My first computer was a TRS-80 (Tandy Radio Shack) in 1985. Currently, I even have an old 286 Compaq “portable” (hardly a laptop) paperweight that still works well that I used in college in the 90s. The AC adapter, alone, weights about two pounds!
Although some of my computers have come and gone (to the garbage), and I have been given some away or sold to neighborhood kids for $25 so they can cut their silicon teeth, I have never seriously investigated what to do with old CPUs; and I have not seen any nationwide advertising campaigns for takers. In particular, I am refering to companies that do recycling of the plastic and precious metal components. In the past, if I had a couple CPUs in reasonably working condition, I would donate them to our Christian school for students to learn word processing, etc.; but some I have have serious or annoying bugs that I would not feel good giving to someone unless they knew how to solve buggy CPUs.
I realize there are some cute paradies out there that can show us what to do with old CPUs, but since I am not a fisherman, I am not interested in using my old Dell Pentium II laptop (which literally takes five minutes to boot up) for an anchor; target practice, maybe.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Currently, I have eight CPUs of various ages and in various conditions–most useable. Just over the weekend I was given two CPUs by an attorney in Chicago who is upgrading. One is an HP Pentium III, the other an IBM Pentium 4. Not too shabby a deal for free. Of course, I want to be within reasonable driving distance to make delivery within the Chicago, northwest Indiana area. Since I am selfish and keep most of my software, or donate it to Goodwill, I have limited software to accompany any of them.
Glen