Author Topic: Today's thrift store haul  (Read 4067 times)

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Offline ThirdLap

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  • Posts: 98
Today's thrift store haul
« on: Sat, 21 August 2010, 22:53:14 »
Only one keyboard today, but it's a fairly cool one. Will post pics tomorrow.

Apple Extended Keyboard II (M3501) with white Alps switches  $2.95
Microsoft Sidewinder Strategic Commander (BNIB)  $3.95
PC-Trac Deluxe Tracball (New, but this thing is SLOW) $2.95
Unitrex 1200 Calculator (C. 1972, this thing is AWESOME) $2
Canon Palmtronic LD-81 (C. 1975, excellent condition) $1

And a few other neat techy items here and there.  Spent less than $20 for everything.

Offline WhiteRice

  • Posts: 850
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 21 August 2010, 23:55:19 »
Nice haul! That Sidewinder looks neat!

Where do you usually look for thrift stores that carry that kind of stuff?

Offline ThirdLap

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Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 01:22:30 »
Quote from: WhiteRice;215541
Where do you usually look for thrift stores that carry that kind of stuff?
I've had the best luck at non-chain (or small chain) thrift stores.  Best bets are the larger private thrift stores and the mega thrift stores run by religious organizations (Deseret Industries, large Catholic churches, etc). SPCA thrift stores generally seem to have very fair prices and good selections.

Another favorite of mine is a small chain of ~6 stores here in California called 'EcoThrift'.  Lots of good quality / interesting stuff, often new (or lightly used), and CHEAP. It is not unusual to see fairly high end audio equipment for sale for a fraction of the original cost.

Goodwill is so-so, and The Salvation Army thrift stores almost never seem to have anything interesting.  Either they're hit too frequently, or the employees know what to keep an eye out for.  i stop in, but rarely find any decent tech stuff.  

I originally started going to thrift stores just for the keyboards, but now it's become a treasure hunt for items that the general public fail to realize is collectible/valuable/high quality.

Offline Specter_57

  • Posts: 143
My thrift store purchase....
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 16:24:11 »
.
  Just today I decided to check out a local Value Village store just down the street from me....and when looking at the computer stuff, I see this model M-looking keyboard, but with a Dell logo on it.

Pick it up to have a closer look, weighs a ton, so I give a few keys a hit, and there is that familiar ping sound that we all recognize...turn over to see the label...says Model M, manufactured by Lexmark, 28-Mar-95, part #1369050.....and for the price asked...$5.99.....sold!

Take it home, plug it in through a PS/2 to USB thingy...works ok, and online reading tells me it is essentially an M keyboard..but the key caps do not come off as in a true M.

Good condition, no legend fading, works fully, but still needs a bit of a cleaning, all keycaps present...and I am typing this message on it.

A happy geekhacker here....


...........
Spec_57

Offline MissileMike

  • Posts: 280
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 16:53:39 »
Quote from: Specter_57;215711
.
  Just today I decided to check out a local Value Village store just down the street from me....and when looking at the computer stuff, I see this model M-looking keyboard, but with a Dell logo on it.

Pick it up to have a closer look, weighs a ton, so I give a few keys a hit, and there is that familiar ping sound that we all recognize...turn over to see the label...says Model M, manufactured by Lexmark, 28-Mar-95, part #1369050.....and for the price asked...$5.99.....sold!

Take it home, plug it in through a PS/2 to USB thingy...works ok, and online reading tells me it is essentially an M keyboard..but the key caps do not come off as in a true M.

Good condition, no legend fading, works fully, but still needs a bit of a cleaning, all keycaps present...and I am typing this message on it.

A happy geekhacker here....


