Retro Tech Thrift Finds!! - EP 005

It has been 3 months since we last had a Thrift Finds video - let's fix that! In this episode we will showcase some cool retro items found over the last 3 months in Thrift Stores, Online Marketplaces and Yard Sales! Let's find out what we have!
#thrifting #thrift #retro #retrocomputing #pentium #acer #pulsar #toshiba #compaq #vintage #intel #videocassette #keyboard #zenith #radioshack #core2quad #amd

[@jamesdye4603]

I really like these thrift videos. I have a ton of vintage stuff myself and I really need to find some more blank media like VHS tapes and blank floppy disks.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome!! I love finding this stuff, looking forward to featuring them in new videos :)

[@PiercedJedi]

lots of cool stuff there bud, that Acer at the end is pretty good find especially with the peels still on keeping it looking pristine :)

[@TheRetroRecall]

It will be fun to go over and see if it works!

[@JovinRepairs]

Oh yeah! The Armada 1750! I have one of these in my collection and it is my favorite machine because it is great for DOS up through most pentium 2 era games. The battery even holds a charge in it. The thing is a tank! Nice find.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you, great to hear that yours is in use!

[@branscombe_]

23:00 what an excellent purchase, and a wonderful idea for a video in the future. I’d watch the heck out of that TRR!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

I think it would be a fun video!

[@CecilTheDarkKnight234]

overall that's a very nice haul, I've got four laptops coming in the mail form eBay ranging from XP to Windows7/8. I also picked up a couple of CIB mid 2000's PC games as well but they're all kind of meh. However my luck with older retro tech that dates back to the 90's and early 2000's has been very sparce when thrifting so I'm kind of envious you where able to find that Compaq and Dell Latitude out in the wild. Those are very decent machines overall and I can't wait to see them up and running.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure, I've been pretty lucky. I'm looking forward to getting them going!!

[@jkmac625]

I can remember an inkjet printer from the early 90's where you changed the ink cartridge between black and color, so when you printed anything black with the color cartridge installed it just used a mix of the three to get black so the prints always looked washed out.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes, this is actually one of them. It was quite common until the engineers fixed that issue and started to have them all in one carriage or cartridge.

[@REDBIRD-95]

Many moons ago I had a Hewlett Packard Deskjet 680c, very good printer and looked very similar. I've owned many Epson printers throughout the years. My current printer is an Epson ET-2760 eco tank. My first laptop I purchased new from NCIX (still have it, still works) is an Acer Travelmate 290 with Windows XP, Intel Pentium M CPU @ 1300Mhz. Always cool to see the old tech😁 Have a great long weekend👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you!! NCIX, I have not heard that name in quite a while. You have a great weekend as well!

[@pierreinthavong181]

Awesome retro stuff find so far!😁

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed!

[@MaskedGEEK]

That DeskJet 600 was the very first printer I got at home back in 1999. 😍😍

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!!! So many great memories!

[@johnmay4803]

love the thrift finds pal

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks! They are a lot of fun.

[@TracerPixel128]

I've been watching your channel for the past few months and your videos motivated me to create my new series! Seeing the Windows Vista sticker on the Toshiba Satellite and the Acer makes my heart flutter. As I'm currently tinkering with Vista on an HP Pro 3000. It wasn't that bad of an OS IMO.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Im so glad that you were inspired! This is an amazing hobby and I'm happy to hear you will be sharing in the experience. I agree - I never had an issue with Vista and even enjoy seeing it in person again.

[@RetroBytes265]

Another great video. I have very bad memories of the acer travel mate it was one of the slowest laptops I ever had lol. Its okay for doing things like word processing and things like that but the load times are very horrible. I love big box software too. I absolutely love your videos.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Love this, thank you! Glad you are enjoying.

[@Seano4D]

Look at these finds! I know im getting old when xp is considered retro now haha great video dude, nice finds!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you and yes... Everytime I do videos with older hardware and software, I can't believe how long ago it was. XP came out 22 years ago!

