Dumpster Diving!

[Dillusion]

I work next to Staples... They are supposed to destroy software when they get rid of it. I know this for a fact. Guess they missed the memo. Lots of Symantec software to be had, with the occasonal Adobe stuff. No need for bit torrent on my comp. :cool:

When i worked at officemax we had a guy in the back that did all the shipping and shit, he destroyed every printer thatw as being thrown away with a hammer. Allot of stuff like AV software and office copies got thrown away without being cracked though....But whenever it was my turn i destroyed EVERYTHING. No dumpster diver got my shit ;)

Last time i worked there we had a phone refresh, and the whole planogram was to be destroyed including working floor models- i personally threw each handset against the back wall, it was awesome...We also played frisbee with officeXP CD's ;)

[jeffmoss26]

not DD, but I got an HP officejet 5510 from a customer. The ink cartridge door broke off so they got another printer. I fixed it with a piece of duct tape!
A store in the same plaza I work in is remodeling, I walked by their dumpster and saw a bunch of wire but couldn't grab it. Wasn't going to jump in on company time :)

[c0ex]

When i worked at officemax we had a guy in the back that did all the shipping and shit, he destroyed every printer thatw as being thrown away with a hammer. Allot of stuff like AV software and office copies got thrown away without being cracked though....But whenever it was my turn i destroyed EVERYTHING. No dumpster diver got my shit ;)

Last time i worked there we had a phone refresh, and the whole planogram was to be destroyed including working floor models- i personally threw each handset against the back wall, it was awesome...We also played frisbee with officeXP CD's ;)

yea I work at staples and we now put all the cd's thru the shredders on display. Pretty smart. But there still are desks in that go in the dumpster!

[travis712]

yea I work at staples and we now put all the cd's thru the shredders on display. Pretty smart. But there still are desks in that go in the dumpster!


I want a desk :(

[c0ex]

lol, my brother just brought one home. I got three desk's from them which all are nice!

[apex32]

want to sell one cheap since u got it free? lol

[c0ex]

want to sell one cheap since u got it free? lol

you will probally need a pick up to come get them b/c they all are already assembled.

[SquallTiofae]

Me and my friends went dumpster diving in Greensboro, NC. It was fruitless to say the least.

CompUSA: Compactor.
Circuit City: Compactor and locked dumpsters.
Best Buy: Compactor.
Pier 1: Nothing.
Office Depot: Nothing.
Tweeter (Speaker shop): Nothing.
EB Games: One sticky Xbox magazine. Ew. Demo disk removed. Decided not to take it.

[yoda634]

Who originally started this thread? He must have been a really cool guy, for sure.

And smart too.

:p

:cool:

[jpmkm]

Who originally started this thread? He must have been a really cool guy, for sure.

And smart too.

:p

:cool:
Yeah, but I hear he actually had no interest whatsoever in dumpster diving. :p

[SpangeMonkee]

Who originally started this thread? He must have been a really cool guy, for sure.

And smart too.

:p

:cool:


College campuses are a great place to dumpster dive. Especially at the end of spring semester. I'm sure GT students will throw away some cool stuff. ;)

[Nevalite]

I had never heard of this until now but I really want to try it! I love free stuff, especially when it has to do with electronics! Their are quite a few places I could think of, problem is I'm only 16 and I don't have my license yet. It would have to be done on bike, I'm going to talk to some of my friends about this :D

[yoda634]

College campuses are a great place to dumpster dive. Especially at the end of spring semester. I'm sure GT students will throw away some cool stuff. ;)

Yeah, I'll be checking that out in a couple of weeks for sure.

[UnlimitedMP]

For those of you in the Bay Area,CA, how are the finds? Are there any rules against DD? Anywhere good?

[Danith]

o0o0o

I may have to try this around the Minneapolis area.. Brooklyn center/golden valley/plymouth/st.louis park area to be more precise. I'm scurred that the cops would show up though :rolleyes:

[haadij404]

So I came across this section of the site just a couple of hours ago and I thought, why not go diving - tonite! So i got my brother and we went to a bunch of stores. First place we hit up was Sports Authority. It a big find, for our first time. Peeked into the dumpster and whaddya know, A brand New Bike, a slightly used Trampoline and a crap load of socks. The other stores we went to (comper, staps, the city) were either locked or were compacters. No luck there. So for the last place, we went to Peire uno and found some very nice candle/speaker stands. I will post pictures below of the finds.

This is the biike. Very nice with suspension. Back tires just needs to be put on and inflated
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7493/croppedbike9wf.jpg

These are the socks. I dont know what to do with them, might sell some on ebay, might give some to friends.
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2075/croppedsocks4oz.jpg

I got two speaker stands. Very Nice. One is a little scuffed, but you cant see it as its facing the wall. Those are my speakers on top.
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/3087/croppedstand7xm.jpg

And lastly, We scored a trampoline. Using it as excerise equipment.
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/4567/croppedtra9qm.jpg


So all in all, it was a very successful first dive. This is quickly becoming a hobby. Thanks to this website, i know was well prepared for my first dive and everything went smoothly.

[mrtyphoon]

I found a set of Creative Inspire 2.1 speakers in the hallway of my dorm during the start of the past fall semester. Works like a charm!

[nuentoter]

new myspace group by your untruly

http://groups.myspace.com/dumpsterssmellbad

[XtuRmN8r]

Went to the city dump today because our house got a new kitchen, and we were getting rid of the old cupboards / sinks / etc. I found a Dell tower sitting in the rubble, so I snagged it. The old guy there said that there were constantly computers being thrown out there.

It didn't post, so I took out all the cards, which all worked (100mbps ethernet, creative digital eax sound card, geforce 2 mx400). swapped in a different gfx card, no go, put the ram (256MB 266 ddr) in my htpc, it works. It had a 20gb HDD in it, but I have tons of those I don't want anyway, along with a FDD and a CD-ROM. maybe I'll format the HDD if I need it someday.

So, I guess I got those cards, some fans, a PSU, some heatsinks + the p4 1.6 that came with it. I need to tell myself to get rid of the tower + hdd + CDROM + mobo, but me being a packrat I probably won't. :)

[Billz]

It had a 20gb HDD in it, but I have tons of those I don't want anyway, along with a FDD and a CD-ROM.
I have a couple of 20 gigers myself and am looking for more to make a big RAID array out of them. I'd be interested in a few if they were just laying around. PM me if you want to get rid of some.

Thanks,
Billz

[Mewohkie]

Anyone in the Southeastern CT area My buddies all left and I've not gone alone, Send me a PM if you wanna get a diving group going. I've gone plenty in the past and found some REALLY nice stuff.

[Aratech]

On the way home tonight I saw 17" Dell Flatscreen CRT sitting on the curb. I stopped the car and tossed it in the trunk. I tested it when I got home and it produces an awesome picture and looks almost new. I replaced my old yellow Dell 17" inch from 1997. :D

Hooray for trash!!!

[vbrtrmn]

Went to throw away some broken drywall, from a project in my condo, found a nice two-drawer file cabinet, by the trash bins. High quality steel, no lock, but still nice and in perfect condition.

[SpangeMonkee]

Went to throw away some broken drywall, from a project in my condo, found a nice two-drawer file cabinet, by the trash bins. High quality steel, no lock, but still nice and in perfect condition.


Nice find those things are friggin' expensive. Even the piece of crap one I bought at target was still like $50. Though, a new lock cost only like $10. ;)

[Scorpionjwp]

I sure wish I could someplace to dumpster dive, you guys are finding some good stuff.
Every place around the outskirts of Cincinnati, either have: A. the building or place is near highway, B. is patrolled every night by cops, or C. have a trash compactor. When one person says something about I had someone pick through my garbage, everyone around where I live freaks out.

[undeadsac]

I sure wish I could someplace to dumpster dive, you guys are finding some good stuff.
Every place around the outskirts of Cincinnati, either have: A. the building or place is near highway, B. is patrolled every night by cops, or C. have a trash compactor. When one person says something about I had someone pick through my garbage, everyone around where I live freaks out.


Lets go diving in Florence, there may be some shit there to pick up with the huge Walmart and Office Max BB etc. LETS GO!!!!!!!!

[sKum]

Anyone near middletown NY? I'm planning a run

[jeffmoss26]

i got 2 cisco 2501 routers and a broken allied telesyn switch from my high school the other day...and got some more phone cable/jacks from my dad's work. i guess its not dd'ing cause they give it to me, but it would end up in the trash...

[apex32]

Anyone near middletown NY? I'm planning a run
Where is that? im in Endwell/Binghamton/Vestal area. 1 hour south of syracuse.

[sKum]

Where is that? im in Endwell/Binghamton/Vestal area. 1 hour south of syracuse.


I'm about 4 hours from Syracuse :(

[jeffmoss26]

Binghamton/Vestal FTW...my dad lived there for a few years growing up. We went there about 10 years ago..All i really remember was the Speedies place...great stuff.

[Lazy_Moron]

Anyone live in Northwestern Indiana? A friend of mine is planning on scouting are area. PM me if you are interested!

[German Muscle]

Ive been scouting around work and found out that we grind up computer games, movies, and all kinds of other stuff to put in our mulch as a filler. you just gotta get to it before its ground up. I found this stuff, it was post grinding. Im gonna haft to be more aware and scope it out.

Pic:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h168/German_Muscle/Picture068.jpg

[ipam45]

i may be just a teenager but i still remember the days. we use to like in blacksburg virginia. Blacksburg was a quiet small "COLLEGE" town. when ever summer would begin and the students are about to move back to the whereever the hell they came from, they would throw away all their old and new electronics away (didn;t know why). in the apartment trach cans are filled with out computers, desk, and anything you can think of....porn. around that week or two we would just ride around on bikes in nearby neightborhood and we were just in computer scrap heave. once we found a imac G3 (the blue colored one) and it had a bad PSU. my friends brother who mods computer installed his old Mac psu into it and now i'm using that computer to type this post. we have gotten so much useful crap. best place to DD: College towns a week before and after class ends or the closest trach collection day. you will be in trash heaven.

