23 x Dell Optiplex 755's - now what?

[Mainstay]

So a client asks me, "hey, can you use any old systems, you know, find them a new home?"

I say sure, and take away the 6 Dell Optiplex 755's (Vista Business stickers, C2D, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD's).

I am back today to address some other issues they were having.

She says, "were you going to take those systems?"

I say I already did.

She opens another door and there are 17 more systems stacked and ready to go.

YIKES!

There are monitors, switches (1 of them was even a 48 port Cisco 10/100 L2 switch), and a ton of cabling to go with it.

Also, a CD wallet of some 40 Office 2007 disks (with stickers).

I don't like selling used systems.

And I definitely want to nuke the drives (and incinerate them).

But crikey... what to do with these systems? They are in absolutely mint condition (well, some of the stickers are starting to curl, but other than that, pristine). There are 7 still in boxes!

I wish I could link them to make some sort of hive processing unit.

So what would you do? CraigsList them?

In my location, these units would cost more to ship than they are worth.

And popping in an inexpensive HD, imaging them (with what? Vista? No thanks) and selling them locally sounds like more work than it is worth.

Gak! Not sure how to proceed.

 

[kwest]

50 a piece to a recycler. Someone will spend the time and sell them for 200 a pop

 

[FremontPC]

Hmm. Conroes. Well, in a bit they might be able to run Win 10. Crack the case to see if they need a dust out, use Crystal Disk Info to see if the drive is hosed, take the worst of them to London Drugs...

http://goo.gl/YEEJ41

If they aren't full of oozing capacitors, is there a school that would like to have them? Senior Center? When telemarketers call, pickup up the phone and say "Congratulations, you've just won a free computer!!!"

Actually, it would be interesting to see how one of 'em runs Win10 with a SSD. I'm still using a Wolfdale Celly with a Crucial M500, works fine, really.

 

[Moltuae]

Perfect candidates for refurbishing.

Blast out the dust, drop in a little more RAM and an SSD and install a Windows 7 (refurbisher) licence.

Got a few customers running old/refurbed Optiplexes (or should that be Optiplexi ?), some running 24/7, rarely any issue. Those old Dells just seem to go on forever.

 

[Kitten Kong]

+1 on going the refurb route.

 

[gikstar]

On Easter Sunday one of my relatives asked me if I could help with computer donations to Foster Parents. He knows how I spend my free time.
Often when we upgrade business systems we end up with their systems to recycle and I do just that.
We have several non-profits in the area that we support (just delivered 3 computers today) and I check Craigslist regularly for people posting "Wanted - Computer" and donate to them. I search in the 5 counties around me.

This past Sunday we had the owner of another IT company over for BBQ and he's offered up all the systems that he's been passed as he's upgraded businesses. (Reselling systems on Craigslist is a pain in the butt - I usually just purchase off Craigslist)
I think that most IT companies that do mostly Managed Services do want to be bothered with used equipment.

Since you now own the computers you could 'refurbish' them if you are a Microsoft Refurbisher as you would get Win7 or Win 8 licenses cheaper. If you provide them to non-profits/schools the cost of the license is $6 each (minimum order is 20).

I used to run a Christian non-profit warehouse which received Gifts-In-Kind by the semi-trailer load. It come to us free and had to leave the same way. I was always on the lookout for ways to donating the large amount of products we received. Had no problem giving away the Hershey chocolate and Snapple drinks but it took quite some time to pass along over 1000 5 gallon buckets of latex paint.

 

[Mainstay]

These are all terrific ideas - thank you!

It might motivate me to look closer at the MS Refurbisher program... it sounds like it might be the way to go.

Believe it or not, my churches and schools and charities have all said, "no thanks" to all of my offers.

 

[Ed_Zipper]

We have a charity program currently. Machine like this gets turned into a Linux machine and the local newspaper distributes them to students who couldn't otherwise afford a computer.

 

[ArtemusComputerTechnology]

Yes, refurb them...

 

[Martyn]

Yes great for MsRefurb, Win 7 Prof. Like said previously, small ssds are really cheap, sell on to businesses with data backup already in place.

 

[CLC]

Hmm. Conroes. Well, in a bit they might be able to run Win 10. Crack the case to see if they need a dust out, use Crystal Disk Info to see if the drive is hosed, take the worst of them to London Drugs...

I thought 10 was only available to 7 and 8 users?

 

[nlinecomputers]

I thought 10 was only available to 7 and 8 users?

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for current Windows 7 and 8 users. I'm sure that it will be ON SALE for anyone that wants to buy it retail and I'm sure it will be available for whitebox, OEMs and MSrefurb.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Non profit client?
Around here, General Dynamics, and Pfizers, were donating thousands and thousands of those Opti 755s' to local non profit organizations. We liason'ed lots of those...and rebuilt hundreds of them.

 

[brandonkick]

I'd personally jump all over that.

Quite honestly, those can sell for upwards of $300 all day long.

They are going to be better than anything your going to get brand new for $300.

Set one up, clone it and image the rest. Where else can you get licensed machines with office for $300?

Most people won't care that it's Office 2007.

Easy money, or just dump them for $50 each to someone who's willing to do the work.