Where can I easily get old/broken computers for free?

try going to a university, at uft they have rooms, literal;y full of computers, also look in city halls, even tho your not supposed to i asked nicely and got 3 free 2009 toshiba satelites, only thing rong was that they all had dead baterys and they ps went throught the batterys, i just short circuted the terminals, and they all worked, also go to your local erf (electronics recycling facility) i got tons of 2006-2009 laptops there, tho most were dead, or only booted to bios.

YO PLEASE GIVE ME SOME PENTIUM 1,2, and 3 motherboard PLEASE HELP ME EMAIL ME AT absolac@aol.com PLEASE I NEED SOME Thank you

My dad is a regional manager for McDonald's and one of his warehouses is full (and am not over exaggerating when i say this) FULL of old computers and stuff of the like. i scored a 500GB seagate Hard Drive from a DVD player and its dvd drive. :p

any old pc towers broken , non working wanted , complete removal of data off the hard drive so save the trip of taking that bulky broken pc to the tip inbox me and i will collect for free any pc related items considered many thanks rob RSC DIAGNOSTICS

any old pc towers broken , non working wanted , complete removal of data off the hard drive so save the trip of taking that bulky broken pc to the tip inbox me and i will collect for free any pc related items considered many thanks rob RSC DIAGNOSTICS

any old pc towers broken , non working wanted , complete removal of data off the hard drive so save the trip of taking that bulky broken pc to the tip inbox me and i will collect for free any pc related items considered many thanks rob RSC DIAGNOSTICS add me rob smith on facebook

Why is it illegal to take stuff from the recycling place? Anyway, trash days! There's lots of places where you can put up wanted (craigslist, instructables, freecycle). Also, try computer stores. Sometimes they've got a really unpopular computer or component that's been on the market for like 10 years so that they're willing to give you it for free. Why do you need computers? I threw away 2 last year...

i get most of my free computers and other stuff from my local recycling dump, the officials (or what ever you want to call them) and usually ok with you taking things if you ask them first. i have gotten about 6 computers,a guitar(only needed to spend about €30 fixing it), 2 tvs,a few monitors,and numerous other things.people usually also give me stuff if i know them well.
Hope this helps :)

I just graduated from high school and i would go out and have a cigarette every day after my math class and noticed about 27 PCs and MACs that were not working and were sitting next to the dumpster. I would say you should check around dumpsters at high schools and colleges because they tend to have more computers that elementary and middle school.

my dad brought me about 30pcs from his work as they were to be dumped. unfortubately most of them were pentium 2 and 3s. however i managed to get 3good pentium 4 pcs. in the 6 verrrrry old psu. there were very big caps like 400v 220uf i got 2 out of each psu i dismantled ending me in 12 big good caps.(coilgun will be happy)

you can get them from the free section on craigslist as well as microwaves and stuff like that

Freecycle is where its at, ecspecially if your looking for flybacks, old 17 inch computer monitor and another 15 inch, both free, both with green-dot (kickass) flybacks. freecycle.org

try getting in a school, they usually have lots of old computers to put in trash. i got some from my school, i asked and they gave me some for free. sorry for my english, im portuguese

thrift stores like savers usually sell old but working computers pretty cheep.

have you tried the craigslist free section?

This works best for me: Find someone who wants a new computer, and offer to set it up for them in exchange for their old computer. Or look on the side of the street. I found ten CRT's labeled 'free' one time. Craigslist has a free section, but you might have to go to someone's house and pick it up. Never tried it before.

Monitors or computers...Knowing a bit what your projects are I guess you need the high voltage transformer that powers up the catode tubes? right? :P

I have used just about all of the sources suggested, i.e. asking for stuff on freecycle, accepting offers made on freecycle, thrift stores, friends, computer repair shops, etc. But the very best source has been yard sales. And, since I am mostly looking for parts I can cannibalize, and not really looking for working computer parts, I don't even bother with systems and parts that the sellers obviously think are still cutting edge though they are 3 or 4 years old. This source usually works best when I get there near the end of the yard sale, though I have done pretty well early on the first day of their sale at times, too. If they have anything that I am interested in, I will usually offer them a buck or two for whatever computer equipment they haven't sold. I have come to expect 1 of 3 responses: 1) They are glad to get rid of it and take me up on my offer. 2) They want to haggle over price. 3) They are insulted at my offer In case number 1, I pay them and gather up my booty. In case number 2, I either decline or negotiate depending upon my desire for the equipment. In case number 3, I profusely apologize and sincerely wish them "Good luck". What I have noticed is that the more I adopt the attitude that, "Beggars can't be choosers," the better results I have. The more polite and courteous I am, the better results I have. And, the more I say "Please" and "Thank you," the better results I have. And, the less I EXPECT, the more I get. My last treasure find was a guy that had 4 computers in various stages of being dismantled, though they all had hard drives, CD drives and mother boards, along with several other components. He also had several monitors and keyboards, which I wasn't interested in. I offered him $2 for the computers and he accepted that and offered me several more that he hadn't brought out yet. As we were loading up the computers and parts, he let me know that the monitors and keyboards were included. I told him I wasn't interested in those but explained that if it was OK with him, I'd post them on FreeCycle.org. He agreed and within a few hours all the stuff I had purchased for $2 was either home with me or picked up and being put to use by others on FreeCycle.

Yard sales! They'll often just give away boxes of old computers, monitors, and peripherals if you ask nicely, especially right when you're haggling over the prices of other things.

my father runs a computer repair company, at one point we had 40 old/broken computers in the garage. you can get them from websites like freecycle. you can get the from friends who are upgrading or dont want them anymore. if you're lucky, you can get a fairly large amount of computers from companie and banks, alot of the time when companies upgrade they HAVE to get rid of there old computers. so you get free computers, they avoid disposle fees.

Heres an Idea for you... I work Security for a High Tech Company... On my tours There's always a Pile of Discarded Computers on the Shipping dock being Tossed out.... Check around... If they don't have to "Pay" to Discard them, "You" Might luck out and get a whole pile of them... Good Luck

Having just spent the past year acquiring large amounts of broken electronics, I can tell you this: 1. As Jeff mentioned, freecycle.org is great 2. As also mentioned telling friends and family you will take their broken junk helps. 3. Another web reference is the "free" or "wanted" section on craigslist.org 4. Small consumer electronic recycling centers may give you some free stuff if you ask nicely and explain you are just looking for a few things to make art (or the like) 5. Another thing I did which worked out pretty well was just put up a flier that said "Free Electronics Recycling" and listed what I was looking for. 6. In some places, if you go around your neighborhood on trash day you can find a ton of stuff. 7. Dumpsters at large businesses and universities sometimes turn up tons of free electronics (universities particularly around the beginning or end of the semester).

Try www.freecycle.org. It's a site where people can locally exchange things they no longer want for free. I see computers and stuff there all the time.

All of my dead electronics come from friends and family, mostly friends. Most people that I am acquainted with know that I am interested in electronics and I will use dead things for parts. Just inform people and stuff will build up quickly.