Jack

[KingThot]

Nice I'm moving to Williamsburg I'll check it out when I'm there. (W&M college town :) )

[Moderman]

Heh, I didnt know DD and CC was such a big fashion here at Hard :p

I kinda new to the whole scene of DD and CC, so I thought post what I found in my adventure.

Once went CCing

Found
-Old Apple IIe or a somthing broke
-Acer pc 733mhz p3 128mb of RAM 9 gig hdd ( Load with pics of some guy and his bird creepy)

Plus I get alot of free computer stuff from my neighboor and his office there office is getting new computers so they give me all there old stuff

like

2- Pentium laptops both broke :p
3- Pentium 3 computers one worked
over a dozen floppies (still good I dont know why)

So I think i'll get back into DD and CC :)

[MN Scout]

Found a P4 1.8ghz 256mb ram, integrated video, 80gb hard drive, cd-writer. Just found it today. Was sitting outside of my apartments garbage dumpster. Had the sides off, and they were laying in the grass. I don't know what was up with that.

Today is the ending of tons of people's leases if they didn't renew, so all of the trash dumpsters were full of couches, desks, lights, brooms, bookcases, and garbage. I also found a nice non damage standing silver lamp and a couple time used broom and dustpan. And a non-working DVD player :( .



http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/87.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=87&tm=33)

[synaps3]

Not quite dumpster diving, but close enough. Yesterday, I got a 24 port switch at the thrift store for $3.

[Danith]

Found a P4 1.8ghz 256mb ram, integrated video, 80gb hard drive, cd-writer. Just found it today. Was sitting outside of my apartments garbage dumpster. Had the sides off, and they were laying in the grass. I don't know what was up with that.

Today is the ending of tons of people's leases if they didn't renew, so all of the trash dumpsters were full of couches, desks, lights, brooms, bookcases, and garbage. I also found a nice non damage standing silver lamp and a couple time used broom and dustpan. And a non-working DVD player :( .



http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/87.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=87&tm=33)

Don't you people feel weird going up to the dumpster with the whole apartment looking on, and grabbing something to take back to your place? If/when I live in an apartment (hopefully soon!) I think I would just be to nervous to grab stuff

[Zero82z]

If it's in the trash, it's fair game.

[Format _C:]

Well I was going to the dump to throw away a dead Window AC Unit (Never Buy Fedders From Wal*Mart) and I scored a free computer that was in with the Scrap metals It works too will get pics up when I get my camera Back although I already tossed the case/HDD (Too Dirty/ Beat up/Rusted and the HDD was dead

Specs
AMD Athlon Socket A 900 MHZ
Giga Byte GA-7VKMLS
256 MB Ram
40 X 16 X 48 X CD-RW Drive
Toshiba DVD-Rom Unknown Speed
Just needs a chipset heatsink I guess thats why they thew it out as it has no chipset heat sink

[robble]

Just needs a chipset heatsink I guess thats why they thew it out as it has no chipset heat sink

Do ya think that is the reason? here are about 4 reasons I can think of: :D

AMD Athlon Socket A 900 MHZ
Giga Byte GA-7VKMLS
256 MB Ram
Toshiba DVD-Rom Unknown Speed

;)

nah, could be a great little aux box.

[ipam45]

Don't you people feel weird going up to the dumpster with the whole apartment looking on, and grabbing something to take back to your place? If/when I live in an apartment (hopefully soon!) I think I would just be to nervous to grab stuf

yeah i understand how u feel. you can call it DD EE FF or wahtever you are still taking other people's shit from the trash.

[SpangeMonkee]

Don't you people feel weird going up to the dumpster with the whole apartment looking on, and grabbing something to take back to your place? If/when I live in an apartment (hopefully soon!) I think I would just be to nervous to grab stuf

yeah i understand how u feel. you can call it DD EE FF or wahtever you are still taking other people's shit from the trash.

well, if you are embarassed to take it, then you aren't worthy of having it.

I guess you are probably embarassed to buy recycled products? And honestly, do you really care what other people think?

[ipam45]

sorry i didn;t mean to be midunderstanding, i DD all the time. i was just to discribe the truth.

[BarneyGumble]

I thought that once too, but then I found an entire HP Pentium 4 computer in a dumpster at my apartment complex, including the monitor. Once you find something good you are not going to care who is looking. It's good times when someone moves out.

[MisterDNA]

Umm.. so like I went walking in an alleyway and found this RealDoll lying on top of some trash there. I nab her, take her to my place and get busy and she comes alive. I was like "WTF?! Explain yourself."

And she goes "Chii?"

And I'm all "Oh God not again."

/lame joke

[MaMMa]

Umm.. so like I went walking in an alleyway and found this RealDoll lying on top of some trash there. I nab her, take her to my place and get busy and she comes alive. I was like "WTF?! Explain yourself."

And she goes "Chii?"

And I'm all "Oh God not again."

/lame joke


You sound like a damn valley girl. :(

[MisterDNA]

You sound like a damn valley girl. :(

Think of it with <BUTTHEAD> </BUTTHEAD> tags and it'll make more sense.

Bonus geek points if you know what I was referring to.

[Hupo]

I live in central new jersey. I would like to go dumpster diving. Anyone want to meet up? my friends think there too good to go.

[Hupo]

come on people

[flobadon]

Here is the bookshelf I found in the dumpster of Office Max this past winter. It had a defective tag on it that stated that the legs were uneven. It's kinda sad that they just threw the thing away because one leg was an inch longer than the rest. It's even sadder that the original purchaser didn't take five minutes to measure out the legs and cut them even, which would have been easier than taking it back to the store. :rolleyes: Oh well, it worked well for me.

http://www.flobadon.org/img/bookshelf.jpg

[Killermac]

Stupid people = good find for you :cool:

KM

[c0ex]

Here is the bookshelf I found in the dumpster of Office Max this past winter. It had a defective tag on it that stated that the legs were uneven. It's kinda sad that they just threw the thing away because one leg was an inch longer than the rest. It's even sadder that the original purchaser didn't take five minutes to measure out the legs and cut them even, which would have been easier than taking it back to the store. :rolleyes: Oh well, it worked well for me.

http://www.flobadon.org/img/bookshelf.jpg


yo, we got the same case! holla! P180

[coolie_d]

but the other day walking back to work from lunch, I spotted a nice Commodore 128 computer still in box out by the trash, with all system disks (CP/M 3.0) and manuals, still works! and also a commodore 1200bps modem...... for the joys of broadband surfing *LOL* too bad the monitor cable was missing (DIN to composite), now i've gotta find me an old CGA or EGA monitor with the DB-9 connector..... even had all the manuals and the GEOS disks (kind of a Commodore Windows clone, stood for Graphical Environment Operating System)....... sorry no pics, Uncle is borrowing the camera...... of course, when he gets home i'm going to hit him up for his Commodore model 1571 floppy drive (necessary for CP/M as it's DS/DD; the Commodore 1541 is SS/SD)..... and if i'm lucky he'll still have the RGB cable from his C64.....

[jpmkm]

but the other day walking back to work from lunch, I spotted a nice Commodore 128 computer still in box out by the trash, with all system disks (CP/M 3.0) and manuals, still works! and also a commodore 1200bps modem...... for the joys of broadband surfing *LOL* too bad the monitor cable was missing (DIN to composite), now i've gotta find me an old CGA or EGA monitor with the DB-9 connector..... even had all the manuals and the GEOS disks (kind of a Commodore Windows clone, stood for Graphical Environment Operating System)....... sorry no pics, Uncle is borrowing the camera...... of course, when he gets home i'm going to hit him up for his Commodore model 1571 floppy drive (necessary for CP/M as it's DS/DD; the Commodore 1541 is SS/SD)..... and if i'm lucky he'll still have the RGB cable from his C64.....
Dude, those commodore 128s are worth quite a bit(well, not a lot, but it's decent considering you paid $0 for it). I'm about to sell an old 128d on ebay, and I'm hoping I'll hit at least $50 with it. But if you have a full working system, that might be kinda cool to hang on to. I don't know who would throw one of those away.

[Everfalling]

I just went to my local petsmart to return a fish tank filter that was missing a piece. in the process of trying to get another one, i asked the boss, or the guy who was in charge at the time, whether or not they sent the broken items back to the home office or the vendor, or RTV. the guy said no, it cost too much money to send stuff back, so they just throw everything away. considering the only thing this filter lacked was a bottom cap (easily fixed with duct tape if i wanted to), it was a perfectly fine filter pump. if they throw away something as good as that, i wonder what else they'd throw away. i alsowonder if their dumpster is locked. i'm gonna check back in a day or two and see what they've thrown away. if the dumpster is unlocked, and they throw this stuff away fairly quickly, i think you could get away with returning a 'broken' item, and just fishing it out of the trash in the back a day or two later. granted this is all just pet stuff, but still, if it means you can get a free cat tree or something free because the rug had a rip, what the hell right? :-D

[c.d.e]

double post please delete

[c.d.e]

I just went to my local petsmart to return a fish tank filter that was missing a piece. in the process of trying to get another one, i asked the boss, or the guy who was in charge at the time, whether or not they sent the broken items back to the home office or the vendor, or RTV. the guy said no, it cost too much money to send stuff back, so they just throw everything away. considering the only thing this filter lacked was a bottom cap (easily fixed with duct tape if i wanted to), it was a perfectly fine filter pump. if they throw away something as good as that, i wonder what else they'd throw away. i alsowonder if their dumpster is locked. i'm gonna check back in a day or two and see what they've thrown away. if the dumpster is unlocked, and they throw this stuff away fairly quickly, i think you could get away with returning a 'broken' item, and just fishing it out of the trash in the back a day or two later. granted this is all just pet stuff, but still, if it means you can get a free cat tree or something free because the rug had a rip, what the hell right? :-D

I'm pretty sure buying something then returning it as "broken" to trick the company into throwing it away so you can get it for free can be considered fraud...

