Computer Reset Adventure!

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

10 Jun 2019, 16:54

Hi, as many of already know I recently went to a place called computer reset which was liquidating their buildup of retro electronics and other equipment. The person managing it named Justin is a very nice individual and I am very happy he was the one in charge and not someone else, this was probably the best experience I have had in a scrounging environment.
I went there twice, on two separate weekends. I had a blast both times and definitely want to do these types of events more in the future.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of my time there. I didn't get many pictures the first time, but was sure to get them on my second go.

Here is the outside of the store:
IMG_0432 (Large).JPG
IMG_0432 (Large).JPG (465.7 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
First look inside:
IMG_0370 (Large).JPG
IMG_0370 (Large).JPG (395.66 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0369 (Large).JPG
IMG_0369 (Large).JPG (333.59 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Pictures of the interior rooms:
IMG_0387 (Large).JPG
IMG_0387 (Large).JPG (282.56 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0368 (Large).JPG
IMG_0368 (Large).JPG (360.92 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0371 (Large).JPG
IMG_0371 (Large).JPG (365.09 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Floppies all over the shelf to the left:
IMG_0384 (Large).JPG
IMG_0384 (Large).JPG (431.28 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0379 (Large).JPG
IMG_0379 (Large).JPG (431.37 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Every single one of those boards on the shelf were rubberdomes :(
IMG_0365 (Large).JPG
IMG_0365 (Large).JPG (371.43 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Most of the building had a lot of debris on the floor like this:
IMG_0380 (Large).JPG
IMG_0380 (Large).JPG (371.83 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
The IBM box you see toward the right side had a NIB XT model F in it!
IMG_0378 (Large).JPG
IMG_0378 (Large).JPG (336.34 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Some of the rooms were completely miscellaneous, bunch of floppies visible in the image before:
IMG_0388 (Large).JPG
IMG_0388 (Large).JPG (335.42 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
My father taking pictures(he spilt coffee on his shirt before we went in :lol: )
IMG_0360 (Large).JPG
IMG_0360 (Large).JPG (338.1 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
One of the rooms without working lights:
IMG_0374 (Large).JPG
IMG_0374 (Large).JPG (191.24 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0386 (Large).JPG
IMG_0386 (Large).JPG (320.84 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
A few outdated PC's
IMG_0382 (Large).JPG
IMG_0382 (Large).JPG (310.85 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
They weren't letting people in this room:
IMG_0366 (Large).JPG
IMG_0366 (Large).JPG (307.57 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0367 (Large).JPG
IMG_0367 (Large).JPG (195.31 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Some of the rooms weren't too easy to navigate:
IMG_0385 (Large).JPG
IMG_0385 (Large).JPG (257.89 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
That's it for the interior for now, I need to arrange the photos I have better, I'll update this post with more in the future.

Onto the big warehouse!
IMG_0354 (Large).JPG
IMG_0354 (Large).JPG (329.38 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0353 (Large).JPG
IMG_0353 (Large).JPG (277.53 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0355 (Large).JPG
IMG_0355 (Large).JPG (238.7 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
The first area had a few keyboards I nabbed, but the gold was on the higher pallets and in the middle of the piles.
IMG_0356 (Large).JPG
IMG_0356 (Large).JPG (360.93 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0357 (Large).JPG
IMG_0357 (Large).JPG (368.94 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
IMG_0391 (Large).JPG
IMG_0391 (Large).JPG (449.05 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
That is unfortunately all I can post for now, I need to leave for work in a few minutes and if possible I will update this post with more information later, as well as some of the rarer more intriguing boards I got when I get home(possibly in a new thread) I need price checks on a lot of the things I got, because I have never seen the exact model sell on ebay or here on DT. There aren't many boards left now, if any at all. I'll try and head back next week to help them clear some stuff, i'll see if I can uncover anymore but its doubtful.

Also what is in my sale thread equates to less than a quarter of my current hoard, this is less than a third of what I got sitting in my room:
IMG_1372.JPG
IMG_1372.JPG (323.67 KiB) Viewed 8881 times
Last edited by Redmaus on 10 Jun 2019, 16:57, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
depletedvespene

10 Jun 2019, 16:56

Woah... just... woah. Words don't describe the envy I feel right now.

