hardware, install media, docs and books, and other stuff for recycling. Fantastic people and volunteers working there. And a very important role helping hardware get a new lease on life.
Free Geek Twin Cities! My favorite store in town!
Hi Veronica!!! Agreed!!!
Oh, Veronica!
Free Geek is such a gem! I just donated a number of parts that I finally convinced myself I was never going to use. It feels good knowing that some of those parts will have a second life. It feels even better knowing it won’t just end up in a landfill. Thanks for putting in spotlight on everything they do!
I just have to say, I’m so glad you made a video about this! There’s so much tech in my house that I’ve been starting to wonder what to do with it all. And to think, these guys are less than three hours from me-it’s crazy I’ve never heard of them before! I’m definitely going to give them a call and plan a visit. I’m genuinely excited to check this place out! thank you TechnoTim
I have a shop here in MA and we do the same thing! So rewarding to see things destined for the bin being enjoyed by others.
This is where I bring items, and volunteer there as well. Great place! The Retro PC area is really cool. So many folks out there looking to play old games, and/or run odd OS's.
love it! thank you Tim for putting this together. it brings up very good memories, its like traveling back in time. Cheers. Keep up the good work.
I sure hope that Free Geek can expand to more locations. Great video, Tim!
Good on you, Tim. Bringing this stuff to us home lab people, because we love old tech, a lot of us do anyway. And showing us something like this, me being right on the other side of the world. It's really cool to see.
Great video, wish we had one here in Detroit.
Thanks Tom! We're pretty lucky! I wish there were a model to recreate these types of facilities across the world!
Unapologetically my favorite store. I need to get back there again soon!
Thanks Tim for showing this, something every city could use!
Wish I had something like this near me. Great video!
This is super cool. I have so much tech I’d love to do this with
Oh man that "cooler" thing made laugh. Great video, Tim. Wish I had one of these near me.
Thanks Blade! Yeah, it was awesome!
That's exactly what I wanted to know, thank you!
Great video!
My work has an annual e-Waste day, which helps with responsibly disposing of old computer and other electronics hardware.
Got a place similar near me, Green Earth Recycling. They recycle a lot of corporate equipment, so their ebay presence is pretty decent for a homelaber like me. Bonus is no shipping costs...it's literally 10 minutes south of me. When I get around to disposing of my old tech...definitely taking it there.
Tim can you please do a whole home tour? Would love to see how your home is wired up for networking. Love the home studio video. Your attention to detail is unmatched.
Thank you! Maybe some day but until then can see most of it in my studio tour along with my homelab tour :)
we have a vendor at work that we use for e-wasting tech related items so sometimes i take my old homelab tech there to donate
I love Ben. He looks honest, a nice guy!
@@KodiBrehdon he really is!
I went through my collection last weekend and had some of the same gear you showed...just in case. This, just in case, horde included a PCI 3D add-on card...it was a tough decision but I recycled it, hope I don't regret it.
Wow! My dad had an Osborne I - we played Adventure (text based) on a floppy drive on that 4” CRT screen. It was awesome!
I still have a 2x Zip drives that I still use. I’d love to check out the retro section!
Wow! how great this is! i wish we had something like that here in germany! 😍
Free Geek is awesome. I've found some hidden gems there
been there couple times, its an awesome facility.
10 years ago I got rid of all older gear with PCI, IDE, .. I kept "just in case" but never used them in years. Next day I needed the PCI VGA Card I trashed the day before for an embedded MB. Last year I gave away some random stuff and just needed some of the stuff the next week. Now I have a tiering system: Things I think I do not need anymore goes into a separate box and I wait some time. If I then dont need the stuff, I is recycled.
Great video Tim I will have to take a look at their servers
god I wish we had such a store over here in Germany, berlin! that would be so awesome.
I would really volunteer as repair technican, my Home looks like on of their shops :D :D
Well you could start one yourself! Why not?
I wish Toronto had something like this...
Very cool concept, actually surprised how such thrift shops aren't a bigger thing. Sadly across the ocean, otherwise Free Geek would be my candy store :D
Thanks Tim.
