To start out with, I can’t stand to throw away anything that might have some use to somebody, especially something that would otherwise be valuable, like computer equipment. In the last two months, my Canon Bubblejet printer and my Visioneer scanner both died on me. I was told that with the lower-end Canon printers, eventually the ink collects and dries inside and keeps them from working, and mine is three years old.
A friend had two older Hewlett-Packard printers just laying around, taking up space, so he gave them to me (an HP 600c and a 612c). He said they might not work, but they were mine if they did. Needless to say, neither of them worked. I finally went out and invested in a nice new Lexmark all-in-one printer/scanner/copier, but I still have three printers and a scanner taking up space in MY room now. (My friend didn’t want his two back, needless to say.)
So my big question is, what should I do with these? Do certain computer stores buy older printers and scanners to possibly refurbish them? Are the parts worth salvaging? Would Goodwill or the Salvation Army be interested, or possibly even the school system? Would anyone think of buying them on eBay if I clearly stated they didn’t work? I’d love to be able to put these in the hands of people who could fix them and use them (and get them out of my room), and it would be AWESOME if I could even make a little bit of money on the deal.
If nothing else, all the printers have ink left in their cartridges, and I just put a brand-new cartridge in my Canon to confirm that it was indeed broken, and not just out of ink. I especially hate to waste these. But I just can’t bear the thought of throwing them out, unless I have no other options.
You could put an ad in the local newspaper, something like “two computer printers for free, HP600c and HP 612c” and tell the year they were manufactured (look online for reviews that are dated). Else just toss them. Somebody tinkering with robot-building might want them, but nobody else is interested. Many of the mechanical parts used are plastic and don’t last forever anyway–I have a scanner like this right now; it still works, but the scans lack detail because it’s 5+ years old. And with printers usually the ink dries out after 8 months or so regardless, and new cartridges cost nearly as much as a whole new printer.
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Our city collects old computers, printers, etc. so they don’t contaminate the landfill. I think some parts get recycled. Check with your city’s service department. Or give them to Goodwill, Salvation Army.
There’s a local shop that sells and repairs printers–laser, deskjet and impact. You could check the yellow pages for a place like that near you and see if they want them.
I’ve been taking old printers to pieces, separating the metal and platsic and taking it to the recycling centre (the plastic does go in the landfill, unfortunately, but the metal parts are recycled).
Old dot-matrix printers contain powerful stepper motors that, if you get a pair from two identical printers, fetch a good price on eBay from robotics buffs.
You’ve got get over over it. I’ve got the same problem and it makes living a clutter free life a lot more difficult than it needs needs to be. Broken crap needs to go in the trash. Period. You are not the “Island of Misfit Toys” for old, broken technology. A new, and far better printer can be had for practically the same price as a pair of DJ 600 carts.
The Salvation Army and Goodwill want functioning items. Plus who’s going to buy this old crap? A lot of it does not have drivers past Win 95 or Win 98. I see piles and piles of DJ 600’s and old scanners just like yours littering the shelves of the local Goodwill and SA. I know the history of this stuff and what it would take to get it running if possible, but 99.99% of the other people don’t and it goes into the dumpsters after few weeks.
Old, malfunctioning 600s and scanners are not a good bet for saving. Technology marches on.
The Thrift Store Attitude on working/non-working electronics varies around here from store to store. Some only sell working stuff (for far too much) and thus only want good stuff donated. Others are into “AS-IS” electronics and just plain don’t care. Remarkably, a lot of these old printers, labelled AS-IS and all, do get sold. (What really astonishes me is that some people buy real clunkers of old computers for $50. So just about any old piece of crap has someone who wants it.)
I have an old Epson in the basement, if I ever see that model in a thrift store for a couple bucks, I’m buying it. I’m pretty sure I can fix it since the part that failed isn’t the most common problem. But then I also know how to revive dried up old Epson heads.
If you donate to a charity, you can get at least a little tax deduction for it. (But don’t please don’t overinflate.)