It’s Amazing What People Throw Away in Tahiti
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15123)
French Polynesia
November 4, 2015 9:12pm CST
Here in Tahiti I don’t think people understand the value of a dollar. Today more people here on the islands just throw their expensive laptops, PC’s, monitors, printers, and even Touch Screen computers away because they need minor repairs. Recently I have a giant collection of these devises.
Just recently I received a ACER Touch Screen all in one computer because the client didn’t want to change the hard drive in the system. He said keep it I don’t want it anymore.
I also received a nice HP mini PC tower because it would no longer boot from all the dirt inside of it. The client just gave this to me because he decided 80 dollars to clean out the PC was too much. I spent a few hours taking this apart and cleaning it. WOW it works perfectly.
I have a nice collection of laptop computers that all need minor repairs. They were all thrown away because the hard drives went out in them.
Today a keyboard arrived at the post office from Hong Kong. I needed this to fix a laptop. The client decided it would take too long for the keyboard to arrive so he threw away his laptop. If he had waited for 3 weeks it would have only cost him 35 dollars to fix his laptop. The keyboard on his laptop is so easy to remove and put in the new keyboard. Took me about 5 minutes to fix the laptop and now I have a really nice laptop for me. I feel lucky.
I don’t know about you but I find this a little crazy. Would you just throw away your computer if it needed a few minor repairs? I guess some people don’t know the value of money and don’t care about fixing up their computer.
Image Source - Personal image
14 people like this
16 responses
@GardenGerty (169568)
• United States
5 Nov 15
It sounds as if you could start a tidy business. Personally, if I have a computer I really like, I will go to great lengths to fix it. I wish I had done that with my last laptop. The repair person I go to said that for what it would cost to fix it, I should buy a new one. I loved that one. I may have a new hard drive put in it anyway. I still have it.
5 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
You know what today I can buy a hard drive for a laptop for around 100 dollars. I know on he islands we are twice if not three times more expensive than the US. It cost barley nothing at all to install a new hard drive and load the programs back in. If you love it so much put a new hard drive in it. I would.
Yes I do a lot of refurbishing computers here on the islands and selling them off for a fraction of a price a person would pay for a new one. I don't mind spending the time to rebuild a computer and sell it again many people here don't have the money to buy a new one.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
I have a really nice HP laptop here now I put a KB on today. Wow it is beautiful and works so well. The OS was trashed so I am reloading it all over again. Yes it takes time to find the drivers and put in the programs but once it's done it's like new. I put a new hard drive in a touch screen computer all in one and have a beautiful computer for me to use. I do a lot of restoring old systems and some of them I keep, some I give to people who can't afford to buy one, and a few of them I sell off.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@TheHorse When stuff is so bad I just have to get rid of it. I do have a pile of stuff that can't be fixed at all and waiting for pickup and recycle.
I feel like it is a shame to throw all these away because people here want the newest and best for them. If you have money that is fine but there are so many people here who would love to have a computer and I find these people to help them out.
@dpk262006 (58679)
• Delhi, India
5 Nov 15
It seems to me that there are many rich people in Tahiti, who throw their computers, accessories of computers and mobiles etc. because they do not have patience to get these devices repaired. You have done a wonderful job to acquire those faulty devices and you have successfully made them operational. 
I do not throw away such kind of devices so easily, until and unless I am sure that I've used a device to its fullest and there is no use repairing it further.
I do not throw away such kind of devices so easily, until and unless I am sure that I've used a device to its fullest and there is no use repairing it further.@dpk262006 (58679)
• Delhi, India
6 Nov 15
@poehere - So it is great on your part that you refurbish the old computers with your own efforts and may be money also and gift those refurbished computers to friends so that their children could use those computers.
