486 Class computers and older

Just got a load of new equipment in last week, and after going through I find 20-30 computers with 486/early pentium processors. I decided to look up what resale on the machines would be and found that a lot of people seem to be buying these machines for sentimental value.

I can't decide if I will be selling them whole or if I will part them out yet, from forums/ebay searches, you can make $100+ just on a motherboard if you can test it to make sure it works. Other circuit boards from this generation are going from $20-60 EACH if they are rare and verified working.

I know what I'll be doing this winter, setting up a 486 lab to test everything out with!

You will find out that very few motherboards will get you $100 from collectors (and rare really means rare). Still anything working that's socket 4 or older is worth more then scrap but you will have to put in many hours of research and testing to figure out how to make money in collectables.

Anyone with lots of space, a few bucks for test equipment, soldering and troubleshooting skills, lots of time and the ability to sell can make some money reselling old computers. The problem is most people with those skills can make more money easier doing something else.

I agree that I'm not going to make a fortune unless I happen to get that one machine everyone is looking for. I grew up with those systems and think I can remember enough to test equipment out. If I hit the jackpot I'll let everyone know

When you work with older stuff, you have to readjust back. It's like opening a whole new world again. Vintage machines can be worth a lot, or not much. For example, I saw a Packard Bell desktop sell for $150- not bad! The reason was that it was a desktop- Packard Bell towers aren't really rare, but you never see a desktop. My advice is to look everything up and see what they've sold for (Not what they're listed for, but what they've sold for).

Even the Socket 7 machines are starting to have value. Don't forget Mac stuff too!

Sadly, nobody wants nostalgic CRT monitors :D

I just loaded Windows 3.1 from floppies after installing DOS 6.2 and then upgrading to DOS 6.22 on an old 486. I had forgotten how spoiled we got with Windows 95 on up. In retrospect Windows 3.1 was a clunker, but in it's day it was pretty slick and I used to love it. I still have a lot on the old floppies but alas I cannot find my 5 1/4 single densities- I have an Old IBM 5150 I want to run them on.

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Originally Posted by matador

Sadly, nobody wants nostalgic CRT monitors :D

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People do, but they are very very picky. CGA, EGA, Amiga/Commodore, Atari monitors will sell if working.

random factoid.

gamers used to seek out the commodore monitors because it the av ports on the front

Old console gamers like the 1701/1702 commodore monitors because of the sharp picture , built in carry handles, they were compact, and had built in sound. I keep around an old SONY pro 12" monitor because of the sharpness of the picture tube (and I like messing with old video capture setups).

yep. back in the day I used my commodore 1701 with a 4-head hi-fi vcr for years because the picture was so much better than a tv!

funny about the Packard bell desktops, I just scrapped 2 of them last night with 1st gen pentium's 66mhz....those big CPU's man, probably more gold than my wedding ring ha ha...

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Originally Posted by gungatim

yep. back in the day I used my commodore 1701 with a 4-head hi-fi vcr for years because the picture was so much better than a tv!

funny about the Packard bell desktops, I just scrapped 2 of them last night with 1st gen pentium's 66mhz....those big CPU's man, probably more gold than my wedding ring ha ha...

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There should be a market for socket 4 (Pentium 60/66) motherboards and chips above scrap value.

Actually it's more than sentimental value.

The retro gamers (my 16yr old is one of them) are seeking out the older machines to run the old dos games on...so if you run across an older machine and a bunch of old games, test it, bundle it, and list it.

When I think of all those old win95 games I tossed over the years...:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by gungatim

those big CPU's man, probably more gold than my wedding ring ha ha...

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Well you must have a cheap wife and an extremely small ring finger. I have a cheap wife and am very happy about that. Mike