[kwlug-disc] Thanks for helping to repair laptops!

[B.S.]

Thanks for this Paul. Had intended to come out but couldn't. Hope to 
another time.

I would be pleased to contribute time towards seeing a child gain a 
laptop for their very own that they would not otherwise be able to, be 
they cheap or free. Or even a teenager needing a separate environment to 
learn programming or media creation on. (Since they probably don't have 
a machine upon which vm's would run on reasonably, or they wouldn't be 
interested in this hardware.) Let alone those in financial difficulty 
without a computer at all (but wouldn't an IP / wi-fi be problematic / 
these laptops probably don't have wi-fi onboard?).

Is there a facility or (social) program for this we could point people 
to, or is there any intent to 'supply' such a program? [I get you can't 
supply what you don't have / working, and no such qualification is 
needed when walking in off the street to purchase from CR.]

I'm guessing you're loading up lubuntu or xubuntu for the user? (Let 
alone needing a platform to run hardware exercises on.)

It's been my experience Mondays don't work well for meetings - people 
recovering or catching up from the weekend, or prepping or completing 
for workweek what they intended to do on weekend. Tues. - Thurs. best 
for that sort of thing. Fri. can be popular, but slightly different 
group. (Some like Fridays, some don't.) Also, regularly scheduled weekly 
or biweekly evening meets can be successful over time - people make it 
part of their schedules rather than one off's. [Gets one off the couch, 
cheaper than a movie, etc.]

Can you characterize the CPUs of the laptops please?

I'm guessing nothing even as 'late' (recent?) as dual core, or P4 > 3GHz 
(which means it's hyperthreaded). Would I be guessing correctly?


P.S. Kudos and thank yous to all that helped.


On 14-11-11 01:23 AM, Paul Nijjar wrote:
>
> Over Saturday and today we managed to fix over 10 laptops. We now have
> 17 laptops on the shelf and four for sale (but we worked on some of
> them internally). We also managed to classify and strip 10 wine boxes
> full of laptops to e-waste.
>
> Saturday was much busier than Monday, so I do not think we will be
> scheduling formal laptop-fixing days on Mondays any more. If people
> are interested then we might do some informal days.
>
> I took an informal poll, and it appeared that many of the Saturday
> volunteers were open to holding another event next month. So I have
> tentatively scheduled the following date:
>
> Saturday, December 6
> 4-8pm (or whenever we get bored and tired)
> Computer Recycling
> 66 Queen Street South
>
> If you already know the SECRET PHONE NUMBER then RSVPing is not
> mandatory, but I would appreciate it. If you do not know said phone
> number then you should contact me to get it.
>
> If you are eager then you do not have to wait until Dec 6 to help out.
> Some people are arranging to come in during Computer Recycling hours,
> and you can too. If you would like to arrange something after hours,
> then let me know and I will see what I can do.
>
> Thanks so much to everybody for helping out. It is great to get this
> logjam broken up -- we have been wrestling with the problem of selling
> laptops for years, and thanks to the exploitation of innocent KWLUG
> members we are finally making some progress. Now we will have to see
> whether there is a market for our wares.
>
> Speaking of which: the laptops are selling for a range of prices
> depending on their specifications and condition. Not all of them are
> on the shelf yet, but when they are the range will be $15-60.
>
> We also are willing to sell some of the laptops we stripped for
> e-waste, if you need parts (screens, keyboards, etc). If you are
> interested then you will need to know the make and model of your
> laptop.
>
> - Paul
>