Skip to main content

Update: Linux Laptops, desktop computers.


Much has changed since the last post was originally posted here. The biggest change is the Computer Recycling project has started selling AS-IS Linux Laptops. All laptops go through several stages (not necessarily in this order):
  1. Evaluation
  2. Testing
  3. Wiping
  4. Linux Installation
  5. Cataloguing/Processing
All laptops are sold AS-IS with no warranty. This brings up the obvious question "why even test/wipe systems?" if you're just going to sell them AS-IS. The answer is a combination of things:
  • We rely completely on donations, Computer Recycling doesn't buy equipment through vendors or anywhere else (we simply don't have the budget to do this).
  • Much of the equipment is difficult to get parts for. Laptops tend to be very proprietary - two laptops with the exact same model number may have a different keyboard connector depending on the date and factory they were manufactured in (we've actually seen this when we tried replacing a particular laptop keyboard).
  • We help people from all walks of life, some people are a bit more rough on their laptops than others.
  • Laptops generally take more time to service than desktops.
  • It helps us keep the price down.
  • We only have a small set of skilled volunteers that work on laptops. While we have a huge amount of interest in repairing laptops we only have longer-term skilled volunteers working on laptops.
There are other reasons we don't sell Laptops with a warranty, but these are the main reasons. Generally we try to only build Core 2 Duo or newer laptops as older laptops tend to not stutter a lot when displaying Youtube. Every laptop comes with a sheet that lists any potential issues the laptops might have (1 hour battery for example).

Testing involves a number of steps that include:
  • Testing the hard drive
  • Testing RAM
  • Testing the wireless
  • Testing sound
  • Testing the battery life (playing a youtube video while on battery power)
  • Installing drivers (Nvidia, wifi, etc).
 Laptops start at roughly $60 for a Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM and an 80GB HDD and go up from there depending on the CPU, RAM, drive size and battery life.

Of course we continue to build desktop systems and have an array of both Windows 10 and Linux desktops. To buy a Windows 10 system from our project you must qualify (using the Region of Waterloo Low-Income Cut Off) as a low-income individual/family. We buy new "Citizenship" licenses of Windows 10 along with licenses of Office 2010 Home and Business. Our Linux desktops (and laptops) are available to everyone.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Canon BJ-30 Bubble Jet Printer

A few days ago we received a Canon BJ-30 Bubble jet printer as part of a group of printer donations. We tested this tiny printer which measures about 1 foot wide by 1/2 foot long when the lid is closed. Amazingly the donated printer still contained ink. Sadly it seems that Canon has discontinued making any drivers or information for Windows available on their web site. We tested the printer under Ubuntu Linux version 10.04 and it printed a test page flawlessly (we even got a full tank of ink). I called our favourite ink re-filler and found that the do indeed still carry the cartridges for this portable printer. We looked around for information about the BJ-30 and discovered that this tiny printer is 720dpi x 360 dpi, although we suspect that number is a software-interpolation number that depends on a Windows driver. As anyone can see from our screen shot above the printer seems to print just fine. The biggest downside to the printer we felt was the lack of a USB port, and the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Considering Godaddy hosting?

I've been a Godaddy customer for several years. When I first signed on with Godaddy their hosting was reasonably efficient and very affordable. While the afford-ability has stayed the same the quality of hosting has dropped magnitudes. Godaddy simply hasn't been a good host now for several years, and it simply isn't worth the "affordable" price anymore because of the lack of stability. What am I talking about? Regular 500 Internal Server Errors resulting from the servers simply being overloaded. Godaddy just can't handle their success and as a result has commodified everything to the point where their offerings are just crap. If the site's not available most of the time it isn't worth the money, no matter how little you spend.
1 comment
Read more