How I turned 7 obsolete gadgets into a free Intel mini PC
There are many ways to reuse old technology to give it new life. Sometimes, however, devices are so old that they are virtually useless for modern purposes, and if the devices don’t even turn on anymore, there’s not much you can do with them. You may be able to sell old and broken appliances for more than you think.
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Unleash the power of your dusty Fire tablet.
I was given a bunch of old technology
Don’t waste, don’t want
My dad recently moved and while packing his things he found a bunch of old appliances that he no longer uses. He was always a real geek like me; In the early days of personal computers, he won a magazine competition for writing a program to generate prime numbers in as few lines of code as possible.
As we sorted through his house, we found more and more technology he no longer needed. There were Kindles, several iPads, and Amazon Fire tablets. Since he no longer used them, there was no point in moving them to his new home, so he passed them on to me.
I was hoping to be able to use some gadgets for my smart home, and while one tablet was usable as a smart home dashboard, there were problems with many others. An iPad Air 2 and a Kindle keyboard both appeared to be in great condition, but wouldn’t charge. The rest of the iPads were second-generation models, which can’t run most modern apps. I could have reused them, but I already have an old repurposed iPad and don’t really need more.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
Even broken devices can sell
With so many broken or obsolete devices, I figured I’d have to throw out a lot of them. I didn’t think anyone would want a broken iPad or a Kindle that couldn’t be charged.
Out of curiosity, I took a quick look on eBay to see how much they were worth. I really expected them to be worth a few cents at most. To my surprise, many devices could sell for a reasonable price.
At first I was skeptical about the prices that people were offering certain devices for. Just because someone asked for that much doesn’t mean anyone would be willing to pay for it. But when I turned to the items sold, I was surprised to see that some items had sold for quite significant amounts.
People had been selling second-generation iPads for as much as $20, even though they were so old that not much could be done with them. A working Kindle keyboard could sell for as much as $60.
What really blew me away was how much I could get for devices that didn’t even work. An iPad Air 2 that wouldn’t even boot could sell for as much as $20. It seems that for many people, harvesting components or repairing and reselling devices makes those broken iPads worth more than I expected.
A cheap upgrade was worth it
I could sell a lot more with a new battery
One device that didn’t work was the Kindle keyboard. This was annoying because working devices could sell for $60, but dead devices cost around $10. I wondered if I could use it to create an e-ink dashboard for my smart home, but the large keypad on the bottom of the device didn’t give it the best aesthetic.
On a whim, I checked how much it would cost to replace the battery. I found one on AliExpress for around $8. A little research revealed that it was a pretty simple repair, so I bit the bullet and ordered the battery. It took a while to arrive, but the repair was relatively simple to do once I managed to open the case.
Instead of being able to sell the dead Kindle for $10, I could now list it for $60. Even with the cost of the battery, I still got over $40 more than I would have gotten for the broken device.
Transform waste into mini PC
Buying second hand saves more money
Once my repairs were complete, I was ready to start listing. I didn’t sell everything on eBay; I listed some items on Facebook Marketplace first because it was a lot less hassle to have someone come and pick up the items than having to post everything. I sold a few pieces that way and the rest went on eBay.
In total, I ended up selling two second-generation iPads, a broken iPad Air 2, a Kindle keyboard, a third-generation 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD, and two 2019 Amazon Fire 7 tablets. After factoring in the cost of the replacement battery, I ended up making about $150.
I took that money and spent it on a mini PC that I found on Facebook Marketplace that someone had barely used. Indeed, I managed to exchange a bunch of old and broken devices for a mini PC.
- Processor
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Celeron FCBGA1264 3.6GHz
- Chart
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Intel integrated graphics 24EUs 1000 MHz
The Beelink Mini S13 Pro desktop PC is an ultra-compact computer powered by the Intel N150 processor. Coming with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 500GB SSD, this desktop microcomputer is perfect for a variety of workloads. From running simple server programs to replacing your old PC, the Beelink S13 Pro delivers.
Your old trash may be worth more than you think
While I initially hoped to reuse the old technology my father had given me, the fact that the vast majority of it was either too old to run modern applications or wasn’t even capable of turning on made selling it the easiest option. I was really surprised by how much I was able to gain, so you might want to start digging through that junk device drawer to see what treasure is inside.
