Do you hold onto your old electronics?

Sheep

Sheep

  • Togepi Egg Pokémon General Cadet
    • 42,786
    Posts
    18
    Years
    I seem to hold on to a lot of my old electronics, including most old phones, laptops, etc, for years, until I absolutely need to get rid of them. I often keep my old gaming systems too even if they no longer work.

    How long do you keep your old tech for, if you do at all?
     
    I definitely hold on to old tech, mainly because the quality of everything is decreasing while their costs are doing the opposite.
     
    yes i am a tech hoarder and sometimes it is difficult for me to get rid of things i cherished when i was younger

    i definitely need to throw out my old phones and tablets as those are no good with how more advanced tech is getting

    old gaming systems on the other hand, those can stay in my possession
     
    I used to. But, I recycled a lot of them, some were a hazard so I had to get rid of them. I keep game consoles tho.
     
    Let's see... I have:
    • 13" General Electric CRT TV from 1993.
    • GE alarm clock with radio/cassette from my grandparents, dates back to the early 1990's
    • Another alarm clock with radio/cassette, this one a Zenith, that I got for high school graduation in 2001.
    • Lenoxx Sound personal stereo cassette player (discount brand Walkman) from about 2000
    • AT&T digital answering machine from 2000 or 2001. I know we bought it so I'd have one for college.
    • Emerson personal CD/MP3 player that I believe is from around the early to mid 2000's.
    • Olympia Infoglobe, an interesting device that displays the time, date, user-set and pre-set messages, and caller ID using rotating LEDs. creating the appearance that the digits are suspended in midair within the globe housing. Still looks cool and futuristic today.
    • JVC S-VHS ("high-def" variant of VHS) VCR from 2005. When it became obvious that VCRs were on their way out, I made sure to buy one of the last available "high-end" models before the VCR market became a dwindling number of cheap discount models with no extra features.
    • Panasonic DVD/VCR combo that also records to DVD. I just use the DVD portion, since I have my standalone VCR.
    • Though not originally mine, I bought an old JVC shelf stereo system (3 CD changer, dual cassette decks) from eBay.
    • The GameCube that was originally bought by my brother (he gave it to me after he bought his Wii)
    • Sony PS3 (bought used from Gamestop)
    • A couple Game Boy Advances
    • DS Lite
    • 3DS
    Not flexing or anything, lol

    So yeah, I tend to hang on to old tech. Not all of it works perfectly (the 13" TV no longer turns on, the personal tape player sounds distorted, the CD/tape players no longer work on the shelf stereo system, the DVD unit no longer records to disc, a part of the 3DS lower screen no longer reacts to touch) but many of the others are still running fine. That includes the VCR, both alarm clocks, the CD/MP3 player, Infoglobe, and all of the gaming units aside from the screen issue with the 3DS (it still works fine outside of that)

    I'm looking for a repair shop in my area that specializes in old electronics to get the 13" TV and the shelf stereo back to working condition.

    Spoiler: My JVC HR-S5902U VCR


    Spoiler: JVC MX-D55T shelf stereo system, Lenoxx Sound 1135 personal stereo cassette player, and blank TDK cassettes
     
    Pretty sure I don't for the most part. If anything gets replaced, I'll happily find ways to give them forward or recycle.
     
    I own a lot of old electronics. I have FAR too many to list, but I'll provide a list of the top few that I do have:

    - an iMac G3
    - a full stereo system from the early 90s (A record player, tape deck (Currently being repaired as well), amplifier, tuner, CD player, and 8-track player) complete with large DJ speakers
    - a walkman from the 80s (Currently on the repair table)
    - functional NES/SNES/N64 consoles (I have some upgrades planned for these)
    - a Tandy dot matrix printer (While it works I don't have a way to hook it up to a computer that lets it function) from the late 80s (And tractor feed paper to go with it)
    - a Pentax film camera from the 80s that has OPTICAL zoom
    - a Sony VTR (Basically it's a VCR) and it's one of Sony's first models they released - the SLV-555UC (Currently it's broken, but I've diagnosed the issue and am looking to repair it hopefully soon after I get some time)

    Needless to say I don't get rid of things easily :D
     
    I hold on to my old games, especially ones with sentimental value; but I don't have much of my old tech anymore. I do have some older technology like a point-and-shoot digital camera for hobby reasons, but I'm generally pretty quick to sell / toss my old stuff when I get upgrades if I don't see a good way to repurpose it.
     
    I keep my old game systems as long as possible unless there is another newer system that can play its games. For example, I got rid of my GameCube for the Wii and my PlayStation for the PS2. Otherwise, I'll keep the system until it breaks.

    I had a Nintendo 64 for almost 25 years before it finally broke. I've since replaced it.

    I currently have:
    • Nintendo 64
    • Wii
    • Wii U
    • Switch
    • Gameboy Advance SP
    • Nintendo DS
    • Nintendo 3DS
    • PlayStation 2
    • PlayStation 3
    • PlayStation 4
    • PSP
    • PS Vita
    • Steam Deck
     
    I usually keep them, but most of the time it's because I don't really know what to do with them after I've replaced them. Things like old consoles or cables for something I'm not using anymore aren't... being used, but properly getting rid of old electronics isn't often worth the extra steps I have to take. I'd probably say something like "I'll keep this so that I have it in case I ever need it later!" but could count the number of times that's actually happened on one hand.

    Something like an old smartphone or computer is a completely different story, I keep those as long as I can, as long as any single thing I can think of is stored on it or there's some way that it could be useful for me. My current smartphone can't run older mobile games, especially something offline like SIFAS that requires a specific setup and apps in order to run. I also keep whatever my last used smartphone was in case I ever lose or break my current phone, because then I can still have a device I can take with me on the go that can connect to the internet or where I can access my accounts and lock out anyone trying to get in there. I think it's a good idea to just always have something on hand to contact people with at all times, and have a backup plan if anything gets into your accounts.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top