[@AndrewMinkowskyj-wq9yq]

my parents have the same cassette carrying case just in brown, and I had the same acer laptop just with a Pentium 3 processor. Great finds buddy.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha that's awesome! Do you know what year the case came out?

[@AndrewMinkowskyj-wq9yq]

No I don;t, sorry.

[@TheRetroRecall]

No problem!

[@readycheddar]

I just picked up a sound blaster CT1350B at my local Goodwill for $10 last weekend, which blew my mind because they hardly have anything other than crap keyboards. Was in a SB16 box which is what caught my eye. If only I had a PC to put it in. From my extensive research on the card (5 mins of googling) they're picky about system clock speed.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes for sure. I've had that issue with some of the cards.

[@liamwalker316]

Love it Mr Retro Recall. Keep up the awesome work and you truly make this a fun stroll down the tech memory lane!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying! :)

[@massmike11]

I still have and use regularly an HP desk jet 500. Still works perfectly and with good paper the output looks as good as anything.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed! It's awesome that you can still get ink. As long as you use it, it will keep working hassle free!

[@FireFlux73]

For the flight simulator shrink wrap, you can maybe make small holes on the top and bottom with a needle to let air in, like this it might not keep in shrinking. Keep up the great work. Take care.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I really appreciate the info, thank you!

[@johnvosh1986]

I have found all my Sims 2 games, Sims games, CD-R's, Sealed copy of C&C 3 Tiberium Wars, floppy disks, an older Compaq Presario with Athlon XP at my local Value Village stores. All for way cheaper than it costs to buy the stuff on eBay and have it shipped.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome finds!! Yes, if you keep an eye out (and at yard sales) you can definitely luck out!

[@timmooney7528]

I used to like Flight Simulator. I was ticked off when Mayor Daley had Meigs Field runway bulldozed overnight without notifying the FAA

[@TheRetroRecall]

😂😂😂😂

[@CantankerousDave]

At least it became an outdoor music venue. Rush played there.

[@timmooney7528]

@@CantankerousDave I feel bad for the folks who had aircraft parked there with no runway to take off of. The planes' wings most likely had to be dismantled before hauling them out by trailer. Dirty politics at their worst.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ok, sorry I laughed above... But is this a real thing?

[@timmooney7528]

@@TheRetroRecall Meigs field was on a small island adjacent to Chicago form 1948 to 2003. The mayor decided to retire the field and turn it into a park with little notice. I heard someone made a mod for MSFS 2020 which puts the field into service again.

[@ANN1H1LATE89]

Can't wait for a vid on that Acer Aspire at the end there

[@TheRetroRecall]

Stay tuned until tomorrow!

[@BilisNegra]

I have one of those Dell C600 laptops in my storage space, though I'm not sure where the power brick with its very proprietary connector is. It worked a decade ago. Who knows if it still does. These still mounted NiCd CMOS timebomb batteries, so there's one of the reasons why it might not anymore... In a different vein, I've just found that Dell still has drivers, BIOS updates and utilities for this quarter of a century old laptop up on their website!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes, dell is really good at keeping legacy drivers online! Hopefully you are able to remove that battery and find the adapter. It would be cool if you are able to get it working!

[@laurencejohnson4106]

A good haul and I particularly like Acer desktop PC..

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yeah it seems pretty decent for the time!

[@laurencejohnson4106]

@@TheRetroRecall I have a question, if I make a retro computer with XP installed, will XP stop working after 30 days if it's not activated? I do know that it can still be activated over the phone, but that is such a hassle.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Certain features will stop working. As for the phone activation, it's quite easy now. It will ask you for a cell number to send an SMS link to. Once there, you enter the information that way and it will give you a confirmation code. Others have also mentioned that the online activation still works, however I have never tried.

