Wow, Bill, that blows my mind. We have a handful of computers with PCI/USB Wifi cards and XP that are fine. Then we have about 150 laptops running XP and internal Intel/Atheros Wifi cards that do the job, logging in domain users at startup and whatnot. Also have 12+ Win7 desktops with a mix of Asus and Intellinet PCI Wifi cards that work fine. Thanks for telling me about what you've done with DD-WRT, I'll remember that in the future if we have a group of desktops that need to be wireless!
It's amazing you can find such high performing CPUs like a Core 2 Duo E8400 for such low price. I remember I paid like ~ 900€ for that kind of machine in 2008.
kanopus06 Just the CPU. It's used, but most of the Core 2 Duos are. Well, I'm just upgrading a business PC as my little light gaming machine. (TF2, CS:GO, some console emulation etc): Core 2 Duo E6750 (E8400 when it arrives) GT730 2GB 5GB DDR2 667MHz 160GB Boot and 500GB storage (Both 3.5" 7200RPMs) Not much for any serious gaming, but a better CPU is always good :) It's definitely a quiet machine with the E6750 it has right now.
Another awesome video and some very nice finds.. I do have a question that I am sure you get asked alot but do you know where I can find a good deal on a used flat screen monitor and also where I can find a used computer than can support additional memory and harddrive upgrades? I am looking to replace my old computer but so far haven't found any worthy used ones and I don't care for the new computers..any help would be appreciated..
Not trying to tell you that you're wrong or anything, but a thing to consider is sometimes equipment gets shelved because it was bought for one project and that's it. My work did this with a ton of fairly well-specced netbooks back in 2009. They sat in their original boxes in the management office for many years afterwards. Quite unfortunate, too. I never got that mentality with some establishments deploying machines for such purposes...
Now THIS is why I subscribe to this channel! Computers computers and more computers! I'd love a lot of the stuff in that haul but I am a sucker for Compaq :). I hope we can see some vids on some of these PCs. Thank you VERY much for uploading this!
I agree, it is pretty solid. Do you have any videos of the 210L? Would you recommend adding more memory or switching to linux? I don't do too much on it, I just mostly go online.
With the small form factor optiplex you should turn the fan around to blow out of the front. I did so with mine and it stopped my constant overheating.
Pentium MMX Overdrives are for Socket 5 the short lived predecessor to socket 7, Socket 5 and Socket 7 are almost the same but socket 7 has an extra keying pin and some other design changes that allow for socket 7 to provide two voltage rails to the CPU where Socket 5 used a single 3.3V rail , Pentium MMX CPUs were initially Socket 7 only but Intel later released the Pentium MMX Overdrive.
Regarding the Radeon HD 3450 graphics card in the Dell OptiPlex, that seems to be the factory installed card. I have owned 2 Dell OptiPlex 780 systems (both of the small form factor variety) and they both shipped with Radeon HD 3450 graphics cards from the factory, and both of them had a red circuit board.
I'm surprised that Rubycon caps have ended up in such a bad state! As for the growling, I'm assuming that the bearings are bad in the fan or hard drive (or a broken blade).
"We dont know" brilliant, love your mum :-)) ooooowwww. It growls, sounds like a ruff ruff machine lol :P Bet it has an ill psu, been too hot. You really grabbed some good bits there bill, hours of fun and swearing lol :-) The last pc, bloody hell isa slots, i havnt seen those for years, quite missed them :-) And a 5.25 inch floppy drive, 320k or 1.2mb as my old brain just about remembers lol. Give every machine a good chance bill :-)) Those ide to usb cards look very nice :-)
How is the motherboard battery of the compaq? I hope it is in good order. Very nice machine! Definitely deserves a video! I will share it on the retro hardware fb which I have with friends. :)
ok thanks for the info and after doing some online research those dell computers are decently priced but here is another question..how good are lenovo desktops? I found some lenovo's desktops (somehow while typing in dell I got lenovo) and they are priced about the same as the dells you mentioned but not sure of the quality..
Yea, I hate it when people throw out "or recycle" old computers or vintage computers. I have a Sanyo MBC-550 (its in bad shape but still runs) most people would just have just throw it out. But on another note the Dell E521 will soon be a NAS.
Oh, that's right. It's confusing, I have a computer that has both the floppy and the PATA hard drive in the same case. It's wierd; one set of screws handles one of them while the other set handles the other.
