O/T: Old laptops. Anything salvageable or just E-waste?

[ldbent]

IIRC Ah-ha was a company that sold kits to convert manual lathes/mills to CNC using stepper drives.

[rjs44032]

Problem with old hardware is the wear-outable parts are hard to come by. Current Hard-Drive (HDD) tech is SSD (solid state) or SATA-III. If you can get EIDE HDDs they are most likely old stock and are most likely out of production. These replacements can be 2 to 3 times more expensive than current technology and limited to sizes and speeds of the past.

USB is now up to version 4. Windows 7 and anything before it have reached EOL and are no longer supported or updated (not a problem for Linux users). And video has gone far away from VGA and DisplayPort to HDMI etc.

That said I still have a couple of XP boxes hanging on for dear life as dedicated machines. These will eventually have to be replaced with newer tech.

Working inside the laptops isn't much different than working in desktops, just miniature. Greater care required to remove thin plastic sections and 10s of tiny screws that need to be organized for re-assembly. Most often, I've been able to get breakdown instructions with pics online for any laptops I've had to work on. So check Google first before you start unscrewing anything.

Best Regards,
Bob

[AntonLargiader]

I recently disassembled a Win98 laptop to see what was in it. Can't say there's much that can be used, or so it seems to me. I kept the TFT display, because a buddy says there are aftermarket boards to drive them, and I will toss the dead battery into recycling and that leaves the HDD and FD cartridges that might have cool motors in them. That's about all. Oh.. I did get the tiny speakers and mic. The speakers work from an Arduino and I hope the mic will also.

[JRouche]

IIRC Ah-ha was a company that sold kits to convert manual lathes/mills to CNC using stepper drives.

Yes. My friend John had one also. JR

[JRouche]

Now that I think about it, its getting long in the tooth....10 years old!

Not just it Mac. You and I are too old for this new landscape. Hope we get through JR


Edit: Clausing 20" drill press, auto feed, 1" core bit and laptop hard drives?

Ehh, I dont see any loose bits.. All good. JR

[nickel-city-fab]

You can always disassemble the hard drives and get the magnets out of them. Then smash the rest with a good sledgehammer, and take it into e-waste recycling. Those HDD magnets are unbelieveably strong -- I stuck one on my fridge and tried to pull it off. The fridge door opened instead. The magnet is only the size of a fingernail.

[JRouche]

Those HDD magnets are unbelieveably strong -- I stuck one on my fridge and tried to pull it off. The fridge door opened instead. The magnet is only the size of a fingernail.

They are. I have them stuck all over my shop in a small ziplock bag (for easy cleaning). I use them for many things. JR