[@laurencejohnson4106]

​@@TheRetroRecall Thanks for information!👍👍 PS., Perhaps an old laptop will turn up which has an activated installation, back in the XP., days I had Corel Draw software installed and it was a useful program and I still have the software.

[@branscombe_]

11:00 score!!! what a good wild find

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed. I love that it has the 3dfx logo on it, it will be interesting to see how it performs / uses the tech!

[@lesbeery2478]

I was not envious until you pulled out the Compaq 386. My very first computer was a Compaq 286 that looked very much like it. You couldn’t do much with it, but I miss it nonetheless.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Stay tuned!! I'll be featuring it in a restoration video!

[@maxtornogood]

Hehe, if LGR saw you buying an inkjet printer he'd be shaking his head at you as he had a *rough* experience with an inkjet printer not that long ago. Hopefully you have some better luck! You uploaded a little earlier than normal which is neat, I usually catch your stuff on my Sunday morning over here. Lots to stuff to play with going forward!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha yes, I saw LGRs experience with inkjet printers :). The printer I have worked great even after all of these years. Yes I released a day early thinking I would give an additional day for everyone.

[@retrogaminglife84]

Amazing stuff! I really liked that Desktop and the tiny tv. I try hunting in my area but its usually empty or full of resellers. I have been trying online through facebook and other means which is hit or miss too! I did ended up getting an IBM butterfly laptop that needs a case replacement.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhh that's awesome! I've been on the hunt for one of those. Good luck on the project!

[@retrogaminglife84]

@@TheRetroRecall Thank you! I have the replacement case but I am so scared to start the whole procedure. Any advice will definitely appreciated. I will also be recording the entire thing and uploading it on KZbin so that others can use it from my experience

[@TheRetroRecall]

I would definitely like to check that out! The advice is always take your time, be careful and don't force anything. Also, when you remove components, organize them and out them back in in reverse order. Always take pictures!

[@Spudnik15]

I still have that same cassette case with alot of those same groups and a couple of Stomping Toms too, they had those in the mid 80s

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha no way! That's so awesome to hear that someone actyally owned one of these.

[@branscombe_]

yes, I can believe it’s been three months, I’ve been waiting for the next one. Come on everyone let’s get our stuff over to TRR to review!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ahhhhh thanks!!!!! I find these videos fun to do, even if they are the least viewed.

[@Flakie02]

Should definitely show some of the gameplay of the box games!

[@TheRetroRecall]

I have found quite a few while thrifting for sure - it would make a cool video!

[@CantankerousDave]

That book cover reminded me of the poster for an Eighties computer-centric move called Electric Dreams. It’s about a love triangle between a nerd, a hot cellist, and the nerd’s computer. Also, corps is pronounced “core.”

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks.

[@EastAngliaUK]

the pc at the end is the best

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed. Save the best for last. It will be fun to restore!

[@branscombe_]

15:45 I would love to have flight similar 98 in my collection,. I tried to run it as a kid on my P122 lol. didn’t go well!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha yeah even though the requirements are lower, it never ran well lol

[@Hadisabetghadam]

Nice Haul Specially Laptop And Acer Desktop Might Be Fun To Explore Windows Vista

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure, I will no doubt be restoring these systems :)

[@John-jl3ky]

I had one of those sony mavica's back around 2004, it took mini cd discs though. You found a good bunch of stuff there, that's for sure, here in Indiana, you can't get computers in thrift stores, they don't sell them.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!! Yeah not all areas have the retro tech, however always keep your eyes open! You never know what you will find!

[@dustincarpenter1707]

The game switch is a RadioShack package and catalog number. 15 or 150 series was video, including TV's, VCR's, and DVD players along with video-only cables and audio/video cable kits.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome, thank you!!

[@branscombe_]

it looks like value Village in the thrift store picked over, you must’ve been there recently! heh They do have a half-life too hard box there, which I might go back and pick up. I’m also looking at a 56K modem, just nice to have. I wish I could find an external modem local.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yeah the externals are hard to locate. I usually don't find them in the wild.