Regarding the expansion card Wifi adapter. Had the same problem you do at work. Try to find a different version of a driver to allows Windows to configure the Wifi/not install the accompanying utility. Otherwise, disable startup of said utility, enable the Windows Zero config service, and voila, Windows is in charge as it would be with, say, a laptop factory internal Wifi card. Hope this might help you some day. :)
Again, that blows my mind. I know that you, if anyone, could figure it out so I'm sure it's a no-go. Although, I'm no rocket -- I mean, computer scientist -- yet, with the exception of the occasional driver installing with unwanted software that takes over from Windows, it doesn't seem to require any action out of the ordinary on our part to set up. It just works! LOL Maybe you're overthinking it? :) What brands of adapters have you tried?
I do agree that the software that PCI/USB Wifi cards come with is mediocre, so I do the driver only and disable the program. It's been flawless for us letting Windows Zero do the Wifi, except that we had a series of Asus PCI cards fail last year. All the USB ones are fine (but we had a heck of a time finding drivers for the 2 "Tenda" nano USB ones) except when they get stolen.... We've been resorting to those as the Lenovo G-series laptops' internal Wifi fails.
Wow! That's a nice haul! I agree with you that I also love to make deals with people selling stuff so I can get a better price! The 3 Dells and other stuff you filmed looks like it's in a back of a wagon if it is what kind of wagon is it? @ 20:54 I had that happen to me too! I was looking at an eMachines at a flea market and the seller said "If you want it take it". It turns out that the motherboard is toast but I am going to salvage other parts from it.
I've definitely had (relatively) better luck at the Salvation Army than Goodwill. Here is a short, funny, and sad story: I found a Dell Latitude CPi there, and had no idea what it was. I thought it was just some laptop. Should have gotten it, considering it was $25, instead of $3,000 or whatever it was new... ;)
5:40 10$ a machine, well My main desktop is indeed an OptiPley 745 - heavily upgraded to a Quad-Core-CPU, dedicated NVidia Graphics and 8GBs of RAM and I paid around 100$ for the machine itself containing a C2D, 2GB RAM and some kind of an NVidia Quadro Graphics Card... looks like this stuff is a lot cheaper in the US than it is in germany.
So, I suppose I'm the only person I know to find a laptop there (that was TERRIBLY dirty and PHYSICALLY broken) which I didn't buy, but hey. It was the same day I found a good old Model M, which I am using right now on my Windows 7 computer. ;)
Ok. Do you know any other names I could use to search for these computer/radio market type things? I searched "computerfest" and "hamfest" and the closest ones were 100 miles away :/
Does that have the RAM board, or is the RAM on the motherboard? My Deskpro 386 uses a proprietary RAM card in a special slot and it looks like that one does to...
Going from memory, since it's not handy right now, I think it has a memory card. I've got a Deskpro 386SX (which would be almost identical) that uses a card.
The 386 16 and 386 33 Deskpros, despite them both being 32 bit DX processors, used completely different RAM board slots, but the 286 and 386sx both have a 16 bit external bus, so technically it should in theory work, but Compaq may have changed the slot shape between the two computers.
That Compaq 286 looks nice... I sure wish I had a 286 system of my own! (nudge nudge wink wink)
Whatever happened to the Compaq Deskpro 286e?
+vwestlife I still have it, but there is another 286 related thing I must finish before I can tinker with it.
+ItzNoval Why do you want that thing?
Some good grabs. It is going to be interesting watching you bring these things back to life.
Tom
I'm excited about the 286!
After having a really crappy day, seeing this in my subscription box really turned things around. :)
In XP era we used those OptiPlex for our Smoketests. What a coincidence! :D
Looking forward to seeing the DeskPro video!
That last computer is a piece of unique history... I want it !! XD
haha love your mothers background commentary!
Wow, Bill, that blows my mind. We have a handful of computers with PCI/USB Wifi cards and XP that are fine. Then we have about 150 laptops running XP and internal Intel/Atheros Wifi cards that do the job, logging in domain users at startup and whatnot. Also have 12+ Win7 desktops with a mix of Asus and Intellinet PCI Wifi cards that work fine.
Thanks for telling me about what you've done with DD-WRT, I'll remember that in the future if we have a group of desktops that need to be wireless!