Anakey

10 Jun 2019, 18:22

how an earth were they able to run a business with everything being in such a mess with things dumped everywhare i mean great for us that want the stuff but how the hell would you find anything if it was a part that was needed etc

User avatar
User101

10 Jun 2019, 18:44

Anakey wrote:
10 Jun 2019, 18:22
how an earth were they able to run a business with everything being in such a mess with things dumped everywhare i mean great for us that want the stuff but how the hell would you find anything if it was a part that was needed etc
lol when you have too many stuff the place literally becomes a junk yard. look at Rhode Island Computer Museum's warehouse. Although that one is not this messy but you can still call it a junk pile.

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

10 Jun 2019, 18:55

holy mother...

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

10 Jun 2019, 21:07

Anakey wrote:
10 Jun 2019, 18:22
how an earth were they able to run a business with everything being in such a mess with things dumped everywhare i mean great for us that want the stuff but how the hell would you find anything if it was a part that was needed etc
Apparently the owner bought entire stocks at once when a company needed to upgrade so there is just a plethora of things that were difficult to sort. I don't think the business was like that the whole time, I think the situation got out of hand after awhile. I could be wrong.

Red_October

10 Jun 2019, 22:39

Looks just like the place I work for, before we lost two consecutive storage facilities and had to thin out our inventory! I even recognize a lot of the equipment (Toshiba notebooks, the Panasonic printer, and many crappy old computers of that certain vintage where they're too old to be useful but too new to be anything like collectible). My HP 26xx keyboard, Sanders Associates 720 keyboard, Fujitsu Brown Dasher keyboard and F-XT keyboard came from there in addition to myriad vintage systems (DECscope, Datapoint 8200, Acme portable, DECPC 450D2 MT, DEC 486 Notebook, Fujitsu Stylistic ST 5031D, etc.) and a number of notable systems were sold through eBay as well, DEC PDT-11/150, HP 9000, countless 286, 386, 486 & Pentium notebooks, 5150, DEC Multia (never in my life have I seen something so rusty that still works fine that didn't also say "Chevrolet" on it somewhere), and many more I forget. Places like this are a treasure-trove and I'm glad one of us got to save a few pieces from the scrapheap!

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

11 Jun 2019, 17:25

Red_October wrote:
10 Jun 2019, 22:39
Looks just like the place I work for, before we lost two consecutive storage facilities and had to thin out our inventory! I even recognize a lot of the equipment (Toshiba notebooks, the Panasonic printer, and many crappy old computers of that certain vintage where they're too old to be useful but too new to be anything like collectible). My HP 26xx keyboard, Sanders Associates 720 keyboard, Fujitsu Brown Dasher keyboard and F-XT keyboard came from there in addition to myriad vintage systems (DECscope, Datapoint 8200, Acme portable, DECPC 450D2 MT, DEC 486 Notebook, Fujitsu Stylistic ST 5031D, etc.) and a number of notable systems were sold through eBay as well, DEC PDT-11/150, HP 9000, countless 286, 386, 486 & Pentium notebooks, 5150, DEC Multia (never in my life have I seen something so rusty that still works fine that didn't also say "Chevrolet" on it somewhere), and many more I forget. Places like this are a treasure-trove and I'm glad one of us got to save a few pieces from the scrapheap!
I definitely want to find more places like this, but chances are slim since most people try to wring all the money they can even if you only grabbed like 5 things, let alone a whole van full of boards. Erecyclers just won't let you in if you aren't a company. They definitely had a bunch of complete systems and monitors, the first time I was there I saw people pulling out a couple wrapped apple II's in mint condition. I actually grabbed an entire IBM terminal system(the guy there wanted me to) after he saw I had this:
Spoiler:
IMG_0444.JPG
IMG_0444.JPG (598.11 KiB) Viewed 8682 times
Probably the best thing I grabbed. I found it while climbing up high on pallets sandwiched in a a dark corner between two boxes! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

I loaded up a flash drive with pictures of the boards I have cataloged so far and the rest of the pictures taken at computer reset, so I can update this post at work. Stay tuned! :P

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

11 Jun 2019, 18:37

Here's some of the neat stuff I got!