...........
Spec_57




Congrats!  I hit up several last weekend with no luck.
BS: 5 Space Savers  ||  9 42H  ||  10 1391401 or similar  ||  1x 1390131  || AT&T 305b  ||  Dell Model M
Cherry: Leopold FC200RC/AB  ||  3 Ducky 1087  ||  PLU ML87 ||  Cherry G80-8113LUVEU-2  browns
Alps: Filco Zero Tenkeyless (fukka)  ||  ABS M1  ||  3x Dell AT101w  ||  Ancer KF-191  ||  6 Vivanco Compact
Misc: NMB RT6855T+  ||  NMB RT101 Space Invader  ||  Dell Quietkey  ||  Ge Fanuc Industrial Metal

Offline spolia optima

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  • Location: On the shores of the cosmic ocean...
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 17:07:14 »
I've had luck with St. Vincent De Paul, Value Village, and a few others.
keyboards!

Offline lmnop

  • Posts: 574
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 18:02:50 »
that sucks :( I was just thinking of going to one.

Offline instantkamera

  • Posts: 617
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 18:12:18 »
I have been to several VV in southern Ontario, they certainly all stocked some form of old computer ****, but I haven't been very lucky as of yet. Salvation Nation on the other hand, im pretty sure they don't take any compy **** anymore, so that's a waste of time. Don't bother.
Realforce 86UB - Razer Blackwidow - Dell AT101W - IBM model MCST  LtracX - Kensington Orbit - Logitech Trackman wheel opticalAMD PhenomII x6 - 16GB RAM - SSD - RAIDDell U2211H - Spyder3 - Eye One Display 2

Offline WhiteRice

  • Posts: 850
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 18:47:48 »
Any one from around NYC? I might take a day trip and see what I find.

Offline netwebber

  • Posts: 50
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 19:34:16 »
Quote from: WhiteRice;215758
Any one from around NYC? I might take a day trip and see what I find.


There's a junk electronics store near the A/C/E subway station, at 399 Canal Street: Google StreetView

They sell keyboards for $6, old mice for $5, and tons of random parts and cables. Lots of stereo equipment if you're into that.

I caution you, though. The owner wouldn't show me all the keyboards they have. He stepped out and his non-English-speaking worker figured out what I wanted to see and started taking them out. The owner came back in and started yelling at the poor Chinese girl.

Even when I offered $15 for two keyboards, he wouldn't let her take them all from the "display" case for me to examine. Once I finally found a Model M, he charged me $8 for it. I didn't argue; it was just two bucks.

He did recognize me when I went in last week (a month later) and was nicer to me. I wasn't keyboard-shopping, though: I was picking up a bunch of ScrollPoint Optical mice for future mods. He probably still has a lot left.

I'm pretty sure he has some Apple mechanical keyboards. It's worth a visit.
« Last Edit: Sun, 22 August 2010, 20:21:01 by netwebber »
Keyboards: IBM M15 adjustable ergonomic | Northgate Omnikey Evolution w/ Touchpad | IBM Model M 1391401 | TG3 BLT 5RBUVS tenkeyless | MS Natural Keyboard Pro | MS Natural Keyboard Original (Black) | IBM UltraNav Travel Slim Keyboard | Chicony ThinkPad T60 keyboard in Lenovo ThinkPad T400 | IBM ThinkPad T42p | MS Arc Wireless | Logitech K350 Wireless
Pointing Devices: Logitech G500 | Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX | IBM ScrollPoint Optical | Razer Boomslang | On laptops: Trackpoint for pointing, touchpad for scrolling--The True Way
Other: Belkin/Razer Speedpad n52te | Adesso Mechanical Numpad (Cherry Blues) | Wacom Intuos2
Game Controllers: MS Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro | Gravis Exterminator

Offline ThirdLap

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  • Posts: 98
Today's thrift store haul
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 22 August 2010, 20:55:08 »
Quote from: Specter_57;215711
.Take it home, plug it in through a PS/2 to USB thingy...works ok, and online reading tells me it is essentially an M keyboard..but the key caps do not come off as in a true M.

Good condition, no legend fading, works fully, but still needs a bit of a cleaning, all keycaps present...and I am typing this message on it.

Nice, a Model M for $6 is an awesome deal.  And it IS a true Model M, it's just that in later years a switch was made to single-piece keycaps.  Aside from losing the ability to quickly rearrange or replace the keys, the consensus is that there is little to no perceptible tactile difference.