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What To Do With Old Cell Phones? Answered

My dad has a couple of old cell phones sitting in a drawer, and I'm wondering what I should do with them. Other than recycling them. Techie stuff I guess. One of them is a Samsung SCH-N150, the other is a Nokia from the late 90's I think, but I can't get the battery out so I can't see the model number (it's usually under it).

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ll.13
ll.13

13 years ago

I don't know, I've ripped apart mobes. but there's nothing interesting inside. :P

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westfw
westfw

Reply 13 years ago

Oh, there's a couple of interesting components that might be reusable: usually a microphone, a speaker, the "buzzer" used for ring tones (loud but not so good fidelity), a battery, and sometimes a usable display. That's not much :-( Note that an old cellphone can be used to dial 911 in emergencies, even if it's not currently on any "plan"... You can throw a charged cellphone into an emergency kit, and there are several charitable organizations that collect them for this sort of use.

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Big Bwana
Big Bwana

Reply 12 years ago

And a few older ones had Eproms you can reuse, if you have a use for 512 K eproms, Nice 900 MHz amplifier blocks in bag phones, RF connectors for Wifi projects, Voltage regulators, Some flip phones had magnetic reed switches and magnets, Some even have 1 Farad super caps in them, nice for tiny rechargeable LED flashlights........

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Aeshir
Aeshir

Reply 13 years ago

Yeah, I've heard about the 911 thing before.

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fish2find
fish2find

Reply 13 years ago

Micro harware is nice to have. I use the screws when building chassis for my RC car .... There are screws in there you cant even buy at Fastenol ...

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gyromild
gyromild

13 years ago

Are those phones still working? Can they accept today's SIM card? If yes, then you can change the phone's ringing-speaker with a relay, or rig the vibrator motor...to turn on device from anywhere. For example, call the phone to switch on your house light.. Unfortunate, this is the same technique used by terrorist to detonate bombs remotely..

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Aeshir
Aeshir

Reply 13 years ago

Huh? xD They both work perfectly, and still have great battery life. I was thinking of using the battery from either of them to power my old PDA, instead of using AAAs.

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alex26i
alex26i

13 years ago

They can be used as remote triggering devices, for anything. I have also built many devices and housed them in cellphone cases. It is good to keep one around to throw at people, many of the older phones are kinda heavy and can save your life if someone points a gun at you. Just chuck it at thier head. You can then keep your regular model blood free.