So.............i can hand over a computer that has had hard drive removed at work?

it still turns on and runs just needs a hdd!

When they say "capable of being switched on and running", do they mean "and have a version of Windows installed, along with relevant documentation"? Hopefully not, if they're going to wipe the hard drives anyway, but it does make me wonder what they'll be doing as part of the recycling process...

Yeah, like I'd trust PC World to wipe my PC, think I'd do it myself first. And £30? Really? What standard is that done to?

I hope they're going to recycle these old machines properly and not just send them to some landfill in India or China like some other companies do. There's all sorts of toxic nastiness in old computers.

"...it will waive the £30 fee its 600-odd stores usually charge for wiping hard drives first."

Would you trust Dixons staff to wipe your hard drive without looking at it first?

Come to think of it, did Amstrad PCW's have hard disks? Perhaps they'll wipe my old 3" 'floppies'?

I do have an old PDP11 sitting around that still works but I wouldn't buy a computer from any of the Dixons chain and I suspect it's worth more than the £50 they'd give me anyway.

I checked up on this, and it's only laptops you can return. They can't be BIOS passworded, no cracked screen, complete with it's battery and mains adaptor. Apart from that, yup, any old laptop qualifies!

...to "wipe" a hard drive. Good god - I'm in the wrong business

...or is that cheeky, unless you've got a *really* old computer?

If you're prepared to play with a screwdriver for 30 minutes, CEX (and no this isn't an advert!) will buy CPUs, RAM, video cards, sound cards and hard drives for cash. I've broken a few machines and made more than £50, even on older machines :)

> Wintel or Mac, it doesn't matter. Ditto desktop or laptop. The stores' only stipulation is that your old computer has to capable of being switched on and running

not quite...

>Trade in unit must be a laptop and must: have an optical drive (e.g. CD/DVD), power up when switched on, include the correct power supply and battery, not be locked by a password and not have any significant cosmetic damage, i.e. the keyboard and screen must be undamaged and the casing and hinges intact.

ps what's with this nsfw rooney plastered all over my browser window on the reg hardware pages?

Just bought a new notebook for the wife ... of course, PC Dixons prices were already over £50 more than what I could get the same kit for from elsewhere. Not that they had anything that was any good to start with - I'd finally got around to working out why her games sucked, and climbed a quick learning curve on graphics cards.... and all the retail notebooks have crap ones it seems!

To actually wipe the hard drive without having a look first.

So do they have a 3 phase supply I can hook this Cray disk array (1Gb over 64 disks IIRC) to prove its working? £50 back from that ... bargin.

And I'm pretty sure I could whack a 486 together out of bits. That said the Speccy might end up worth more as an antique in a few years!

Maybe the two Amstrad PPC640s I have, along with a few other bits and bobs.. might get myself a netbook for nowt? :>

Conditions on the PC World website:-

***"Limit of one trade in per new laptop purchased. Trade in unit must be a laptop and must: have an optical drive (e.g. CD/DVD), power up when switched on, include the correct power supply and battery, not be locked by a password and not have any significant cosmetic damage, i.e. the keyboard and screen must be undamaged and the casing and hinges intact."***

Don't forget, no wiping fee = no contract = no liability for subsequent misuse of your data

I've just replaced an elderly laptop and I wonder if they'll take it without its HDD?

Having said that, I'd sooner give it to a recycling charity and effectively lose the £50 trade in. Which is a small price to pay for NOT getting a computer from those douche nozzles.