I don’t know why but I love the small form factor optiplex series
It's amazing you can find such high performing CPUs like a Core 2 Duo E8400 for such low price. I remember I paid like ~ 900€ for that kind of machine in 2008.
I'm getting an E8400 for £8 ;)
+Ashton B. Only for the cpu or the entire computer? anyways, it's a bargain! What specs will have that machine?
kanopus06 Just the CPU. It's used, but most of the Core 2 Duos are.
Well, I'm just upgrading a business PC as my little light gaming machine. (TF2, CS:GO, some console emulation etc):
Core 2 Duo E6750 (E8400 when it arrives)
GT730 2GB
5GB DDR2 667MHz
160GB Boot and 500GB storage (Both 3.5" 7200RPMs)
Not much for any serious gaming, but a better CPU is always good :)
It's definitely a quiet machine with the E6750 it has right now.
tf2 should be 50-60fps
tell me if im right you shudda built it by now
Brady McD Yes, that PC even has some better storage now, but I have a new PC as well. (i3 4150 and R9 270X)
Tour De Force of hamradio fleamarket findings! Bravo!
SBF
Looking forward to a video on the 286
Those small Dells are known as capacitor cooking ovens, since they manage to cook even the best caps such as Rubycon. :D
Dang it! I live in the Peoria area now. I guess I'll have to mark my calendar for next year.
Another awesome video and some very nice finds..
I do have a question that I am sure you get asked alot but do you know where I can find a good deal on a used flat screen monitor and also where I can find a used computer than can support additional memory and harddrive upgrades? I am looking to replace my old computer but so far haven't found any worthy used ones and I don't care for the new computers..any help would be appreciated..
Not trying to tell you that you're wrong or anything, but a thing to consider is sometimes equipment gets shelved because it was bought for one project and that's it. My work did this with a ton of fairly well-specced netbooks back in 2009. They sat in their original boxes in the management office for many years afterwards. Quite unfortunate, too. I never got that mentality with some establishments deploying machines for such purposes...
I sense a couple of really neat videos around the bend.
My friend has a dell OptiPlex 740 that she uses as a server. Nice computer. She's got another one that's kind of in storage at the moment.
those Delta/NMB fans in those Dell Optiplex series desktops are absolutely mental. I usually trash pick those desktops just to remove those fans.
These Hamfest videos are awesome, Bill! Excited about the Compaq!
Now THIS is why I subscribe to this channel! Computers computers and more computers! I'd love a lot of the stuff in that haul but I am a sucker for Compaq :). I hope we can see some vids on some of these PCs. Thank you VERY much for uploading this!
I have been after one of those Pentium MMX upgrade chips for frikkin' years! You jammy bugger!
I used to love old things like this. Now after many years im almost done unhoarding.
When "new" stuff comes in, the rule is that some older stuff has to go. There's always stuff that can go for various reasons...
I go by my Salvation store almost daily...I've seen some nice flat screen monitors for around $30, one guy bought 3. So they go really fast.
I can't wait! I'm going to my first hamfest next weekend!
That monitor is worth at least 40 dollars!
Those Dell Optiplexes are pretty amazing for what they are. I'm going to sell mine though..
wish i had one of those dell 760's
the car/person quota in your neighbourhood is probably pretty high ;)
I agree, it is pretty solid. Do you have any videos of the 210L? Would you recommend adding more memory or switching to linux? I don't do too much on it, I just mostly go online.
Dell did ship with red ATI cards. My first desktop from '02 (which is still fine) has one that I ordered.
With the small form factor optiplex you should turn the fan around to blow out of the front. I did so with mine and it stopped my constant overheating.
luv the old stuff
I had a GX620 like yours and these caps also went out. It seems that they don't stand the heat from the CPU and HDD so well.
I had a few of those dell series optiplex's in the past and always seemed to have motherboard issues.
