I have an old laptop that I’d like to get rid of. I’ve repurposed its SSD and RAM. It has an HDD on it, but it’s so old, that it probably shouldn’t be used anymore. A screw doesn’t fit properly, so the chassis is a bit bumpy on one corner. But it works just fine. (Has an 8th gen i7 in it.)

I already have home-servers etc., so I just want to get rid of it. What’s the most ethical way of doing it?

I’m currently living somewhere in southern USA, if that’s relevant.

  • Barbecue Cowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    6·
    15 hours ago

    People are keeping hardware a lot longer, an 8th gen i7 might not be as worthless as you think it is. Back on topic though, Best Buy typically offers free e-waste recycling. Could probably do a little better from an ethical standpoint, but could do a lot worse and we can almost guarantee you have one reasonably nearby.

    For the hard drive though, I would never give anyone any hard drive you’ve owned ever unless you’re absolutely 100% sure it has never processed any data you wouldn’t want to be public. Remove the HDD and take it apart, the platters make fun mirrors.

      • Barbecue Cowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        8 hours ago

        Don’t post that, people can read your data! Obviously I’m kidding.

        If you’ve never taken one apart before, the disk head can make an excellent ray gun for the right action figures and the magnets are a lot of fun but can be deceptively strong. Don’t let two hard drive magnets touch, you might never get them apart again.

        • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρєOP
          3·
          8 hours ago

          I have opened some before, but every single time, I’m just kind of awestruck that this thing actually works. It’s such a delicate dance of these rapidly moving components, it’s hard to even comprehend. SSDs are much much simpler in comparison.

    • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρєOP
      4·
      15 hours ago

      Thanks. Yeah, I would take the HDD of course. I don’t know if I’ll take it apart, but definitely not giving it away lol.

      Also, in case someone wants the rest of the machine for any reason, I’m happy to send it over if they just pay for shipping.

        • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρєOP
          3·
          14 hours ago

          I guess I can try facebook marketplace. But then I’ll have to reactivate my account. The local food pantry does keep some hardware. (I once found a VGA cable there lol.) I’ll talk to them to see if they’ll accept it in this condition.

          • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            4·
            14 hours ago

            Without ram it’s almost cruel to donate it to places that have no clue wtf to do with it. Many will just chuck it because “it doesn’t work”

            But an 8th gen i7 is good enough that plenty of people would be interested for the right place. List it for cheap on something like FB Marketplace. Don’t offer it for free on there.