They all would be feeling grateful for your gestures.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
6 Nov 15
@dpk262006 If I don' pay for parts I give them to people who are poor and can't afford them. Normally I get the information from the teachers at school of which child\s parents is poor but the child is doing well in school. Normally these are the first choice for me to find a good home for the computer. After the nicer ones with newer MB in them go to the schools and they do pay a little for them because most of the time I have increased the memory or put in a new HDD so it would last longer. Then I have a big family and I have given a few of them to my family. Now I don't do this one anymore because I think they all have enough.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
You are so right. Some computers I get in have very slow processor or use very old memory in them. I am lucky I have a giant stock of this here for me to select from. I have refurbished all of these and basically give them to friends or families with small children so they can learn how to use a computer. I normally install learning games in them for the children to use. I tell them that the hard drives don't have a lot of room in them and don't fill them up with music or videos. They understand and most of the people who get them take such good care of them. They know this might be there only computer ever so they don't want to break it.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153529)
• India
10 Nov 15
How is it that you have become the recipient. Do you have a repair shop?
@allknowing (153529)
• India
10 Nov 15
@poehere Do you return them to the owners or sell them? Glad to know you are a computer techie. I did not know this.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
10 Nov 15
I have my own business where I repair computer and I do data recovery. I get them dumped off here all the time. I just need to get some parts to fix some up and other times I use refurbished parts in them to fix them up.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
10 Nov 15
@allknowing They are given to me. I fix them and normally give them to some poor families who need them. Some are sold and some go to the schools. It all depends on what I have here and who wants it and so on and so forth.
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
5 Nov 15
I got two computers that were being thrown out as obsolete by companies - one still works for me now - it is so wasteful when they just get dumped
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
5 Nov 15
@poehere if only we recycled so diligently here too
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@arthurchappell Yah it would be nice. But here I know a lot of people are poor so it is better to do this for them.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
That's why I recover them and fix them. I have supplied a lot of schools and poor people with computers. Some I don't spend any money on at all and just wipe out the hard drives and load them with fresh programs. A lot of people will give me a few dollars for them so their children can have a computer for school.
Here we don't have a lot of place for landfill or recycling so if I can fix them and get them working again it is so good for our islands.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
10 Nov 15
Yes I collect them and store them here and little by little when I have time I fix them up and find good homes for them. I might sell some off or I might give some to poor families who's children need them or some might go to a school. I have kept a few of them for myself like a really nice touch screen computer and just recently a really nice laptop. But most of them I don't keep I find homes for them.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189957)
• Boise, Idaho
5 Nov 15
Yes, you could set up quite a business. My daughter used to dumpster dive around here and I was amazed at the stuff she would bring home. She found a ring in the dumpster and hawked it. It had real gems in it. People every where know that they can just go buy something new. I was brought up by two generations of people who lived through the depression. They use it up and then use it some more.
@celticeagle (189957)
• Boise, Idaho
5 Nov 15
@poehere ...But, you have the knowledge to back that up and do that. But, someone who is a lay person and wants something that works may feel that going and buying something new may seem smarter than paying to have something fixed that may not (in their mind) be fixable or work for that long before they have to have it fixed yet again.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@celticeagle This could be one way of thinking about it. I think the major problem here on the islands is the repair shop. They charge 110 dollars an hour to repair computers. I think this is way too much for people to spend for repair. I normally do it for a set price + parts which makes it a lot cheaper to repair the computers. Plus right now I have had a lot of people give me computers the repair shop says can't be fixed. It was just a mater of changing out a hard drive or some memory and they worked again. Some repair shops know this and want the people to buy new so they say this to them. There is a lot of other reasons people do this. Most of it is because the shops will give them easy credit and a payment plan so they say why not and throw away their old ones and buy new. But the old ones are not very old at all and they still work great.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
My two grandmothers grew up during both wars and the depression, my mom was born during the depression. When we grew up also we were taught that things had ro be used until they couldn't be fixed again. My dad was the great handy man that could fix almost anything. I know what you mean. That's why it's crazy to me to see people just throw all this stuff away. I guess pay in 3 to 6 times makes it attractive to people to go out and buy new all the time. Not me I would rather just fix it and keep using it.
