Anyone who has purchased a computer system has learned how quickly they lose their value, and become obsolete. This rapid devaluation often leads to the dilemma: what to do with an older system, when youre no longer going to use it? Selling it is most often a waste of time and effort. A computer bought for $3,000.00 on January 1, 2005 and then put up for sale on December 31, 2005 will rarely bring offers of more than $100.00 – $150.00, and even these dont come often. Older systems are proportionately less valuable.
One quick, easy solution is to donate the computer system to a charity, and write-off what is appropriate. However, charities are quickly becoming more and more skeptical about accepting older computer systems, and less and less likely to surrender receipts (for use with a tax return) for very much money.
Sometimes it is a wise course of action to simply ‘cannibalize’ the older system for components that will work in other systems. Some components can be switched between older and newer computer systems. These can include power supplies, hard drives, RAM, graphics cards, speakers, keyboards, CD and DVD readers/writers and so forth. If...