It was thrown away for a reason. Wanna know it? It's because people these days are too lazy to get off their ass and fix stuff. They just throw it out.
That means that if you know how, getting free/cheap computers is a breeze. I got a machine with a 3.2Ghz CPU and 4GB of RAM for only $20 worth of computers from a tag sale. Also got my IBM M5-2 trackball keyboard for free. Got my Dell Dimension 2400, IBM Thinkcentre 8183, 3 Dell Optiplex GX240's, 2 Dell Optiplex GX270's, my Gateway2000 P5-200, Micron ClientPro CN, Dell Inspiron 8500, Micron Transport GX+, iMac, and Power Mac all for under $10 apiece (Most of them were absolutely free). The vast majority of those computers have between 1 and 4GB of RAM, all of which I got for free, along with Pentium 4's. They all run Windows XP and 2000 very well with the exception of the Gateway2000 and the Mac's.