c/bargain-bin-tech

Warning: the $12 thrift store DVD player wiped my movie collection

I grabbed a cheap Philips player from a Goodwill in Phoenix last month to watch old discs. It worked fine for 2 days, then started making this grinding noise and scratched 14 of my DVDs before I noticed. Turns out the laser assembly was misaligned and the spindle was wobbling like crazy. I checked online and this model, DVP3050, has a known issue where the clamp loses grip over time. Spend the extra $30 for a new player or at least test it with a blank disc you dont care about. Anyone else have a thrift player destroy their media?

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pat719•2d ago

My 2003 GPS unit still navigates better than my phone in NYC

Picked up a TomTom One from 2003 at a flea market for $8. It takes 10 minutes to lock onto satellites, the maps are from 2011, and the voice sounds like a robot with a cold. But last Tuesday, driving through lower Manhattan with my phone's GPS lagging and re-routing me into traffic, that old brick got me through the Holland Tunnel without a single hiccup. The screen is tiny and the buttons are mushy, but it never loses signal in tunnels like my phone does. Anyone else hanging onto an old standalone GPS because the new apps just can't handle the city?

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eva_lewis•2d ago

The $8 FM transmitter beats my car's factory radio setup, no contest

I've been driving a 2009 sedan with a tape deck adapter for years, but last month I grabbed a cheap FM transmitter from a flea market in Tulsa for 8 bucks. Honestly, I figured it would sound like garbage compared to the aux input I rigged through the cassette slot, but the difference is wild. The tape adapter kept picking up engine whine and would pop every time I hit a bump, while this little box just sits in the lighter socket and broadcasts clean on 87.9. It even has a tiny screen showing the frequency, which is more than my stock radio does. I tested it on a 600 mile haul through Oklahoma and it never dropped a signal except near one big radio tower outside of OKC. For the price of a burrito, it made my daily drive feel way less janky. Has anyone else found a random 10 dollar gizmo that outperformed their car's built-in tech?

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barnes.morgan•2d ago

That $15 USB hub from a pawn shop is somehow my daily driver now

Found a beat-up 7-port Anker hub at a pawn shop in Phoenix for $15, figured it'd die in a week. It's been 8 months and this thing runs my external drive, printer, and midi keyboard without a single dropout. Meanwhile my brand-name $60 hub from Amazon started frying ports after 3 weeks. I don't get it, cheap tech usually bites me hard, but this ugly plastic brick refuses to quit. Anyone else got a random junk drawer purchase that outlived all the fancy stuff you paid real money for?

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elliots49•2d ago

my 2003 palm m515 still outlasts my current phone's calendar app

picked up a used palm m515 at a flea market for $12 last spring. honestly expected it to be a paperweight but the calendar and memo pad just work. no sync issues, no subscription, no 40mb updates every tuesday. i keep it in my glovebox for shift planning at the warehouse. tried moving everything to my galaxy last month and lost a whole week of entries when the app crashed. went right back to the palm. anyone else rocking an old pda as a backup brain?

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hernandez.jordan•4d ago

That $30 FM transmitter in my 2008 Civic finally ruined a road trip

I used it for three years without issue, then on I-75 outside Chattanooga it started bleeding static over every station and my phone battery died from the boost. Has anyone else had these cheap transmitters suddenly cook their aux input or am I just unlucky?

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casey943•4d ago

That $12 thrift store router in Tempe kept dropping my work VPN

Picked up a used 802.11n router at a Goodwill for $12 and it worked fine for streaming, but the second I joined a work VPN call it froze every 10 minutes. I swapped back to my 2010 ISP box and zero issues, so if you grab bargain networking gear, test it with real workloads first. Anyone else hit a surprising weak point on cheap routers?

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paulc93•4d ago

My $12 VGA splitter finally made dual monitors work on a 2004 ThinkPad

I bought this no-name VGA splitter off eBay last month just to mirror a laptop screen for a presentation. Turns out it actually let me extend the desktop, which I didnt think was possible without a fancy dock. The catch was the refresh rate dropped to 60Hz and both screens flickered for the first 10 minutes. After messing with the resolution settings for an hour, it settled in and now I use it daily for spreadsheet work. I guess I never trusted these cheap splitters, but this one proved me wrong. Anyone else had luck with random video adapters that shouldnt work but do?

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riverf34•5d ago

That $15 garage sale CRT ruined my modern monitor for me

Buddy at the swap meet swore a 2003 Sony Trinitron would look better than my 4k panel. Bought it on a dare, now my eyes hurt going back to the LCD. Anyone else ruined by old glass?

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grace565•9d ago

That $19 VCR combo I rescued from a flea market in Dayton, best weird purchase all year

Found this combo VCR/DVD player at a flea market in Dayton for 19 bucks back in May. The guy swore it was broken because the clock kept resetting, but I took it home anyway. Turns out the battery was dead, swapped it for a 2 dollar part and it runs like a champ. I use it every week to watch old workout tapes my grandma recorded in the 80s, they still play perfect. The DVD side is slow as molasses but who cares, it's the VCR that matters. Last Saturday it survived a power surge that killed my smart TV, this thing is a tank. Anyone else got an old combo unit that refuses to die?

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maxhart•10d ago

Should I stick with my $20 CRT from 1995 or grab a $9 VGA converter?

I was at a garage sale two Sundays ago in Akron and this older guy told me my old Sony Trinitron is basically a museum piece, not a daily driver. He said I'm wasting desk space and power for a blurry picture that my 2013 monitor already beats. That got me thinking, I've been using this 20-inch CRT for retro gaming and even some spreadsheet work because it just feels right. But is the nostalgia worth the hum and the heat it puts off in my tiny office? The other side says converters are cheap and lag is a myth if you get the right one, but I've tried two of those $15 adapters and both dropped signals after 20 minutes. So who's right, the guy chasing modern convenience or me chasing that warm glow? Anyone here still daily-drive an old tube and defend it, or did you switch and never look back?

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stellat87•14d ago

That $8 digital picture frame from Goodwill now runs my whole morning routine

I grabbed a beat-up 2007 Phillips digital picture frame at a thrift store in Boise for $8 three months ago. Turns out it has a USB port and I hacked it to display my calendar, weather, and a todo list as JPEGs that refresh every night. The screen is tiny and the colors look like 1999, but honestly it beats paying $60 for a smart display. Only downside is it takes 4 minutes to boot and randomly resets when the power flickers. Has anyone else repurposed ancient gadgets for way more than they were made for?

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noah_palmer42•14d ago

Warning: those $12 mini barcode scanners from the junk bin will wreck your inventory day

Last Tuesday I grabbed a no-name CCD scanner for $12 at a swap meet in Portland and it looked fine. By Thursday it started double-reading every label and my stock count for box 47 showed 3,000 units when I only have 40. I lost 4 hours rechecking everything with my old clunky Symbol from 2009, which never messes up. Has anyone else had luck with a specific cheap scanner brand that actually holds up, or should I just accept the old gray box as my forever buddy?

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faith_schmidt•14d ago

Flea market find: a 1998 Palm Pilot that still holds a charge somehow

I was at the Rose Bowl Flea Market last Saturday and grabbed a Palm IIIx for 8 bucks. The guy said it was dead, but I popped in some fresh AAA batteries and it booted right up, even synced with my old laptop after a few tries. I mostly use it as a dedicated alarm clock now, but it's wild how sturdy these things are. Anyone else still running any PDA-era gadgets for daily use?

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