8:21 -- If that lightbulb were to melt, it would go from "tubular" to "gnarly". :P
Duuuuuude...
that gx620 definitely had problems woth capacitors, bought the same model for $5, couple capacitors were blown but it still ran
also got some of those external PATA boards from savers
that board you have is missing the 4 pin molex
Pentium MMX Overdrives are for Socket 5 the short lived predecessor to socket 7, Socket 5 and Socket 7 are almost the same but socket 7 has an extra keying pin and some other design changes that allow for socket 7 to provide two voltage rails to the CPU where Socket 5 used a single 3.3V rail , Pentium MMX CPUs were initially Socket 7 only but Intel later released the Pentium MMX Overdrive.
that exit sign was totally tubular, dude! heh
Regarding the Radeon HD 3450 graphics card in the Dell OptiPlex, that seems to be the factory installed card. I have owned 2 Dell OptiPlex 780 systems (both of the small form factor variety) and they both shipped with Radeon HD 3450 graphics cards from the factory, and both of them had a red circuit board.
I would enjoy going to that hamfest because i am a computer geek
Bill! I have a SyncMaster 997DF CRT Monitor. Your dad got a NICE deal for that monitor! :)
I'm surprised that Rubycon caps have ended up in such a bad state! As for the growling, I'm assuming that the bearings are bad in the fan or hard drive (or a broken blade).
"We dont know" brilliant, love your mum :-)) ooooowwww.
It growls, sounds like a ruff ruff machine lol :P
Bet it has an ill psu, been too hot.
You really grabbed some good bits there bill, hours of fun and swearing lol :-)
The last pc, bloody hell isa slots, i havnt seen those for years, quite missed them :-)
And a 5.25 inch floppy drive, 320k or 1.2mb as my old brain just about remembers lol.
Give every machine a good chance bill :-))
Those ide to usb cards look very nice :-)
Does the underpowering cause poor reception? That hasn't been an issue, either, though our Cisco Aironet 3500 Cleanair APs might help with that.
How is the motherboard battery of the compaq? I hope it is in good order. Very nice machine! Definitely deserves a video! I will share it on the retro hardware fb which I have with friends. :)
I love used computers. Instant Linux machines! :)
I wonder what gems you passed over at such a great swap meet!
I own an Optiplex 210L, but I really need to get more memory for it.
I lost a good bit of skin to one of those fans. it was one from a GX620. it was a SAN-ACE 80. Never ever saw a fan that bites that hard before.
760 is really fun machine.
For the life of me, whenever I hear "hamfest", I can't help but think of some sort of pork-eating competition. :D
ok thanks for the info and after doing some online research those dell computers are decently priced but here is another question..how good are lenovo desktops? I found some lenovo's desktops (somehow while typing in dell I got lenovo) and they are priced about the same as the dells you mentioned but not sure of the quality..
your lucky to find all that cool stuff. Where is the best place to look
Yea, I hate it when people throw out "or recycle" old computers or vintage computers. I have a Sanyo MBC-550 (its in bad shape but still runs) most people would just have just throw it out.
But on another note the Dell E521 will soon be a NAS.
Oh, that's right. It's confusing, I have a computer that has both the floppy and the PATA hard drive in the same case. It's wierd; one set of screws handles one of them while the other set handles the other.
they also have a display port that is the other port next to the esata
Regarding the expansion card Wifi adapter. Had the same problem you do at work. Try to find a different version of a driver to allows Windows to configure the Wifi/not install the accompanying utility. Otherwise, disable startup of said utility, enable the Windows Zero config service, and voila, Windows is in charge as it would be with, say, a laptop factory internal Wifi card. Hope this might help you some day. :)
Again, that blows my mind. I know that you, if anyone, could figure it out so I'm sure it's a no-go. Although, I'm no rocket -- I mean, computer scientist -- yet, with the exception of the occasional driver installing with unwanted software that takes over from Windows, it doesn't seem to require any action out of the ordinary on our part to set up. It just works! LOL Maybe you're overthinking it? :)
What brands of adapters have you tried?
That's a lot of computers.
I do agree that the software that PCI/USB Wifi cards come with is mediocre, so I do the driver only and disable the program. It's been flawless for us letting Windows Zero do the Wifi, except that we had a series of Asus PCI cards fail last year. All the USB ones are fine (but we had a heck of a time finding drivers for the 2 "Tenda" nano USB ones) except when they get stolen.... We've been resorting to those as the Lenovo G-series laptops' internal Wifi fails.
Well, I have no way to order more memory because I don't have a credit card yet. I tested Lubuntu with a live USB and it ran flawlessly.
They have the GX620's at my school.
Uxwbill, was the ham fest in Peoria, Illinois?
I came across a 745 with a dead CPU fan, which is strange because it works flawlessly otherwise.