1 person likes this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
5 Nov 15
This does sound weird but somewhere, I feel that the people are impatient. It can also be interpreted as - removing the clutter in the house/office - these devices do occupy space out there. It can also mean that the new Hardware is much less expensive and repairs are more expensive. A lot of interpretations can go in about this, with the information provided on the discussion.
But as dear @GardenGerty mentions - it can be a great opportunity for a business. I know some of hardware and troubleshooting - so that can be used as my service and I can become richer Or even buy out those discarded stuff at throwaway prices and then sell them off to other people at prices they can afford... there are many who will willingly buy these - if they are usable, a better price and if not usable, still I can recover the investments
Or even buy out those discarded stuff at throwaway prices and then sell them off to other people at prices they can afford... there are many who will willingly buy these - if they are usable, a better price and if not usable, still I can recover the investments@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
You are so right on this one. I believe the businesses here today will charge way too much in repair costs so they can sell new. Plus on the islands computers haven't been here very long. I know around 15 years back a computer sold here for 3500 dollars and there was only a handful of people to buy them. I started building my own and selling them for 1500 dollars. In a month I had sold 150 computers. Man I was working night and day to build them and install programs for the people. I had to even deliver them and set them up because nobody knew how to do this one.
Now today I see some laptop selling for around 650 dollars here on the islands. I think this is one reason a person is also getting rid of the older ones and buying one that has a little more power and a larger hard drive in them.
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
5 Nov 15
i guess you're referring to the people who have the money to replace them immediately, but not the time, patience or know-how. i read your comments to the responses. happy to know you use your skills to fix then resell these gadgets at a discounted price or give them away, depending on the situation.
would you mind telling me more about the picture you attached here?
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
5 Nov 15
@poehere i guess you also teach people how to use them and care for them
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@hereandthere Yes I do. I try to install programs on their computers when I fix them so they can easily clean their directories and keep their programs running. The hardest one is to get them to use their anti virus correctly. But they are learning and this is so nice.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
I took this during a fire dance competition they hold here on the islands annually. The best fired dancers from the islands come here to compete.
Yes I do this a lot and mostly I try to find people who need them and give them away. A lot of the parts I use including the hard drives are recovered and refurbished. The computers can last a person several years if they take care of it.
If I need to buy some parts to refurbish it then these normally will be sold for the price of parts and maybe 75 dollars extra for all the time I put into it. People are so happy to get them. Most of the ones I have refurbished over the years are still running and people are happy they have a computer to use.
Some people here are pressed for time or they have already bought a new computer so they give me their old ones that don't work. They understand that I work with the kids and schools to help them get the computers they need. School don't have a large budget to buy new computers with all the time.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
There are a lot of poor families that need them around here. Once the children go to junior high they will need a computer. I give away some to them, I have sold off some, I keep some of them. but mostly I refurbish them for school that I work for so we can get rid of the really bad ones they are using now. The school pays well for these and it helps them so much.
@kevinakash (2084)
• Sri Lanka
7 Nov 15
mostly the device which have minor repairs are directly thrown to asian countries.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
7 Nov 15
I see this one too. I know some people who do mother board repair that live in Egypt so they can use them again. A lot of mother boards need a new capacitor and so they put them on to make them work again.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
I do receive a lot of them because many of my clients have purchased a new one and throw their old one away. I do a lot of refurbishing them and giving them to poor families. Some people who throw them away I have no idea why they do this one. The laptop I am working on now I told the client how much it would cost to fix it. He said if it was over 100 dollars he refused to fix it. The total I invested in this was 35 for a KB and I had a hard drive here I had refurbished and put this in there. But he said he didn't want it and left it here. It has been sitting here for a few months and I just found a place to buy the KB in French so I could fix it. So now it is fixed and I am loading program in this one.
I get laptop with broken screen and yes they take a bit to repair but I can get them fixed and running again.
I like to do this because you can help people who can afford to buy one for their children.