Would be awesome if something similar existed here in Brazil!
i love initiatives to reduce ewaste like this. thank you for covering this
*Please* make this a series. Build a PC with a guest? A build for yourself? All kinds of cool stuff could happen! :)
Perhaps once a month?
Awesome!
I remember seeing the Osborn 1 in a magazine when I was kid, it was way too expensive for most people, but it sure seemed cool. That machine should go to a computer history museum. I expect there are very few of those still in existence, there were never many produced in the first place, and Osborn was one of the early pioneers trying to get computers into the home.
Like all "personal" computers from that time, you better know how to program in at least Basic, because you will likely be writing most of your own programs to get it to do anything at all.
One dude had it in college and he took it on the plane with us it was not portable had wheels on it and it was like luggage
I wish there was a free geek in london ❤
Same here
same in germany
Nice! I found my new tech recycling company!
Free Geek is cool, there is one in Portland, OR. We have a similar place here, which I worked for for a little over a year. The sad thing is they stopped serving the dyi/hobbist/tinker, and went full retail style second-hand store. They recycle way too much fixable stuff these days. 😞
I wish there was a Free Geek in the Orlando, Florida area. I have boxes of PC parts I don't want/need any longer :/
Also in Portland, OR is Green Century Recyclers in NW Portland. Keep on recycling!
free geek also has a location in portland.
shout out to Free Geek Portland Oregon!!
Did they ever reopen? Since 2019 they've been online only AFAIK.
@starlitsnake idk
@@starlitsnake wed-sun 11am to 4pm
The portable label in the 70/80's is for transportable. "It's not a computer of the size of a room" meaning.
I remember my dad getting a portable form work in early 90's. A white toshiba with a clock for the estimated remaining time of the battery, with win3.11. It was closer to the thinkpad, but THICC
@@guy_autordie it was cool that it basically could close up like a suitcase and had handles!
@@TechnoTim I agree
I wish we had something like this near me in Australia
Great video!!
I wish we had something like this in the UK. I would even appreciate having a store that actually has PC components (Currys sell some computers, but rarely any parts. All of which are super over priced).
We have. If you're in the Yorkshire region, try Airedale Computer Recycling. I've been taking my surplus gear there for some years.
Sadly, I do remember the zip drives. I was wondering if they have any books on FORTRAN at that store?
I have an old Imac 4 from them that was modded to fit a standard ATX PSU!
Just going to mention that there's a Free Geek chapter in Portland, OR and there is? used to be? an chapter in Chicago.
I wish I could find something like this in central Florida
9:57 lol , never expected to see him i
A motherboard with SATA and IDE is for me always an optional test bench for old hard drives.
An FYI to UK viewers, and possibly other nationalities; you have to get permission from whoever has hired/owns the skip before taking anything, as you could be charged for theft.
In the UK it is called "Theft by taking", and IS a criminal offence. yeah, most times it wont matter, but you will always get that one asshole who doesnt want the stuff, but doesnt want anyone else to have it either.
I used to do a lot of skip diving in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and made decent pocket-money from using/selling what I found/made.
How about repurposing a giant waste bin as a HUGE NAS? No rack needed.
i wish i had this local in the uk
Oh yeah that big ol box of cables 😅
Was just there a few days ago!
I need to know more about the Orb.
Cool
I need to stop being lazy and make a trip to this place to donate some old gear, been saying it for the last 4 years!!
what a luck, that no shop like this is around here in Germany. I would buy more and more old tech, but have no space left for more than I've collected in the past 30 years to repair in the future that perhaps will never come
It's a fantastic idea, shame that there is nothing like this in Italy :(
My god, i would be giddy as hell in that place
I have the blue retro laptop, used for serial work on hardware. It's actually faster than some modener laptops.
But it runs old hardware and has old tools that you just don't get these days.
Some of the enterprise hardware is way cheaper than we can get here in the UK. Lucky guys.
If it don't cost a lot to run (I have solar) and it will do the job you want, why buy new?