Wow! That's a nice haul! I agree with you that I also love to make deals with people selling stuff so I can get a better price! The 3 Dells and other stuff you filmed looks like it's in a back of a wagon if it is what kind of wagon is it? @ 20:54 I had that happen to me too! I was looking at an eMachines at a flea market and the seller said "If you want it take it". It turns out that the motherboard is toast but I am going to salvage other parts from it.
Oh sorry I just read the description the wagon is a '93 Chevy Caprice wagon. I love old wagons!
I've definitely had (relatively) better luck at the Salvation Army than Goodwill. Here is a short, funny, and sad story: I found a Dell Latitude CPi there, and had no idea what it was. I thought it was just some laptop. Should have gotten it, considering it was $25, instead of $3,000 or whatever it was new... ;)
Congrats on your 300th video.
I managed to get a D-Link 24 port switch for $12.00 and a Dell Dimension E521 for $13.00 at a Goodwill.
We don't know!!!!
Nice finds
oooo, unboxing video for the pentium overdrive.
What was that slot above the ISA slots in that old Compaq Deskpro? A primitive graphics expansion slot?
those IDE boards might be for IDE ZIP or tape drives?
Well hello there Uxwbill. I think I can see were you and your brothers get your sense of humor from lol.
Nice stuff there uxwbill!
I have a nvidia in there so that may be helping. I highly recommend you do that anyways because these machines don't breathe well.
BTW, which connectors are 34-pin? I thought that PATA connectors were like 50 pins or something.
It did say 300 for me. But now it changed to 703. So, congrats on your 703rd video Instead of your 300th video. :D
5:40
10$ a machine, well
My main desktop is indeed an OptiPley 745 - heavily upgraded to a Quad-Core-CPU, dedicated NVidia Graphics and 8GBs of RAM and I paid around 100$ for the machine itself containing a C2D, 2GB RAM and some kind of an NVidia Quadro Graphics Card... looks like this stuff is a lot cheaper in the US than it is in germany.
Bill I don't recall, but did you make the video on the Compact Desktop you said is so clean in this video; as you said you would?
+orangepickel2 FAIL
My fucking sd card from like 2 years ago can hold more mem than all those HDD's you bought combined, Boy how Time's have changed.
7:52 what model does that John deere snowblower fit?
When does a hamfast come around in Peoria
Did you ever around to re-capping the GX620? I have the same unit.
+Tom Wilde Yes, and it works. For some reason, the memory slots touchy about what modules they'll accept.
Have you ever been to the Dayton Ohio Hamvention?
I've got a whole collection of Dell computers. Used to only buy Dell products, but now I've mostly moved to ASUS.
So, I suppose I'm the only person I know to find a laptop there (that was TERRIBLY dirty and PHYSICALLY broken) which I didn't buy, but hey. It was the same day I found a good old Model M, which I am using right now on my Windows 7 computer. ;)
yes. i got it free (i collect pc too) :D but it had missing the cpu but when i get cpu for it it can be a nice pc&smal Size:)
What's your opinion on a gateway 566c computer. I bought one last week and thinking of making it into a gaming pc.
Alright I thought I ask since I can't find that much info on the computer
Building your own would be better.
Ok. Do you know any other names I could use to search for these computer/radio market type things? I searched "computerfest" and "hamfest" and the closest ones were 100 miles away :/
Does that have the RAM board, or is the RAM on the motherboard? My Deskpro 386 uses a proprietary RAM card in a special slot and it looks like that one does to...
Going from memory, since it's not handy right now, I think it has a memory card. I've got a Deskpro 386SX (which would be almost identical) that uses a card.
The 386 16 and 386 33 Deskpros, despite them both being 32 bit DX processors, used completely different RAM board slots, but the 286 and 386sx both have a 16 bit external bus, so technically it should in theory work, but Compaq may have changed the slot shape between the two computers.
Those Samsung monitors are known for bad power supply caps. I bet if it doesn't work all it needs is a recap of the power supply board.
11:18 they use 2.5" laptop IDE drives
I thing the 620 is used at
My school
do you recap the pc's that are bloted
yes Thats True :)
i hve a old optiplex 260. i think realy smal but slow. but its a ok computer thoe :D
btw yaay for pc videos ;D
Peoria area? I know just where that is lol