Old computer cables

J

JOhnH

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I have been pack-ratting old computer cables for years. I don't even know what most of them are for. There are a lot of old vga cables, other 9-pin D cables, USB cables with weird ends for charging various old pieces of gear. And several computer style AC power cords.There are old S-Video cables, and serial cables. I have a pretty good sized box crammed full of these.

Unless anyone thinks I could give them away, maybe to a scrap metal dealer or something, I would do that, otherwise, would it be ok to just dump these in the trash?
 
Out here in the environmentally conscious West(heh) there are plenty of recycling places. I usually batch them up and take them to the same place I take my scrap metal, motor oil and cardboard that doesn't fit in my recycle bin. They have a bin for cables and one for electronics.
 
chartbundle said:
Out here in the environmentally conscious West(heh) there are plenty of recycling places. I usually batch them up and take them to the same place I take my scrap metal, motor oil and cardboard that doesn't fit in my recycle bin. They have a bin for cables and one for electronics.
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Good idea. I also have some old NiCad batteries and old computer towers to take there.
 
Then (some of) the "environmentally conscious" recycling places put them in container ships and send them to North Africa where young children make a living scavenging the dumped materials melting the plastic off the wire and selling the metal for scrap. Google eWaste Africa it is eye opening.
 
I have the same thing. I keep EVERYTHING computer related. I never know when I'll need a weird adapter because I'm recycling an old part in a new build but I know 95% of it I'll never use and should trash. I keep old power supplies, empty towers, old monitors, mice, printers, scanners, even the boxes new stuff comes in. My method of storing the user manual and CD/DVD is to keep it in the empty box. It's easy to spot that way. If I try to put such things in a drawer or file folder I'll never find it again. I have my sister's vintage 2000 Gateway I don't even use. When the hard drive failed I replaced it, I keep the thing alive because she is deceased so its sentimental, plus I love its 4:3 monitor, cannot make myself get rid of it. I do not have these hoarding tendencies in other areas of life, just technology for some reason.
 
I saw a bin for old cables at Best Buy so I put a bagful in it.

It's harder to get rid of stuff than accumulate it. I'm never going to accumulate stuff again...
 
The computer-style A/C cords are still the standard for desktop PCs/printers, flat-screen television sets, A/V equipment . . . not that that's particularly useful. I keep a spare one from an old computer handy as I've had a few times when it's come in handy elsewhere. I keep one of about each type of cable handy in a storage tub in the attic. Old style USB, miniUSB, microUSB, VGA, HDMI, S-Video, Component Video, Coax, Cat5, a varied assortment of stereo/phono adapters/splitters. It's amazing how often I end up digging out a cable when I was shorted one by the store, or am trying to make something work in a pinch.
 
SoonerAviator said:
The computer-style A/C cords are still the standard for desktop PCs/printers, flat-screen television sets, A/V equipment . . . not that that's particularly useful. I keep a spare one from an old computer handy as I've had a few times when it's come in handy elsewhere. I keep one of about each type of cable handy in a storage tub in the attic. Old style USB, miniUSB, microUSB, VGA, HDMI, S-Video, Component Video, Coax, Cat5, a varied assortment of stereo/phono adapters/splitters. It's amazing how often I end up digging out a cable when I was shorted one by the store, or am trying to make something work in a pinch.
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I'll see that and raise you SCSI - both versions!
 
murphey said:
I'll see that and raise you SCSI - both versions!
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Both? I had SCSI-1, and three variations of SCSI-2 for a while. Anybody remember the 32-bit SCSI-2 variant?
 
How about those Apple stereo docking stations which have been rendered T-Rex by the new style connector.
 
Everskyward said:
I saw a bin for old cables at Best Buy so I put a bagful in it.

It's harder to get rid of stuff than accumulate it. I'm never going to accumulate stuff again...
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But think of all the fun you'll miss packing them, then, after the move trying to remember what all of them are/were for. :D

That said, I have a drawer full of such cables, many never used. Network, usb, abc, def, ghi...................................
 
Best Buy take them.
 
murphey said:
I'll see that and raise you SCSI - both versions!
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Lol, I don't believe I have anything quite that specialized/antiquated. No parallel/serial cables, but I might have a PS/2-style cable in there somewhere.
 
Sundancer said:
Trash, Dude, trash . . .
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Almost any electronics recycling place or E-Waste drop off sites will take cables. Better than just dumping in a landfill if they do not have useful life anymore.

They toss them all in one of the gazillion of empty containers heading back to China from the cheap crap they shipped to up then will strip out the micro grams of golds and metals then sell it back to us as more manufactured cheap crap. Not a perfect solution but better than a landfill IMO.
 
jsstevens said:
Both? I had SCSI-1, and three variations of SCSI-2 for a while. Anybody remember the 32-bit SCSI-2 variant?
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Oh wait.....how about all the ancient AppleTalk connectors?
 
Donate them to your nearest TRACON or Tower. They could use all of them. Many could even use SCSI...
 
My wife has complained about my boxes of cables and transformers for a long long time. Her daughter just found a cable she needed in there so now I'm a hero, again.
 
jsstevens said:
Both? I had SCSI-1, and three variations of SCSI-2 for a while. Anybody remember the 32-bit SCSI-2 variant?
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murphey said:
Oh wait.....how about all the ancient AppleTalk connectors?
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dammit dammit dammit ... I'm STILL not throwing that box out ... has all the above, as well as a couple of KVM switches and all the cables ... that don't connect to the current configuration of keyboard and mouses/meeses/mice ... oh, and that other box right next to it that's overflowing with a variety of wall warts ranging from 1.5 to 14 VDC in either (+) or (-) configurations
 
gkainz said:
dammit dammit dammit ... I'm STILL not throwing that box out ... has all the above, as well as a couple of KVM switches and all the cables ... that don't connect to the current configuration of keyboard and mouses/meeses/mice ... oh, and that other box right next to it that's overflowing with a variety of wall warts ranging from 1.5 to 14 VDC in either (+) or (-) configurations
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Threw out an entire file drawer full of cables and another full of wall warts when cleaning out my Dad's office last year. I, of course, only keep the useful stuff in my boxes of junk.:)
 
Shawn said:
Almost any electronics recycling place or E-Waste drop off sites will take cables. Better than just dumping in a landfill if they do not have useful life anymore.

They toss them all in one of the gazillion of empty containers heading back to China from the cheap crap they shipped to up then will strip out the micro grams of golds and metals then sell it back to us as more manufactured cheap crap. Not a perfect solution but better than a landfill IMO.
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For me, in the trash is more convenient than a specialty trip - landfills are fine, and it's mostly BS that there is some shortage of space or vast expense in operating landfills. I remember Penn and Tellers "BS" show from way back - one of those things "everyone knows is true" that really isn't. . .
 
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