Besides, petsmart throws away alot of litter and shit, so good luck. I tend to dive at a gamestop dumpster next to a Petsmart and their dumpster smells like animal ass... Even spoted one of those centrifuges for test tubes but I wouldn't touch it (Animal blood)

[coolie_d]

Dude, those commodore 128s are worth quite a bit(well, not a lot, but it's decent considering you paid $0 for it). I'm about to sell an old 128d on ebay, and I'm hoping I'll hit at least $50 with it. But if you have a full working system, that might be kinda cool to hang on to. I don't know who would throw one of those away.
my guess, considering the area I found it in, would be some old person who had it in their attic for years and was just cleaning house..... or perhaps someone died and their family was cleaning out the house...... Too bad it wasn't a 128D that I found, since then I wouldn't have to worry about getting ahold of my Uncle's 1571...... Good news for you is, the only 128D I could find on ebay is going for $132.50 right now, so you should clear at least $50, no problem..... the normal 128 is worth quite a bit less, to the tune of $10 or so......

[Everfalling]

I'm pretty sure buying something then returning it as "broken" to trick the company into throwing it away so you can get it for free can be considered fraud...

just an idea.

[filthysanchez]

i found an imac g3 blueberry in the trash before, at the local kindergarten.
the next week, there were about 40 17" CRT monitors, with only some plastic damage, but it rained earlier: (
i found an old dell once too, it was still running.
i just robbed it of the cd drive, 6 gig hd, and 64 mb stick of ram.

[G'ßöö]

one of the best threads going. haven't read it for awhile. keep up the stories. cheers!

[c0ex]

just an idea.

Most of the time they get sent back to the vendors who reuse the parts on other models or fix them up and sell them as refurbs.

[Moderman]

Had a ok find at a local pc store today-

about 900 Compaq Quick restore disk
IBM Thinkpad Poster
3 Windows 95 disk still sealed
And DOS 6.1 and 6.3 Books

A good find in my book and a bunch of frisbees:D

[SpangeMonkee]

Had a ok find at a local pc store today-

about 900 Compaq Quick restore disk
IBM Thinkpad Poster
3 Windows 95 disk still sealed
And DOS 6.1 and 6.3 Books

A good find in my book and a bunch of frisbees:D

damn. too bad you didn't find any DOS 6.22 disks. That was the best MS version ever.

[jbmx4life]

but the other day walking back to work from lunch, I spotted a nice Commodore 128 computer still in box out by the trash, with all system disks (CP/M 3.0) and manuals, still works! and also a commodore 1200bps modem...... for the joys of broadband surfing *LOL* too bad the monitor cable was missing (DIN to composite), now i've gotta find me an old CGA or EGA monitor with the DB-9 connector..... even had all the manuals and the GEOS disks (kind of a Commodore Windows clone, stood for Graphical Environment Operating System)....... sorry no pics, Uncle is borrowing the camera...... of course, when he gets home i'm going to hit him up for his Commodore model 1571 floppy drive (necessary for CP/M as it's DS/DD; the Commodore 1541 is SS/SD)..... and if i'm lucky he'll still have the RGB cable from his C64.....

My dad has a complete (and should be still fully functional) Commodore 64 I believe. That thing used to be the shit back about 15 years or so ago when I used to play on it before I even know what a computer was. Ahhhhh.... California Games and Winter Olympics... memories

[Moderman]

damn. too bad you didn't find any DOS 6.22 disks. That was the best MS version ever.

LOL, yeah :D

[Chipotle]

My dad has a complete (and should be still fully functional) Commodore 64 I believe. That thing used to be the shit back about 15 years or so ago when I used to play on it before I even know what a computer was. Ahhhhh.... California Games and Winter Olympics... memories

Dude, I had one too. Should still, but not sure where it was. Used to play Winter Olympics too. Plus Spy Hunger, Mountain king, zaxon, silent service (sub game), Archon.

[chrisf6969]

I just went to my local petsmart to return a fish tank filter that was missing a piece. in the process of trying to get another one, i asked the boss, or the guy who was in charge at the time, whether or not they sent the broken items back to the home office or the vendor, or RTV. the guy said no, it cost too much money to send stuff back, so they just throw everything away. considering the only thing this filter lacked was a bottom cap (easily fixed with duct tape if i wanted to), it was a perfectly fine filter pump. if they throw away something as good as that, i wonder what else they'd throw away. i alsowonder if their dumpster is locked. i'm gonna check back in a day or two and see what they've thrown away. if the dumpster is unlocked, and they throw this stuff away fairly quickly, i think you could get away with returning a 'broken' item, and just fishing it out of the trash in the back a day or two later. granted this is all just pet stuff, but still, if it means you can get a free cat tree or something free because the rug had a rip, what the hell right? :-D

Yeah go back & tell me how it was.

Between the cat littler and various other animal feces (hamsters, etc.. etc..) I'd be willing to be it smells quite good. On top of that all of the animals that die! Fish, reptiles, etc... that probably get pitched in there. You'd not only get stinky but risk your health.

[SpangeMonkee]

Yeah go back & tell me how it was.

Between the cat littler and various other animal feces (hamsters, etc.. etc..) I'd be willing to be it smells quite good. On top of that all of the animals that die! Fish, reptiles, etc... that probably get pitched in there. You'd not only get stinky but risk your health.

Legally, the are not allowed to dump animals.

[tredlite]

Legally, the are not allowed to dump animals.

I agree that they are not suppose to. It was this past December that I went to a dumpster that was shared by a few stores, a local elctronic store, pharmacy and pet store.
Well, I went one weekend and found a fax machine in pretty good shape about 2yrs old, it worked like brand new. So, I figured this is a pretty good dump to check on now and again.
went back a few weeks later, I lift the lid back started russling through the stuff in side and then let out a screach like a little girl. there was a dead snake inside just laying on top of the bags, not even in a bag or sorts. last time I went back to that dump.

[c.d.e]

I doubt those health codes refer to small lizards as "animals". Rodents, maybe, lizards and snakes probably not. Most of the time they're about big house pets, dogs, cats, rabbits.

[Killermac]

Local guy was just cleaning out his house *getting a divorce* and I noticed his dumpster. I walked up to him and asked if he would mind if I take a look he told me to go ahead and to take anything I like as long as I did not put anything in that was not already there.

I ended up with four sets of monster cables, one old Texas instruments 94/a4 computer in original box with three applications, and three games, (sold on eBay), one old new in the box splash out game (also sold on eBay) two eight pound weights (one in the back seat of my car) Never know when that might come in handy. Four old HDD 13 GB, 40GB, 20GB and 10GB, all worked. I was going to go back another day but it rained :( . I was having a blast.

KM

[toric334]

This sounds like fun, not too many businesses were I live, might be worth a trip though. ;)

[phelan1777]

Hmm my D-Diving adventure.

I was working for an IT company that was moving out of state, so they were cleaning out the old site.

MY god I had a ball, after work when everyone left I would hop in and start digging.

Picked up a "dead" 80GB external USB drive, tossed the HDD it was dead, but kept the adapter. Acquired 9 HDDs, 3 Scsi 320, rest IDE's all small. The day before a tech brought back a 22" that was "not working right" I over heard him talking about tossing it. He said he was going to test it first, so I stuck my nose in his cubicle while he boated up his laptop, there was some discoloration in the lower right corner, he tapped the degause..........and WALLLLAAAA it was gone. The user had no idea waht the degause was, that and we think she wanted a new monitor anyway. So I talked him into letting me have the 22" CRT, considering it was already written off as dead.

A week later at the same site I noticed a nice Nvidia card on a techs desk, we were talking and he mentioned it, I asked about it and he said he had no use for it as it had been replaced. He was going to toss it. It was a Nvidia graphic design card (can't remember the model now) But new it went for like 500+ I sold it for a 150$ to a graphic design student. Card worked fine, and he got a great deal.

[lillimon04]

so is dd illegal? cus now i wanna go with my friend, my mom doesnt noe if it was illegal or not so is it or not?

[Killermac]

so is dd illegal? cus now i wanna go with my friend, my mom doesnt noe if it was illegal or not so is it or not?

It depends on local laws, some places yes you are on private property and have no right to go into the dumpster. Now if you were to see it on the curb for weekly pickup you might be able to pick it up but also in some places that is also illegal.

KM

[r00k]

maybe this counts, maybe it don't. Today i volunteered at a recycling event with another forum member, and while in the process of collecting a total of 6 semi trucks full of junk, we also got (for ourselves)

7 full computers, one was below 1ghz, the rest were p4 and celeron between 1.4 and 2.6, 128 to 256mb ram, etc.
complete dolby digital home theatre package
four 15" lcd's, one 17", one 19" (yes, they work)
three 21" Dell Trinitron CRT's
duron 600, tbird 1.4, xp 1900, xp 3000, p4 1.8, cpu's
socket 462 motherboard
wireless kb's / mice

[Killermac]

I am not sure but what was the recycling for was it to get rid on unwanted electronics so they don't go into the local landfill? I say sweet deal.. :o

KM

[DarkSide50420]

r00k i really hate you now >< i would love some of those lcds for a quad or tres setup

[r00k]

Yeah, the local solid waste management had a two day shindig set up on the edge of town, for this and the next county over, to allow people to recycle all electronic appliances at no cost.

Personally, the cause is quite important to me. The spoils are going mostly to a local church youth group to set them up a small computer lab. Man - recycling is good for EVERYBODY!

[Stoopy]

ha, i was also there, you would be amazed at what people still had. haha

[Stoopy]

as in old electronics. :-)

[TheLordsServant]

Went out and saw a BEAUTIFUL old rackmount server, so I told my dad to stop, I threw it in the back of our van and I took it home and plugged it in, and.... it worked! It's a Xeon 800mhz, 1.5GB RAM, just needed a IDE HD, which I provided easily! I'll post pics soon

[133]

The place where my father works is moving and they are throwing a ton of stuff out.