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
5 Nov 15
I made a huge mistake with my old eMac. eMacs are huge and heavy and I was tired of lugging it every time I moved, not that I move that often, but still.... So I took that old eMac to a computer whiz and had everything from its hard drive transferred to a MacBook (laptop). I gladly left the old unwieldy eMac with the computer whiz. Turns out the laptop is a wimp, compared to the eMac, and I miss it terribly, but now there's no going back. Lesson learned. Oh, and the whiz had a pile of eMacs sitting outside under a lean-to. I wonder if all those former owners are happy with their new arrangements.
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
5 Nov 15
@poehere Yes, I thought so too. Why not give them to a school?
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@blitzfrick I think it would be the smartest thing to do. I am not a real Mac person but I did find out that most of them are hooked to your apple account. So even if he just reloaded the program in them he could easily give them to a school to use.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
I was given an eMac not so long ago because it needed a new hard drive. This computer is the worst ever to open up and change out the hard drive in. Took me forever to get this done. Tearing it apart wasn't as hard as putting it back together but all in all this is not an easy machine to work on.
Wonder why people throw them away. They seem to be a better machine than a lot of the newer one. This guy should take them and refurbish them for a school or someone that is poor who needs a computers. He can easily sell them off with a little work for around 100 dollars each. To leave them sitting outside is a shame and this is so wrong.
1 person likes this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
5 Nov 15
That does sound crazy. If it would cost more than the computer was worth, that would be a different story. But to throw it away for a minor $35 repair....
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
Yah that is what happened. I bought a new keyboard out of Hong Kong and it was shipped to me. It came with an US keyboard and I ordered a French one to make it easier to use. I don't personally care if my KB is French or English I can use either one of them. But this person was offered some fantastic computer he could use on his TV and his entertainment center so he wanted this instead. I think all in all what I had to do on the laptop would of cost him around 150 total. He said if it was more than 100 he didn't want it anymore and to keep it. What a shame for him but not for me because now I have a really nice laptop to use.
My other new laptop I bought several years ago has a broken screen on it now and I am looking for a person to ship me a new screen. I let my god daughter use it to watch a movie on and she left it on the bed. The dog stepped on the computer and broke the plasma screen on it. I was so angry. I loved that laptop and I did use it a lot when I wasn't home. So for now I will just use this one I repaired for now and hope to find a person to send me a screen soon.
1 person likes this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
5 Nov 15
@poehere Good luck with your hunt. I have never owned a laptop. If I went on trips or was away from home a lot then I would consider one. When I was working and wanted to look up something at work I just used the computer at work. All my computers have been desktops. One reason I like desktops is because they seem to be work horses, if you know what I mean.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
@RichardMeister Yes they are. Laptop are smaller and more compact. They have a tendency to break easier. I saw a few laptops given to kids to play their video games on and man do they destroy a keyboard this way. Banging on a laptop keyboard isn't one of the smartest moved to make and does not help the laptop last very long. Basically here I to run all desktops for my work. I have 8 of them setup for different tools and functions to keep by job running smooth. I would rather work on a desktop than a laptop but then laptops are also nice to have. I have a few of them here that I do use now and then and they are great when I need to go out to an office to work.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
Most of the major problem is hard drive. For around 50 dollars I can buy a nice hard drive and install in the computer. Clean it up a bit and reload all the programs in them. Some need new memory, some laptops need a new keyboard or a hard drive. These parts are so easy to install. I just load the OS and programs in them and they are ready to go. Basically computers today are very easy to fix. They are so much easier than they were 30 years ago that is for sure.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
5 Nov 15
I will always fix mine when they break. I just need to find parts for laptops and make sure they will send them to me here so I can fix them. It is not hard to find the parts but a lot of people won't ship to me here in Tahiti that is the major problem I find with fixing them. I have to still find a screen for one, a motherboard for another one, and try to repair the case on one. Some technician used the wrong screw or lost a screw and this one is a mess. Not sure if I will fix it or not but I can make it work. It still need a hard drive and some memory once the case is fixed
I agree get them fixed because it is cheaper than buying a new one for sure.