I have quite a lot of retro hardware, it doesn't break as much as the new (yet old) stuff.
Man, I wish there was a Free Geek near me in Ohio. I'd probably bring a ton of my stuff to them and end up volunteering!
Any place like this near Denver?
i have that all in one box with cables, fans too
Anything like this in the Madison, WI area?
we should have freegeek in france
Best Buy will take a lot of your stuff as well. Just not confident what they do with it. If anyone works there or did and can chime in, it would be great to know.
I wish I had something even remotely close to Free Geek by me. We only have stores that only take donations and then sell a 4th gen i3 as a “gaming pc” for $700.
donating a USB 3 mobo and 2012 mac mini for being obsolete? wow, here in central-east Europe some people and companies still keep using much older hardware :D
There's so much life left in a lot of the technology we upgrade! I decided that rather than keeping it on the shelf at home, it should go to someone who can use it!
@@TechnoTim indeed! I usually give away older parts in some local FB marketplace groups :)
I don't think I'll ever be able to throw away my old stuff, it's my precious hardware, even if I'm not using it, one day, you know... 😂
00:46 giveaway if user pays shipping.
Free Geek is a fantastic idea. This would be a great way to get tech into the hands of underserved communities in my area
why is that relevant to point out? of course shipping would be applicable if you’re not local
It was local only 😅
VCRs are going for $40 now? that's very interesting
Damn. Someone should open something like this in my state. My I can🤔
Nice business, making computers and accessories affordable
if i had a place id gladly franchise a free geek in north carolina
As I was watching this video i also was thinking this. Also in NC.
I'll take the homerun
I tried to give away a 4th gen intel system for free on Facebook - they wanted me to deliver it 35 miles away...like if they'd said they were skint and it was for one of their kids, fair enough, but they are got hostile when I said sorry no it'll cost me about £15 in fuel, you'll have to collect it.
but I know I will need a scsi cable and zip drive one day.
You only need it if you give it away. Otherwise you'll never need it again.
Feel free to ship me the HDhomerun! Ill pay the shipping costs too! :D
then theres me looking for windows xp compatible parts. XD i never enough windows xp machines!
I'm from Africa, I'm looking for a used abacus. 😢😢😢
I was surprised to learn that Logitech unifying mice and keyboard or anything that uses the unifying receiver does not work easily on Windows 11. A reddit comment directed me to download the Logitech set point program which has drivers that work, but before I download it nothing was working. Even Windows update and autoplay would not detect the Logitech unifying receiver and the Logitech unifying software didn't detect it either. So that could have been close to e-waste just because of the change to Windows 11
Funny. They were actually called luggables.
I work for a company, a Macbook was stolen so we bricked it with Jamf, message to return to our company on the screen is all you get. Ended up in FG and rather than try to return it, they requested we unlock it so they could resell it, even after reading the message which was how they contacted us, would not ship it back to us. Went to recover it and they had removed all the screws and at first didn't want to return it like it was theirs. I like the mission and fully support their goal, these were the actions of a single person but is the reason why we will never do business with them. There are many other options for e-waste recycling in my area so no worries.
Thanks for this comment. We believe that everyone deserves access to affordable technology and have an convenient way to responsibly recycle e-waste. Our whole team is very much dedicated to doing good for the community and sharing their passion for technology with others. Sounds like we really messed up in this case, and appreciate you acknowledging it was just the actions of a single person, and that those actions don't align with the FGTC mission/goals. If you or anyone else wants a tour of FGTC let me know, we committed transparent on how we operate.
That's unfortunate and let's hope it was an isolated incident. Also, looks like Free Geek resoponded!
İ wont dispose my gear I just keep them. 2nd if I do dispose it the I just destroyed myself and throw it away. That Simple.
getting rid of old soundblasters? hardcore trippin! Old ram? use it in retro builds! Old motherboards with cpu and heatsink? Test em and put em into use! Really you've just forgotten about your project ideas or are simply slacking on getting to them
I have driven past it a lot and always thought to check it out. I didn't realize they had av equipment and servers for cheap!