I got this nice bookshelf, looks brand new, a cork board for my wall to put up things with thumbtacks, and my dad got 2 of these huge metal racks with shelves. good to use in the basement for storage.

I'm expecting a ton more stuff in the coming months while the move gets underway

[Xilikon]

Here at work, we are doing a big cleanup of old computers and parts inventory to make place for our incoming shipment of 100 new laptops. My boss told me to get rid of the stock and handed me the list... In that list, I noticed they decided to toss out the brand new Dell M783s monitors still in box but he didn't know how much so i guess i can score some nice findings.

I did scavenge everything for parts to be tossed out in the dumpster and that's what I got :

-1 Dell M783s 17 inch monitor in box.
-1 empty USB external hdd enclosure (i tossed out the disk since it was dead).
-1 laptop inkjet printer (Canon BJC-85).

I could have gotten more but the rest is too old or too big for me to carry... It's not exactly DD but close since those are going to be dumped in the compactor or being sent to a recycling facility depending on what parts.

[IveBeenBad]

Anyone in the Roanoke Valley (Va) wanna do some DD, i've got a big truck bed! Only thing is we can't hit up CC (1 i work there, 2 compactor and 3 we send all def items to warehouse)

[BobTheBuilderr0x]

You people actually go inside dumpsters behind Best Buys & Circuit Citys and stuff?

Can't they call the police or anything like that?

[jpmkm]

You people actually go inside dumpsters behind Best Buys & Circuit Citys and stuff?
Big chain stores like BB and CC tend to not throw out anything worthwhile.

Can't they call the police or anything like that?
Possibly. Chances of anything happening are quite slim, though. Firstly, the store probably doesn't own the dumpster; thusly, anything placed in the dumpster is technically property of the garbage collection company who owns the dumpster. Secondly, a person taking trash from a dumpster is not an emergency, so you're looking at probably at least an hour wait for a police officer to arrive to investigate. More than enough time for you to get away. Thirdly, who cares? If the business put an item in the dumpster, it should be obvious that they didn't want it, so the law won't really be able to help them. It's certainly possible for someone to call the police, but I doubt anyone would report someone for stealing trash. :p

[BobTheBuilderr0x]

Big chain stores like BB and CC tend to not throw out anything worthwhile.


Possibly. Chances of anything happening are quite slim, though. Firstly, the store probably doesn't own the dumpster; thusly, anything placed in the dumpster is technically property of the garbage collection company who owns the dumpster. Secondly, a person taking trash from a dumpster is not an emergency, so you're looking at probably at least an hour wait for a police officer to arrive to investigate. More than enough time for you to get away. Thirdly, who cares? If the business put an item in the dumpster, it should be obvious that they didn't want it, so the law won't really be able to help them. It's certainly possible for someone to call the police, but I doubt anyone would report someone for stealing trash. :p

Well in that case if anyone is in or around the Mahopac, NY area

I am down for some dumpster diving I want free stuff! :)

[dwilson041781]

for spots, recently moved here and scoping areas, its insane to let salvagable items go to waste.

if anyone knows good area or spot lemme know, otherwise ill just do usual browsing and cruising.

[Sage Osaka]

Does anyone live in the modesto/central valley area? I would really like to give this a try but do not want to go alone. Send a PM if interested.

[03grandam]

Holy good god,after reading almost every page i gotta say, some of you guys have hit some gold mines. Hmmm i might have to get my friend and do some dd also. kind of old for this(37) but for some cool freebies what the helll:D .

[vbrtrmn]

Holy good god,after reading almost every page i gotta say, some of you guys have hit some gold mines. Hmmm i might have to get my friend and do some dd also. kind of old for this(37) but for some cool freebies what the helll:D .

Old for DD, no way, I started going diving with my friend Mike, I was 23 at the time, he was like 45!

[l337*g0at]

Does anyone live in the modesto/central valley area? I would really like to give this a try but do not want to go alone. Send a PM if interested.


Well, I think some of us ( including you) might have seen this coming...

But why in the hell would you want to meet some other guy and then climb into a dumpster with him with him of whom you just met ?

I'd rather go alone, rather than getting my butt secksed.
I hope you agree

[03grandam]

Well went to staples eary this morning and missed it.The garbage truck got there about 1/2 hour before us,oh well wait till next week.I wonder how it is right after christmas with all the returns?

[c.d.e]

In between Funcoland/Eb two days ago and Office Dehot today, I made out like a bandit. At funco, I got the full install of ever quest and the expansion, 2 4 disc dvd cases that held star trek posters, 5 ace combat t-shirts, a psp volume controll thing, halo 2 strategy guide (there where like 15 sealed), a ps2 game case mint (there were countless, along with countless wii cases and some 360's), a Pinata Party flashing lights/voice thingy, a scar face poster (The one with the lines of script making it up), some playing cards, and some other goodies i dont recall.

And today at office max, one, there were really nice chairs being thrown out as "damaged" but weren't. These were the display 150+ dollar ones. There was also the stuff I took. A Magnifying work light, usefull for electronics and stuff (or model painting) (Don't know if it works yet, but.....). I also got a run of the milll optical usb scroll mouse (Marked defective and broken), a Targus auto/air mobile power inverter (90w, and pass thru dc port, also unknown if it works), a Quickcam Communicate STX, a Quickcam Fusion (Both pretty much without a single mark, and assumed working, just used as displays then discarded, cause thats how my Quickcam Pro 5000 came. Works great [Only need the new quickcam chat and I have the whole series, yet I already have an old quickcam chat from freecycle :D]) Finally, I have....... A Logitech MX1000 Laser, which had a semibroken left button. Simply untightening the screw under it and popping up the button fixed this. Other then that (And the missing decoration on the top bottom side, and the label on the bottom is wrinkly, but it is fully working and mac supported :P)

Pics later. sale for the cams and mouse after that :D

[JaYp146]

In between Funcoland/Eb two days ago and Office Dehot today, I made out like a bandit. At funco, I got the full install of ever quest and the expansion, 2 4 disc dvd cases that held star trek posters, 5 ace combat t-shirts, a psp volume controll thing, halo 2 strategy guide (there where like 15 sealed), a ps2 game case mint (there were countless, along with countless wii cases and some 360's), a Pinata Party flashing lights/voice thingy, a scar face poster (The one with the lines of script making it up), some playing cards, and some other goodies i dont recall.

And today at office max, one, there were really nice chairs being thrown out as "damaged" but weren't. These were the display 150+ dollar ones. There was also the stuff I took. A Magnifying work light, usefull for electronics and stuff (or model painting) (Don't know if it works yet, but.....). I also got a run of the milll optical usb scroll mouse (Marked defective and broken), a Targus auto/air mobile power inverter (90w, and pass thru dc port, also unknown if it works), a Quickcam Communicate STX, a Quickcam Fusion (Both pretty much without a single mark, and assumed working, just used as displays then discarded, cause thats how my Quickcam Pro 5000 came. Works great [Only need the new quickcam chat and I have the whole series, yet I already have an old quickcam chat from freecycle :D]) Finally, I have....... A Logitech MX1000 Laser, which had a semibroken left button. Simply untightening the screw under it and popping up the button fixed this. Other then that (And the missing decoration on the top bottom side, and the label on the bottom is wrinkly, but it is fully working and mac supported :P)

Pics later. sale for the cams and mouse after that :D

Dear God, man. Where do you live?

[c.d.e]

No pics yet, but an update.

Last time I went dding (You know, last post) someone came up to me at the office despot and asked what i was doing. I said they threw away nice chairs, I was seeing what else they threw away. Then he drove away. Today when I go check it out, the dumpster was moved over by..... 3/4 feet so that one side of the dumpster with the sliding door was touching the dumpster for the resturant next door. I don't think it's a coincidence. Nothing good there though. And last time, I hit up two satples but both were too full to check them out...

But not today. The first one I hit up had a nice cabinet, cherry red (Satples always has the nice cherry red furniture being thrown out.) but I didnt take it. Too big and no room in the car. What I do end up getting is a 50 pack of certificate paper (gold marble background with silver border design), a avery pack of clear/see thru mailing labels, 6 yellow highlighters, 2 nice 10 dollar pens and refills, a four pack of white out pens, an electronic dictionary/thesaurus (you know, that big name brand one), and my favorite catch of the day, a 8.5 x 11 sheet of magnifying glass. If I could find another one, I would be so much closer to building a diy projector. But, my absolutly best find there today was..... A motorola h700 bluetooth headset thingy. Works. Wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't blinking. According to moto, it has a msrp of 99 dollars. Go figure.

Next up was Eb. Got a bunch of stuff there last time, but its always hit or miss. I ended up finding a full dumpster with a bunch of leaves on the bottom half, and it got all humid/wet tonight, so everything was geting wet from the moisture. But I found 4 more of those 4 dvd see thru cases. I have 6 in total now, holding 24 discs. Great for dvd storage of movies for my media pc.

Finally I stopped by the other Satples and climbed in. First thing I find is a 50lb scale. Works. At this point, I just want to remind everyone that slick wood tables give you no traction, so watch were you step or put your weight on. I then end up finding one roll of clear packing tape with the dispenser/cutter thing, two bigger rolls without it, a bunch of pens and markers, a huge pack of transparencies outside of their box (Don't know if they are laser or inkjet :[ ) an hp trail software thing, 2 reams of blood red paper (not wrapped, so didnt take) a belkin triptune thing (second one I've found at satples, second one that didnt work) an ipod video voice recorder, a 12 pack of percision drawing pens, dual sided, one thin and one thick side, a usb hub with power brick, and about 6/10th of a 50 pack of cd-rs (those that stayed on the spindle even without the lid).

Pictures off all of this and last weeks stuff soon. Need to clean first.