Cumulus yellow alps keyboard with interesting caps(of course ONE slider had to be broken)
IMG_1388.JPG
IMG_1388.JPG (391.64 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1389.JPG
IMG_1389.JPG (313.38 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1390.JPG
IMG_1390.JPG (260.88 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1392.JPG
IMG_1392.JPG (360.63 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
Memorex Brown Space Invaders terminal keyboard(this thing feels really nice if it was ANSI I'd probably want it for myself)
IMG_1395.JPG
IMG_1395.JPG (306.68 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1396.JPG
IMG_1396.JPG (268.12 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1398.JPG
IMG_1398.JPG (234.8 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
Interesting white alps phone keyboard, this thing is an absolute whale and strangely enough the switches appear to be sealed with plastic over them.
IMG_1245.JPG
IMG_1245.JPG (338.99 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1246.JPG
IMG_1246.JPG (318.26 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
IMG_1250.JPG
IMG_1250.JPG (300.92 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
A NOS AT model F chassis! I think I only have one of these but its still a great find. I also have a filthy AT keyboard with a terrible condition chassis so I can transplant this puppy into a case!
IMG_1402.JPG
IMG_1402.JPG (312.05 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
And probably the coolest thing I found other than the beamspring:
IMG_1341.JPG
IMG_1341.JPG (171.59 KiB) Viewed 8659 times
Already desoldered and sent off to E3E and gainsborough!

Those are the pictures I currently have with me, I definitely have some cooler stuff that hasn't been processed yet. I am also currently thinking of altering my prices in the sale thread(reductions), any input on that score would be much appreciated!

User avatar
Raumfahrer

11 Jun 2019, 19:31

amazing, what board did the stiped-amber switches come with?

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

11 Jun 2019, 19:40

It came with a tandem 65-something board, the only keyboard in existence that contains striped amber alps.

User avatar
depletedvespene

11 Jun 2019, 20:05

You... you got a white whale.

I also couldn't help but noticing that Quattro manual over there. Had I gone there, even thinking in "keyboards only" terms, I'd have gotten that manual. Quattro is the spreadsheet that should have been the dominant one in the market until this day, not Excel. Oh, well...

User avatar
snacksthecat
✶✶✶✶

11 Jun 2019, 20:30

depletedvespene wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:05
You... you got a white whale.

I also couldn't help but noticing that Quattro manual over there. Had I gone there, even thinking in "keyboards only" terms, I'd have gotten that manual. Quattro is the spreadsheet that should have been the dominant one in the market until this day, not Excel. Oh, well...
Miguel over here talking about software like it's his ex girlfriend that got away :lol:

User avatar
depletedvespene

11 Jun 2019, 20:38

snacksthecat wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:30
depletedvespene wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:05
You... you got a white whale.

I also couldn't help but noticing that Quattro manual over there. Had I gone there, even thinking in "keyboards only" terms, I'd have gotten that manual. Quattro is the spreadsheet that should have been the dominant one in the market until this day, not Excel. Oh, well...
Miguel over here talking about software like it's his ex girlfriend that got away :lol:
MY life, MY regrets! OKAY?! :mrgreen:

Now, don't get me started about those abandoned M122 keyboards that I failed to rescue from the Green Mud Bank back in 2004... THAT is an actual sob story.

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

11 Jun 2019, 20:40

depletedvespene wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:38
MY life, MY regrets! OKAY?! :mrgreen:

Now, don't get me started about those abandoned M122 keyboards that I failed to rescue from the Green Mud Bank back in 2004... THAT is an actual sob story.
The worst one is the all the kishies that got shredded because the recyclers thought they would have banking data on them... :cry:

User avatar
depletedvespene

11 Jun 2019, 20:44

Redmaus wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:40
depletedvespene wrote:
11 Jun 2019, 20:38
MY life, MY regrets! OKAY?! :mrgreen:

Now, don't get me started about those abandoned M122 keyboards that I failed to rescue from the Green Mud Bank back in 2004... THAT is an actual sob story.
The worst one is the all the kishies that got shredded because the recyclers thought they would have banking data on them... :cry:
That's certainly the worst sob story. I don't think many DT regulars will disagree.

User avatar
Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

11 Jun 2019, 20:52

At least Ellipse is making new ones. I really wanna find another Beamspring or Unsaver. It's fun to find stuff. I'm not even gonna keep the beamspring to be honest, too big to be useful on my desk and I don't like ISO style enters. I'm probably not gonna put it on ebay either because I'd rather have it go to someone here so I can see what they do with it. I don't think I want more than $800 for it, because I know I don't like to pay that much for keyboards.

Post Reply

Return to “Keyboards”