[@marksmith9566]

Had Laplink Mac back in the day to transfer MSoft Word files from Mac 2CI to Zenith 286 Clone with an optical drive as hard disk running Windows 3.0! Paint dries faster than an optical disk as a system disk!

[@TheRetroRecall]

A Hahaha so true!

[@anthonysullivan5197]

A 90’s DeskJet long before Instant Ink and HP+! Also happen to own a version of Photo Explosion-v4 in my case (basically a rebadged Serif PhotoPlus-this was before Affinity Photo which I adore even though owned by Canva now).

[@TheRetroRecall]

Oh nice, I didn't know that. I use Canva myself.

[@dustincarpenter1707]

They expected to you have a Gordon Lightfoot collection of cassettes already.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha! Indeed.

[@nwmusic2010]

I had the Deskwriter 600c. Basically this printer but for Mac

[@TheRetroRecall]

Such a great printer!

[@michaelwood9866]

funny i just traded that exact dell lattitude to a friend not to long ago

[@TheRetroRecall]

It's a nice machine!

[@stevencamp6824]

I have one of those infra drives, will not work without an interface card or sound card with the pins for it

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ah, fortunately I think this one will. I think I just need a remote for it to enjoy all features.

[@danteblake9701]

I had the same color printer until a few years ago.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! I love these older inkjet printers, especially from HP

[@FrostyMountainForge]

I sold you a few of these things. Belive it or not but that compaq keyboard already had a hard scrubbing, it used to be coated in a thick crust, was super gross. Also I am not sure what went wrong with the psu I had it power up right before I listed it, if you want you can reach out about it.

[@TheRetroRecall]

All good! I knew it didn't work :) we've chatted on FB.

[@marksmith9566]

Just updated my Latitude core 2 duo to May Windows 10 update! Owned an Acer that looked like the Laptop but backlight failed. Still works with a monitor.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! It's awesome that the Core2 Duos can run Win10 without any issues, especially with an SSD!

[@crabdonkey6381]

@@TheRetroRecall Rotating rust in this case!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha I love spinning rust!!

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

Oh!! That printer!! I had some kind of it, maybe 645,or 640,me think!!!! More then one,and they died....

[@TheRetroRecall]

Oh wow, I find they are work horses! Such great printers back in the day day. I find that they have to continually be used or the ink may dry and cause issues :)

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

@@TheRetroRecall Always.

[@VintageLizard486]

This is a neat video!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[@VintageLizard486]

​@@TheRetroRecall I'd like to get a Compaq Armada laptop someday.

[@TheRetroRecall]

This makes number 3 for me. Keep your eyes open, they are out there!!

[@VintageLizard486]

@@TheRetroRecall The only place I don't like looking is ebay, haha. Prices on there are usually pretty bad.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes I completely agree. That and the fees. And if you ship accross border.. Watch out for more taxes and fees.

[@JohanlastZa]

I just scored the same server board but in a complete case without memory and a hard drive. a week ago. Fully working. Added 4GB memory and installed Windows 7 Pro on it. Everything is operational. The onboard graphics on my is the ATI chip...so no 3D My board is also the one with two PCI-e x 8 and two PCI slots. I have another case that I want to start working on because the motherboard on that one has a few capacitors that needs to be replaced. But that case has a built in hard back plane for 8 removable hard drives If the MB does not work I might replace the board with the first board and add my SAS controller card in it and build a NAS

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice find!!!!