[133]

damn thats a nice score! :D

[i_am_mustang_man]

i can't wait to get home for the holidays, when my dad bro and i go do this. there is a really big area of tech companies (ericsson, qualcomm, TI, everything) and they throw out stuff all the time. lots of furniture, not so much electronics in the past. but my dad always gets the wood and shelving from his garage here (or the dumpsters behind home depot)

i've never gone to behind an eb, but that sounds ridiculously awesome. there are a few gamecrazy and gamestops and stuff around, i will have to hit that up :D

[c.d.e]

i can't wait to get home for the holidays, when my dad bro and i go do this. there is a really big area of tech companies (ericsson, qualcomm, TI, everything) and they throw out stuff all the time. lots of furniture, not so much electronics in the past. but my dad always gets the wood and shelving from his garage here (or the dumpsters behind home depot)

i've never gone to behind an eb, but that sounds ridiculously awesome. there are a few gamecrazy and gamestops and stuff around, i will have to hit that up :D

Don't get your hopes up about the game shops. They are about as likely to throw out a system or games as you or I am. Mostly empty game cases, display/promotion items, and the pre-order gifts, unless the employees take them first.

[TheLordsServant]

I finally went real dumpster diving for the first time, behind my local mac store, and I hit the motherload. I found an old iMac G3 400mhz indigo (works great but when I post pics you'll see why it's free :D) an ADB apple mouse, several PRAM batteries for iMacs, Powermacs, etc, and an apple mighty mouse, all of it works great! That was what I found on top, didn't dig terribly deep.

[travis712]

I finally went real dumpster diving for the first time, behind my local mac store, and I hit the motherload. I found an old iMac G3 400mhz indigo (works great but when I post pics you'll see why it's free :D) an ADB apple mouse, several PRAM batteries for iMacs, Powermacs, etc, and an apple mighty mouse, all of it works great! That was what I found on top, didn't dig terribly deep.

Nice score dude. Im still tempted to check out staples, think I might hafto. No local apple stores around me :(.

[c.d.e]

I wished there was a local mac store or pc place that fixed macs. All I have is The apple store in the mall and A compusa/mac corner which uses a compactor.

[SpangeMonkee]

I wished there was a local mac store or pc place that fixed macs. All I have is The apple store in the mall and A compusa/mac corner which uses a compactor.

you really don't want old macs. they're hard to revive and basically worthless when you do. believe you me, I have 2 imacs.

[c.d.e]

you really don't want old macs. they're hard to revive and basically worthless when you do. believe you me, I have 2 imacs.

I have a pre g3 powermac that I used for 5 years. I know how to fix them and they are worth it (g3s atleast now)

[c.d.e]

Post christmas day dive...... failed. Nothing good at all.

[Atlas77]

They should make this a sport, send two teams out in the middle of the night and then come back in a couple of hours and whoever scored the most wins their pile + the other teams pile.:D

[Irishllama]

So tonight was our first dumpster diving, probaly totaled about 650 dollars + in stuff =]

Stuff including, Xbox 360 wheel and pedals, a new in box PSP, about 400+ PS2,xbox and ps1 games in sleeves, 5 PSU's, amazing book case, metal shelving.

[fodder0]

that is one amazing find!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[agibby5]

So tonight was our first dumpster diving, probaly totaled about 650 dollars + in stuff =]

Stuff including, Xbox 360 wheel and pedals, a new in box PSP, about 400+ PS2,xbox and ps1 games in sleeves, 5 PSU's, amazing book case, metal shelving.


where'd you go?

[Killermac]

So tonight was our first dumpster diving, probaly totaled about 650 dollars + in stuff =]

Stuff including, Xbox 360 wheel and pedals, a new in box PSP, about 400+ PS2,xbox and ps1 games in sleeves, 5 PSU's, amazing book case, metal shelving.

Excellent finds but I DEMAND proof ;) let see some pics.

KM

[Irishllama]

Excellent finds but I DEMAND proof ;) let see some pics.

KM

Haha alright, once I go to my friends house again (Where all the stuff is, besides the wheel) I shall take pictures out the wazoo!

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3292/xboxfn5.jpg

Here is the xbox wheel/pedals though =]

[Killermac]

:o well shut my mouth nice find brother, daaaamn. I need to find your dumpsters. :o

KM

[Irishllama]

:o well shut my mouth nice find brother, daaaamn. I need to find your dumpsters. :o

KM

Haha, the greatest find was a PSP, as you can see in shaggyD's thread (He's my friend).

Although 400+ games was nice too :P, along with OMGZ wireless controllers and such.
I'm obsessed with DD'ing down. :D

[Lazarey]

Irishllama, I'm speechless...

Let me know if you want to sell some of those games!

[Irishllama]

Irishllama, I'm speechless...

Let me know if you want to sell some of those games!

Haha alrighty, I'll talk to shaggyD about it.

Any games you looking for in perticular?

[Lazarey]

Haha alrighty, I'll talk to shaggyD about it.

Any games you looking for in perticular?

Anything for Xbox (original not 360). Feel free to PM me :)

[tpfaff]

Haha alright, once I go to my friends house again (Where all the stuff is, besides the wheel) I shall take pictures out the wazoo!

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3292/xboxfn5.jpg

Here is the xbox wheel/pedals though =]

Who the @#%! throws away a psp and 360 wheel AND 500 games, WTF where did you go to find this stuff?

[Irishllama]

Anything for Xbox (original not 360). Feel free to PM me :)


Alrighty, will look =]



Who the @#%! throws away a psp and 360 wheel AND 500 games, WTF where did you go to find this stuff?

Haha I have no clue, on top of like a million other things such ad headsets, controllers.

Oh I cant tell you where, that would ruin the secret eh!

[crazjayz]

Went DDing today, Office Depot, Compusa, and a random runaround to Toys R Us. Anyway, got 3 DVD-Rs from Office Depot. Compusa and Toys R Us had compactors :( It was a quick run, lasting only 25 minutes or so, and I went alone without a flashlight (forgot it *doh!*) Anyway, t'was fun as usual. Anyone around Arcadia, CA or Los Angeles (especially around USC) that can DD?

[SPARTAN VI]

Alrighty, will look =]
Oh I cant tell you where, that would ruin the secret eh!

It's called your rich neighbor's kid's christmas stash! :D

[jeffmoss26]

last week i was at my dad's work and i got a FREE HP Vectra P2-450 :)
Yeah I know, not diving but it was still free...I still get tons of scrap wire from there too.

[Irishllama]

It's called your rich neighbor's kid's christmas stash! :D

No :D, or we would of found a few mercedes, and a Porsche.

[Niksa]

One of my friends was picking up a really awesomeand practically new stereo from a dumpster behind a store, and a security cop actually told him it was illegal to remove stuff in dumpsters until they had been removed to a landfill, because the dumpster was the property of the store still. Anyone ever hear anything similar?

[I3roknI3ottle]

anyone in the detroit downriver area (allen park, taylor, lincoln park, etc..) wanna DD, just PM and we'll set something up. I've got a cavalier, not a whole lot of room but we could nab some stuff.


side story my cousin works at a recycle place in detroit and find all kinds of stuff, he saw somebody carrying out a 42"+ Plasma TV, they plugged it in and it worked he said and the guy put it in his car. The only thing is they can't sell whatever they find.

[ShepsCrook]

I did this once and walked away with a DVD player, some studio monitors, Windows OneNote 2003, and a few CDs.

[cerebrex]

My best dive ever was 4 years ago, I found a box of brand new SCSI controllers for a rack mount server.. sold the lot for over 4k on ebay

[c.d.e]

One of my friends was picking up a really awesomeand practically new stereo from a dumpster behind a store, and a security cop actually told him it was illegal to remove stuff in dumpsters until they had been removed to a landfill, because the dumpster was the property of the store still. Anyone ever hear anything similar?

Technically yes, and no. Most of the time, the store rents the dumpster from the collection company, and you are on private (but open to the public) property.

[xgambetx]

i have just finished reading all of these pages and wow my god how many good things ppl have actually found going through dumpsters

[Lazarey]

I decided to swing by my local CC the other day, but they have compactors. So much for my first Dumpster Diving trip...
I'll have to try GameStop next. It'll be tricky because the dumpster area is out in the open. But I'm just looking for boxes right ;)

[xgambetx]

why does everyone hate compactors?

[Maniacmous]

why does everyone hate compactors?

Compactors are normally locked - breaking into a locked dumpster is illegal. Beyond that, they are liable to turn on at any time...really not a good idea to be in them anyway - avoid them, for your own good.

[TridenT_Boy3555]

You all are very fortunate to have electronic stores so close to you all. Nearest one for me is about 60 miles away. Unless you count Staples as a electronics store...

[MONSOON]

You all are very fortunate to have electronic stores so close to you all. Nearest one for me is about 60 miles away. Unless you count Staples as a electronics store...
There has been more than a couple of people on here that have had pretty good luck at Staples. You never know til you hop in there and check it out.

[JaYp146]

I've had some of my best finds at Staples. For example:

I found, new in a damaged box, this desk lamp:
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=2&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=11811&cmArea=SC2:CG35:DP1544:CL161817

Also, a nice briefcase (brand new, damaged box):
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=0&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=101415&cmArea=SC1:CG20:CL120500


And my personal favorite, this chair:
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?ts=1173237757773&storeId=10001&noredir=true&productId=154853&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&cmArea=SC2:CG32:CL142570
Unfortunately, the employees at Staples slashed it up a bit with box cutters. However, the damage wasn't too serious, and it quickly became the most popular piece of furniture in our college house. :p

...and a few dozen blank DVDRs. I haven't gone DDing in a while, too much schoolwork .. but yeah, Staples's is the dumpster to be in. ;)

[barefootbilly]

Went DDing today, Office Depot, Compusa, and a random runaround to Toys R Us. Anyway, got 3 DVD-Rs from Office Depot. Compusa and Toys R Us had compactors :( It was a quick run, lasting only 25 minutes or so, and I went alone without a flashlight (forgot it *doh!*) Anyway, t'was fun as usual. Anyone around Arcadia, CA or Los Angeles (especially around USC) that can DD?

small world,
<----Arcadia, CA

don't go DD anymore though

[Kuros]

If anyone is in the North County area in California and needs a DD buddy, let me know.

[carp3n0ct3m]

Went DDing today, Office Depot, Compusa, and a random runaround to Toys R Us. Anyway, got 3 DVD-Rs from Office Depot. Compusa and Toys R Us had compactors :( It was a quick run, lasting only 25 minutes or so, and I went alone without a flashlight (forgot it *doh!*) Anyway, t'was fun as usual. Anyone around Arcadia, CA or Los Angeles (especially around USC) that can DD?

Monrovia right here, not too far from arcadia. Don't do much DDing though.

[Kuros]

If anyone is in the North County area in California and needs a DD buddy, let me know.

Anyone? No one? :(

[yoda634]

Anyone in/around Atlanta up for this? I'm in midtown, but we'd probably want to head north to Marietta and that area where it's more industrial. I've got a car, but it's too small to comfortably hold anything. I haven't been diving in forever, but I'm glad to see my thread's still going after what, like 5 years now? :cool:

I hardly ever come here anymore, so your best bet would be to hit me up on AIM -- NewName4Evrythng

[HiDDeN sTaSh]

if anyones in the portland/vancouver area and is interested in goin for a hunt one night. PM me

[jajaja]

So who here has participated in or observed a "Dive Rumble" where two rival dive gangs meet and dispute their dumpster territory?

LOL

[d94]

does anyone go by themselves? iv got laods of best buys, officemax, staples, officedepots, gamestops..uhmm and other stores around lol

most of my buddies are just too tired to go..so should i go myself? and if so is about 10pm a good time?

by the way...today when i was rolling up to an atm i saw some dude ride up to the dumpster of a an oil change place and him + his gf got some cans of oil LOL

the only reason i remember is because she fell in and came out missing her skirt

[jajaja]

no dude, don't go by yourself , except you'r only wishing to get small amount of stuff. if you want big scores bring your friend. Just like others say, 3 people including you would be great. One stay alert in the car, one stand by the dumpster to help out the diver

I have in mind on forwarding this thread to two of my roomates, I hope they find this interesting. beside getting free stuff I think it's very fun aldrenaline pump activity to do at nite LOL

[misfisto]

what all tv you found in last year
3 27 inch
1 hd 32 inch
53 inch hd gave away needed 275 to fix
35 sony trintron
36 sony flat tube

[Ur_Mom]

Found a couple eMachines today with Celeron 2.7's, DVD/CD-RWs... Bad power supplies, no HD or RAM, but good cases with XP Home keys and motherboard & CPU. Not bad. Powered them up and they work fine (tested without HD, though).

Good find, probably going to throw in some spare parts and make a couple PC's to sell or give away to someone that needs them. Not the best, but not bad at all.

[Imcompa]

I would laugh my ass off if I saw too people fighting over a dumpster.

[AlTio]

I haven't been for a while, I like to check out the recycler for computers n stuff that might have good cap's in them or good windings so I can mess around with little electric projects. I went to seagate once with a friend a long time ago, found a bunch of hard drive heads, magnets, platters and tons of screws and drive motor parts....

recently stopped by a recycle bin and found a never been used holeshot vortex signature series slip on and some other parts that look like unbuilt motorcycle exhausts. I guess there's a local shop that builds em.

[dragonslayer45895]

Well i wouldnt call this dumpster diving.....but.....i did save 300+ computers and 200+ monitors from the dump:eek: :eek: :cool: ......2 schools cleaning house....guy bought all of them at an action and never got them....i was just in the right place at the right time i guess.

Only problem now is.....my WHOLE garage is full of computers and monitors.....and my 78 Ford Club Wagon van is full of monitors....:eek: :eek: :eek:

EDIT:.....i forgot to mention that i also saved 3 servers too. and one took 3 men to get into the van :eek:

[SonOfMore]

When I was a little kid I found a wallet in the street complete with $60 in cash and photo I.D.'s. Me being the good Boy Scout that I am, called the guy up and delivered it to his apartment. He was so impressed that the Boy Scout returned his wallet that he gave me all three twenties that were inside. Sweet! There are some good people out there and it sure felt good to be $60 richer for doing the right thing. :)

As for DD, they should write a book on this. I'm having a blast reading through your stories, even though I've never done it myself. For those of you who keep promising pictures, make good on your promises. Let's see the booty! :D:D:D

[Lazarey]

When I was a little kid I found a wallet in the street complete with $60 in cash and photo I.D.'s. Me being the good Boy Scout that I am, called the guy up and delivered it to his apartment. He was so impressed that the Boy Scout returned his wallet that he gave me all three twenties that were inside. Sweet! There are some good people out there and it sure felt good to be $60 richer for doing the right thing. :)

As for DD, they should write a book on this. I'm having a blast reading through your stories, even though I've never done it myself. For those of you who keep promising pictures, make good on your promises. Let's see the booty! :D:D:D

Cool story :)

I agree on both of the other statements, a book would be awesome (though unlikely since DD is semi illegal) and pictures of the loot are great. "A picture is worth a thousand words" ;)

[SonOfMore]

I manned up for the first time actually started poking around. Found a new office chair at Staples. The back of it was semi-detatched from the bottom part and you can't lean on it without it losing support. Still, if I tear off the backing I could make a decent stool out of it. The Staples people were kind enough not to take the boxcutter to the lower portion! Whoohoo!

I also found a couple of mats with different logos on them at Gamespot.

See the pics thread for an update shortly.

[kkevvy]

I actually went out with my friend last night, really impromptu.

Hit up a skate shop dumpster, he found 4 wheels, 2 trucks, bearings in the boxes, and a deck with rubbed graphs on the bottom. Pretty sick, a whole new setup, for free! He was psyched. Haha.

Saw some other stuff, an office chair thjat wouldnt fit in my car, nothing too spectacular here... lotta locked ones and alot of compactors.

[P£P§!™]

This stuff sounds really fun and leaving in a big city like i do there are tons of stores so if anyone lives in the Houston area and would like to go DD i will do it like 1 a week , lol im so cheap ! :D

[RoboticPotPie]

I also found a couple of mats with different logos on them at Gamespot.

See the pics thread for an update shortly.

Wow, didn't know you could go DD at a website.:p

Nice find, too bad they don't throw away games:D

[SonOfMore]

Erm, GameStop. :D

[vbrtrmn]

Found a nice dual keyboard stand (musical keyboard) behind MicroCenter, the other day; gave that to a friend of mine. Also got some slightly beat-up trade-show wheeled cases, which I gave to another friend of mine for his video production company.

Wasn't much else worth picking up there, though.

Thankfully the stuff was in one of those nice long bins that are easy to get in and out of.

[fantomau]

I did this 1 time behind a local computer store and was shocked to find:

WD Raptor 36gig Drive still in the box, But box had big hole in it, Tested it and it worked fine for 3-4 months until it died.
5 USB Belkin Cables (Green LED), But the boxes were busted up, 3 of them worked
A Logitech wireless mouse, But didnt work.

Friend of mine does this all the time and he found a near perfect Thermaltake Shark case, Lucky ass.

[Hazaro]

Well since I can post now...

I hit up BB, CC, Stples, cell phone shop, and a sports place.

Got a case for my cell phone :rolleyes:

[plinko]

I've made over $200 selling software on eBay I found dumpster diving. :D Staples is a gold mine! Of course, it's very important to be honest if you are doing this for profit. NEVER sell anything without complete packaging and UPC's.

[GTA3mobster]

My advice for dumpster diving:

When a garbage can is full of bags, take the bags out of the dumpster (without getting trash all over the place) to get as deep as possible. Start with the bags that remain in the dumpster. It's best to move all the bags to the front of the dumpster and work them to the back (eg. tear bags, dump stuff in back and sort through it). Once you get finished looking through the bags left in the dumpster, get out and put the bags you took out and get back in. Repeat the same process.

For dumpsters that are moderately full, sometimes it's easiest to just take several bags off the top, find a pallet/something to stand on (I'm about 5'10" and it's difficult to reach into the dumpster without jumping halfway in. Which hurts a lot after a while), tear and dump the bags into the dumpster and sort it while standing outside of the dumpster. This way you don't have to work while in the trash.

It's best if possible to go everyday for a week. If you can figure out when the trash day is, the day before trash day is when all the big crap gets thrown out, so it's a good bet to swing by and do a quick check to see if there's any larger items (eg. computers, printers, chairs, etc). Start the daily checks once the garbage can has been emptied. If you sort all the bags the first day, and go daily, you will only have to sort 1/2 days of trash (which is much quicker than sorting a whole dumpster) and you will recognize patterns of what gets thrown on which days.

I haven't ever encountered any problems from employees (mainly because I go very late at night. Usually between 2-4 am). There's a mall cop that circles around Bestbuy/Officemax in my area (they're adjacent to a mall) and I usually cut my light when I see him driving towards me. He's probably seen me a few times. If I know he's seen me for sure, I keep my light on and continue diving (so he doesn't think I'm trying to break in or anything).

As for people who don't own cars, I own both a car and a bike. If you want to take your bike (I'm not sure how easy track bikes would be to use, but I know a mountain bike works fine) just bring a large backpack along. If you are diving and find electrostatic bags/bubblewrap save some for future trips in case you find any computer parts. Computer parts also fare well inside of small cardboard boxes.

If you happen to find a full sized computer while biking you will have to disassemble the parts and leave the case/PSU. Bring a screwdriver/wirecutter if you intend on keeping a computer you find while biking.

So far my best find (in terms of usefulness) was two sets of Uniden phones: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7773475&type=product&id=1142290010272
I didn't take the expansion phones, just the main bases. Work perfectly.

Last week I found a digital postage scale at Officemax. There was a return sticker on the box saying something about "had recreational use" implying someone bought it to weigh weed. When I opened it, all the packaging was there and it works perfect.