[@Mini-z1994]

Huh that Toshiba is not far off a friends laptop spec wise that he ended up spilling cola on at some point before it got thrown out. Think his was an Asus, i recommended him when it was new too take out the battery if he's gonna use it at home plugged in. Which helped it last quite some time but to keep track on the battery charge percentage, like charge it too 50 - 70% and then take it out and he never had too buy a new battery for it and still had decent battery life by 2015 before he broke it. Core 2 duo 2.0 ghz i think 6 gb ddr3 ram, 500 gb 2.5 inch hdd i think as well which was when it broke later moved too his desktop pc ca 2017 or so. ATI HD graphics of some sort i think it was ATI mobility 4350 or something like that, was soldered too the motherboard of the laptop.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! And yes, removing the battery on older systems while plugged in is not always a bad idea. Newer battery technology is a bit more forgiving.

[@Hadisabetghadam]

And For Using Core 2 Duo Or Quad On Modern Day I Recently Installing ChromeOs Flex (Yep Linux Distro Come From Google For Non ChromeBook Devices) Is Working Pretty Well

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! Yes, the Core2 Duo and Core2 Quad CPUs were no slouch!

[@marksmith9566]

Use monitor with PC with a monochrome card with Composite out {or Hercules]

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhhhh I never thought of that!

[@blaizejosh]

Have you tried out the Nexx Tech RF switch adapter? Was it Commodore and Atari compatible? I remember buying an RF switch adapter that looked like that one from Radio Shack and it only supported 75 oms, and it wasn't compatible to my Commodore computer. My RF switch adapter only worked with Nintendo or Sega Genesis. The Commodore or Atari require 360 oms, to get it to work. The Nintendo RF switch only supports 75 oms, which is also incompatible to Commodore and Atari. I had to use an early 80's old school switch adapter that had the spade wires shaped like the letter U supporting 360 oms, to get my Commodore to work. Plus I had to use a 360 oms to 75 oms converter to use it on a 90's CRT TV. I hope your Nexx Tech RF switch adapter worked. Radio Shack use to sell a golden RCA prong to coaxial that you hook up in back of your VCR, and it supported 360 oms, which was Atari compatible.

[@TheRetroRecall]

To be honest, I have not had time with all of the projects. Ironically enough I did look at it a few days ago and sid I need to test it lol! Thanks for the added info - it is quite helpful!

[@waize]

i have that kind of acer laptop. its really easy to put in a real intel pentium cpu, not the celeron rubbish.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's good to know! Thank you

[@michaelwood9866]

also i have that toshiba, but it has a cracked screen.....not my doing.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I guess it happens.

[@hugosimoes5119]

All cool items.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I agree!

[@hongjieli2715]

I had Dell C600 once I was in University. Best memory ever.

[@TheRetroRecall]

They are amazing systems!

[@2xtreem4u]

I'm early

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nothing wrong with that!

[@2xtreem4u]

@@TheRetroRecall i was buying music cds

[@TheRetroRecall]

Wow that's awesome!!! I love cd's, prefer them.

[@2xtreem4u]

i used virtual pc before microsoft bought it and removed the free version

[@TheRetroRecall]

I never knew there was a free version. Neat.

[@2xtreem4u]

some lucky guy bought new old stock 50 VHS bands in a cardboard box for $45

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!!

[@sergiobisonte]

the garbage laptop duo are for sure dead!

[@TheRetroRecall]

I love a good challenge!

[@johnathanjamesjohnsonjr7408]

KZbin unsubscribed me from your channel without my knowledge or permission.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's weird. I think their system watches activity / trends of your account and their AI does the rest. Hopefully you can resub!

[@johnathanjamesjohnsonjr7408]

... it's doing it for all kinds of channels even ones I watch all the time. It doesn't matter if I resubscribe because as soon as I stop watching the video and then come back I see it just unsubscribes me again.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Send a ticket into them, Im sure it will be corrected.

[@johnathanjamesjohnsonjr7408]

... IDK 😐 what that is. ... send them a ticket.

[@TheRetroRecall]

My apologies. I think if you go to KZbin help, you can report the problem with them.

[@branscombe_]

17:55 NO I haven’t seen this online! you can put a floppy disk inside of the camera ??? 💾📸😮

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yeah, it's pretty cool! Like I said, I used one when I was younger when they first came out.