In the past 3-4 months I have found and kept: 3 complete computers (one P3, two celeron), several geforce fx5200 cards, about 10 sticks of PC133 RAM (haven't tested yet), one Powermac G4 laptop (screen busted, haven't tested any components), 2 Epson all in one printers, like 10 of every computer cable/power adapter there is (USB, power supply, etc), 1000 feet of Cat5 cable, 50 (2 unopened boxes) 3 foot Cat5 cables, some more cat5 cables, two laser mice (brand new), like 20 boxes of software, laptop carrying case, some other stuff like blank media, rechargeable Duracell lithium batteries, etc. That's just the stuff I kept too.

I also found a dumpster (one of those giant construction ones) at an office building with like 30 used (not worn out though) office chairs. That would've been a huge find if I owned a business or something.

CompUSA a couple months ago had a giant dumpster (bigger than construction sized ones. It was a dumpster the size of the compactor dumpsters without the compactor) and that had like 20 old school monitors in it. Not worth taking but it was still pretty cool to find it (and likewise destroy a few).

I live near Raven Software (http://www.ravensoft.com/games.aspx) and went there one night. There were 8 empty 8800 GTX boxes. I was so disappointed (at the fact they didn't throw any of the old ones away). I found a Dell P4 mobo there, though, so I was content. I went back another time and found a racoon. That wasn't quite as pleasant.

I will try to take pictures of all the stuff. There's so much crap I know I left stuff out. But keep in mind most of what you find is crap. I like to do it because: It's something to do, I find it fun, it doesn't cost anything to do, gets me exercise, and finding stuff that isn't junk is awesome.

[swatbat]

GTA3mobster,

Not a bad collection of stuff. Which g4 apple did you find?

I haven't been dumpster diving in a while now. Did it all the time when I was in like middle school. We use to look for porn.

[aardvark sandwich]

A few years ago, there was a hurricane on the East Coast that knocked out all the power in Maryland. I was working at the Colesville Giant grocery store. We were ordered to through away any refrigerated food. We threw out about 35 thousand dollars worth of food. When I say we, it was me and 2 other guys. Kind of like a Salvation Army assembly line in the commercials, but we were throwing the stuff away, lol.

Just thought you'd like to hear the other side of the coin, in regards to the dumpster experiences. :)

[c.d.e]

A few years ago, there was a hurricane on the East Coast that knocked out all the power in Maryland. I was working at the Colesville Giant grocery store. We were ordered to through away any refrigerated food. We threw out about 35 thousand dollars worth of food. When I say we, it was me and 2 other guys. Kind of like a Salvation Army assembly line in the commercials, but we were throwing the stuff away, lol.

Just thought you'd like to hear the other side of the coin, in regards to the dumpster experiences. :)

That's a safety issue, not corporate greed.

My advice for dumpster diving:

When a garbage can is full of bags, take the bags out of the dumpster (without getting trash all over the place) to get as deep as possible. Start with the bags that remain in the dumpster. It's best to move all the bags to the front of the dumpster and work them to the back (eg. tear bags, dump stuff in back and sort through it). Once you get finished looking through the bags left in the dumpster, get out and put the bags you took out and get back in. Repeat the same process.

For dumpsters that are moderately full, sometimes it's easiest to just take several bags off the top, find a pallet/something to stand on (I'm about 5'10" and it's difficult to reach into the dumpster without jumping halfway in. Which hurts a lot after a while), tear and dump the bags into the dumpster and sort it while standing outside of the dumpster. This way you don't have to work while in the trash.


Don't do the dumping thing unless you're pretty sure it has something. One, it tips them off, two, its pretty dickish. Think about your cans and if someone did that to your trashbags.

And yes, do tell, what kinda Powerbook?

I've made over $200 selling software on eBay I found dumpster diving. :D Staples is a gold mine! Of course, it's very important to be honest if you are doing this for profit. NEVER sell anything without complete packaging and UPC's.

Yes, staples is :D

[jwadd]

anyone in the bay area up for this send me a pm, dont wanna go alone on my first time.

[Seemund]

Here is what I got so far from 2 cities close to where I live:


Sir,

Article XV, Section 13 of the Milford By-Laws prohibits other than trash
haulers or town officilas, without the consent of a landowner or the owner
of the items, from opening, rummage through or disturb any garbage, rubbish,
or toher trash items or other items placed on or near a public or private
way for removal or recycling. A fine of not exceeding $200 is the penalty.

XxxXXxxXXXxxXX
Chief of Police

And this from another city:
The only thing that is required is that the dumpsters have a permit and
a lid or an enclosure 3 feet higher than the top! There is no regulation
for people going through the dumpsters! I would recommend calling the
police and have them move him if it is a problem for the neighborhood!
Lt XxXXxXXxXXxXxXX


1st City has: RadioShack,Best Buy, Staples, and Target :( So sad I can't DD there.
2nd City: Staples, Walmart, and small computer stores :)

[JaYp146]

A friend of mine and I were caught while hitting a Staples dumpster by a "friendly" policeman. Made up a bullshit excuse about needing boxes, he bought it.

Took down our driver's license numbers, let us go.

[ShepsCrook]

Anybody in the Raleigh, NC area / Wake Forest, NC area interested in going? I've got a Gamestop, Walmart, Radio Shack/Sprint, Staples, Target within a 1 mile radius from my place.

[c.d.e]

Here is what I got so far from 2 cities close to where I live:


And this from another city:


1st City has: RadioShack,Best Buy, Staples, and Target :( So sad I can't DD there.
2nd City: Staples, Walmart, and small computer stores :)

If you feel litigious, ask a lawyer if the first one can be considered to apply only to garbage picked up by the city and not private waste contractors.

[sliverjazz]

Anyone in the southern CT area?

[Elmntskater1588]

Shelton here

[vbrtrmn]

I just found an older analog Direct TV box, this summer. I put it on a shelf, I just looked at it again and it turned out to be a DVR with a 160GB Seagate HDD in it.

Another good place to check is apartment buildings around May/June right around the time that college gets out. Students throw out pretty much everything, especially in rich areas.

If you're into DD hard core, check out the Carolina Linesman (http://www.carolinashoe.com/Item.asp?StyleNo=905) boots, they have both steel toe and a steel shank sole. I'm going to get a pair mainly for my motorcycle, but they'll be really good for protection from rusty nails and such.

[ShepsCrook]

I'm still looking for someone to go DD with in Raleigh or Wake Forest NC.

[illuminate]

ok, i know this is dying, but i had a great find tonight.

I live in South Korea, and they have LAN places EVERYWHERE, and this one dude had some old PC's sitting out, all water logged and everything. So i took my screwdriver, and got 5 fans out of them... and then as i was leaving, on this concrete ledge, there was this lone processor, im looking at it right now, and all i can raed it the "Pentium4" part :eek::eek:

it was a nice find... and BTW, it does work!

[dragonslayer45895]

I went to the local rival computer shop in town....and found some stuffs :) :

1. Complete computer with the following:

ECS 775 mobo (dead..burn hole)
775 P4 3.0 (dead)
stock HSF (fan works :) )
250gb sata seagate (dreaded clicking noise)
9800XT 256mb vid card (not tested yet) was laying in the case :eek:
cheap powersupply (dead) fan works

2. kinda parted computer:

Fried 939 mobo (asrock dual sata2)
X2 3800 (works and is in a buddys computer)
stock HSF works
9800PRO (works)

and they both had cases but were front panelless :(

not bad for a first time at that shop :) now i know where to go

[ps3guru03]

im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....

[swatbat]

775 P4 3.0 (dead)


Keychain

[Scar1.8T]

im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....


Where in GA? If its the Fry's in Duluth, then no need to bother, I've tried and they have a compactor. And there is really no need to be nervous, having a few collapsed boxes in the trunk has worked every time I have had a visit from the security/police.

[burnin8r]

my girlfriend was cleaning up after xmas and threw away a $100 american express gift card. Fortunately, the compactor in our apartment complex broke and all the trash goes into an open top dumpster at the edge of the development. I dove in, did some excavation, and found the gift bag that had the card / gift certificate. hooray for me, thankfully I got it before you guys found it.

[Mohonri]

The second Wednesday of each month is Big Trash day here. Last month I was on my way home from a friend's house (doing computer repair, interestingly enough), and noticed that someone had a computer out on the curb. I stopped and took a look. Nothing big--a Dell uATX system with a Celeron 500MHz, but it was in perfect working condition. A little extra RAM from my sister's old-and-busted system, a bit of dusting out, and it runs like a champ. It'll become my file/print server in the very near future. Heck, if I spent $10 to put a 1GHz celeron in there, I could use it for Ubuntu pretty well.

[ps3guru03]

Where in GA? If its the Fry's in Duluth, then no need to bother, I've tried and they have a compactor. And there is really no need to be nervous, having a few collapsed boxes in the trunk has worked every time I have had a visit from the security/police.

yup...duluth...ohh....darn it...hmm, thanks for the tip.....also, did you try visiting the alpharetta location...im thinking they also have a compactor...??

[SippieCup]

Anyone in the southern CT area?

i live in fairfield county, the only place around there to go to is norwalk near the costco/home depot/walmart/CC/bestbuy area on the post road.

[bszlam2006]

anyone live near syracuse or CNY, i wannah go DD, but i dont wannah go alone.

[SpangeMonkee]

yup...duluth...ohh....darn it...hmm, thanks for the tip.....also, did you try visiting the alpharetta location...im thinking they also have a compactor...??

they do. ;)

[mnewxcv]

never did this. what time of day do you go and what day of the week? is it completely legal? :eek:

[mnewxcv]

When I was a little kid I found a wallet in the street complete with $60 in cash and photo I.D.'s. Me being the good Boy Scout that I am, called the guy up and delivered it to his apartment. He was so impressed that the Boy Scout returned his wallet that he gave me all three twenties that were inside. Sweet!



wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


too risky!

[daviasdf]

i live in fairfield county, the only place around there to go to is norwalk near the costco/home depot/walmart/CC/bestbuy area on the post road.

:wave: Ansonia here. But I work at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. Haven't tried dumpster diving yet..

[dj_taboo]

never did this. what time of day do you go and what day of the week? is it completely legal? :eek:

Have you checked the DD Faqs? :eek::rolleyes::D

[jeffmoss26]

Ok so it's probably not DD, but I was fixing a friend's computer today and they gave me a Compaq PC, P4 2.4Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, keyboard, and mouse :)

[munkle]

I got a socket a athlon and mobo and a 9200 Se out of compusa dumptser. Only the video card worked.

[vbrtrmn]

wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
too risky!

Nah, when I was younger and looked kinda scary, I returned a couple wallets and some kid's backpack. There's nothing better than knocking hard on a door and sternly asking, "Is Billy home?" to a stunned parent, then smiling and saying, "I found his backpack!"

[Outamyhead]

im located in GA, and we have a frys electronics store....i think I can find some goodies over there, but a store of that size will likely have a compactor....i'll have to check next time i go over there......but im a little nervous because i never went DD....

Yeah I know the procedure at Fry's...in CA anyway, if the service department has any old components that still works in some form but a majority of the system is dead, it gets chucked onto a pallet, wrapped and then sent out through the receiving section to the local HQ where it most likely becomes a brand new Fry's system from all the working components or it finds a new home with the guys that work at the HQ. Same thing with the new systems that are faulty, they get sent to the manufacturer via receiving. Your best bet is the HQ where everything gets repaired or scrapped/recycled.

[Boomslang]

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/910/dscn2009ay3.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7280/dscn2010ad3.jpg
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/5171/dscn2011mk5.jpg

Check out this beauty. No power cord. If anyone has any info on this machine, please contact me.

[illuminate]

^^ looks like something from Star-trek

[Outamyhead]

I cannot find anything on this system besides it being a Japanese market only system, and from the looks of it a very old one...possibly a p90 CPU, nothing usable for current software, windows 3.11 is your best bet.

[Boomslang]

I cannot find anything on this system besides it being a Japanese market only system, and from the looks of it a very old one...possibly a p90 CPU, nothing usable for current software, windows 3.11 is your best bet.

What about NetBSD? I'm a Linux user, so if I can load something Unix-y onto it, I'd be happy. Still need to figure out what to do for power. The battery is marked as 12V 1800mAh - if I can find a DC power supply that puts out 12V (I actually already have one, puts out 12V and 1000mA) and enough amperage, could I just hack off the end and construct a plug that fits? Could I even use an unused PC power supply configged as a bench supply and run the thing off the 12V line?

Alternatively, are there any "old computer" forums that I can register on?

Thanks!

[Mohonri]

What about NetBSD? I'm a Linux user, so if I can load something Unix-y onto it, I'd be happy. Still need to figure out what to do for power. The battery is marked as 12V 1800mAh - if I can find a DC power supply that puts out 12V (I actually already have one, puts out 12V and 1000mA) and enough amperage, could I just hack off the end and construct a plug that fits? Could I even use an unused PC power supply configged as a bench supply and run the thing off the 12V line?

Alternatively, are there any "old computer" forums that I can register on?I'd be willing to bet that your 12V 1000mA power supply would work just fine, although you should check the input power jack (if there is one) to confirm the requirements. And you definitely can set up a 12V PSU to run it.

[buschman31]

Two weeks ago i happened to find a computer case just off to the side of walkway. Picked it up, took it home and left on my way. Come back and checked it out. The side cover had a dent in it like if someone had kicked it. It had a working PCChips M810L mobo w/ a 950mhz Duron and a 128mb ddr. I updated the bios and got it to work w/ a 2400+ chip.

[Outamyhead]

I'd be willing to bet that your 12V 1000mA power supply would work just fine, although you should check the input power jack (if there is one) to confirm the requirements. And you definitely can set up a 12V PSU to run it.

That's true, providing you don't need a fancy connector of some kind you should be okay, I've not used Linux but I know the specs are low so you might be able to use that as well. Check the underside of the unit and see if it has any labels, they normally contain info about what voltage and Amperage can be used on the system.

[Boomslang]

That's true, providing you don't need a fancy connector of some kind you should be okay, I've not used Linux but I know the specs are low so you might be able to use that as well. Check the underside of the unit and see if it has any labels, they normally contain info about what voltage and Amperage can be used on the system.

True... It does. The parts that aren't in Japanese mention 20W and DC16V. The battery, however, is 12V. The thing does have a funky connector that I'd have to hack some bare wires onto, but I'm thinking that maybe I can just run my DC12V/1000mA line directly to the battery contacts.

I apologize for cluttering up the thread, by the way - now that I think about it, I should have posted this elsewhere :\

EDIT: I ran 12V lines to the battery contacts and powered the thing up successfully. The screen backlight came on, but there were no graphics. The machine made a few beep patterns, but other than that, it was pretty uninspiring. Once I can get a floppy disk written I'll be trying to boot NetBSD/pc98 on it.

[wjogert]

This was actually a couple years ago, around this very time...

I stopped by a local PC store, hoping to find an Athlon XP 2800+ thru 3200+. Ebay prices were ridiculous and none were to be found new, so figured WTH...

Well I walk in on Fri. afternoon and nobody there. Someone finally arrives, and it's the property owner. Turns out the two gents. that ran the store had skipped town and run off to FL, leaving everything behind. Their cars were left with keys in ignition for the repo-man. Furniture was left in the apartments. Store was left with an unpaid lease, and TONS of stuff, new and used. The owner was in process of clearing through the mess so that he could re-lease the store.

I bought a couple misc. cards from him for like $5, then left. Got home and started kickin' myself for my stupidity.

First thing the following Mon., I go back and find the owner. I ask him how much I can take for $25. He thinks for a minute, and tells me the more I take, the less he has to PAY to THROW OUT!! Then he tells me I shoulda' been there a week ago, 'cause the first dumpster load had already been emptied and was full again already!! Well you bet your ass I jumped into that dumpster!!

I have a small station wagon for hauling my drums to gigs. Well, between the dumpster and the shop, I filled that car twice, front to back, ceiling high with all sorts of parts. :D

And yes, I did even manage to score my Athlon XP 2800+ CPU... and then some!! :D

[Atherton213]

This was actually a couple years ago, around this very time...

I stopped by a local PC store, hoping to find an Athlon XP 2800+ thru 3200+. Ebay prices were ridiculous and none were to be found new, so figured WTH...

Well I walk in on Fri. afternoon and nobody there. Someone finally arrives, and it's the property owner. Turns out the two gents. that ran the store had skipped town and run off to FL, leaving everything behind. Their cars were left with keys in ignition for the repo-man. Furniture was left in the apartments. Store was left with an unpaid lease, and TONS of stuff, new and used. The owner was in process of clearing through the mess so that he could re-lease the store.

I bought a couple misc. cards from him for like $5, then left. Got home and started kickin' myself for my stupidity.

First thing the following Mon., I go back and find the owner. I ask him how much I can take for $25. He thinks for a minute, and tells me the more I take, the less he has to PAY to THROW OUT!! Then he tells me I shoulda' been there a week ago, 'cause the first dumpster load had already been emptied and was full again already!! Well you bet your ass I jumped into that dumpster!!

I have a small station wagon for hauling my drums to gigs. Well, between the dumpster and the shop, I filled that car twice, front to back, ceiling high with all sorts of parts. :D

And yes, I did even manage to score my Athlon XP 2800+ CPU... and then some!! :D


pics of loot!

[wjogert]

pics of loot!
OMG... lol!

Hmmm, actually my workshop is still in a quandry with boxes still yet to be unpacked...
I could take pics of the general mayhem! LMAO

Would'a been kewl to take pics back then, before I ditched some junk, sold some stuff, and put other stuff into use. But still enough stuff to make a really cluttered pic!!

Actually, I'm imagining a pic with JUST the hundreds of brand-new power cords, the dozens of unopened IDE cables, and the hundreds of phone cords. :eek: I could call it Mt. Copper.

[Kuros]

Does no one go anymore?

If anyone is interested, I'm based in Carlsbad, CA.

[l337*g0at]

I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.

[ShepsCrook]

I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.

Man that sucks. You went to find parts, but only found a new partner named bubba.

[LawGiver]

careful diving CC stores in phoenix. i have sex with co workers and throw used condoms out all the time.

[jtom617]

i found a panasonic laptop that looks about 15 years old, cd drive under keyboard,it wont go past POST tho i got the power and a leather case too! anyone interested on this beast!?! :P

its HUGE lol

oh yeah, i did find this Diving :)

[JaYp146]

I got busted by the Police on my first time. Needless to say, spending 5 hours being detained, left that first Dumpster Diving trip as my last one.

Me and a friend got off easy when we were first caught. Simply explained that we were "looking for boxes."

He let us off with a warning and let us know that this was private property (oops!).

[dragonslayer45895]

i found a panasonic laptop that looks about 15 years old, cd drive under keyboard,it wont go past POST tho i got the power and a leather case too! anyone interested on this beast!?! :P

its HUGE lol

oh yeah, i did find this Diving :)

you sir got a pm


and on the side note, i went to the local rival of mine's dumpster (:p) and found a 200w car amp (works great), 7 band passive equalizer (kinda works), a few socket 370 mobos (havent tested), and a socket A mobo that works (had a dead XP 3000 on it :( )

was a good dive, first time hitting his dumpster and i think i will do it again sometime!

[wjogert]

BTW, I suppose that checking the "scrap metal" pile at my local land-fill every weekend also qualifies as dumpster diving? ;)

The bounty there used to be much better, before I took on competition. Still not sure exactly who's been beating me out, but all he/she leaves me is useless scraps. I mean this person even takes the 486's and Socket 7's. :(

One day, I decided to conduct a test. I threw out the shell of a cool