Anything Worth Keeping in a 1996 GPS?

Thread Starter

Zero Potential

Joined Mar 25, 2015
84
I had to take over my dad's affairs, and from time to time I gather useless papers and other items from his office and put them in the trash. Among today's finds: a 1996 handheld Magellan GPS.

I don't know what this thing cost in 1996, but a wild guess would be over a grand. Anyway, I couldn't think of a use for it, so I threw it out. Comparing this thing to a five-year-old smartphone is like comparing wooden snowshoes to the space shuttle.

Should I dig it out of the trash? Is there anything in there worth salvaging?
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
Dig it out of the trash, if for nothing else but sentimental value.

These things must be worth something years from now:

 

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
You should keep it. Put fresh batteries in and check it out. Then remove batteries and store it.

Think of it as zombie prep.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
I still have this mobile phone:

Just trashed one of those several years ago, actually it was a very early car phone and rather than deep six I gave it to a friend in W. Va. who wanted it. Still have a few rotary phones and a early touch tone version. Hey, you never know.

Ron
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I will need to look around again but I am pretty sure I tossed out my LORAN receiver before I made the move to the new house. It was huge by today's GPS standards. It had one of those metal collapsible antenna's that I must have snapped off the base a half dozen times. A sailboat cockpit is no place for a bulky receiver with a 3 ft. collapsible antenna. ;)

I still have my original GPS.

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spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I had to take over my dad's affairs, and from time to time I gather useless papers and other items from his office and put them in the trash. Among today's finds: a 1996 handheld Magellan GPS.

I don't know what this thing cost in 1996, but a wild guess would be over a grand. Anyway, I couldn't think of a use for it, so I threw it out. Comparing this thing to a five-year-old smartphone is like comparing wooden snowshoes to the space shuttle.

Should I dig it out of the trash? Is there anything in there worth salvaging?

Probably not more than a couple hundred at that time. I got one free for not test driving a Cadillac. I got a coupon in the mail. Free GPS for a test ride in a Caddie. I put on an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Had not shaven in a couple of days. Drove my old rusty Jimmy up to the dealer's window. Walked inside. Handed the coupon to the salesman. Told him, "Look at me. Look at my car. Do I look like someone that would buy a Caddie? I will save you your time. You can save mine. Just hand me my GPS and I will say you took me for a nice test drive if asked". He handed me my GPS and I went out the door. I ended up selling it for something like $175 on eBay. :)


I am pretty sure you can talk to the Magellan with software. Also that there are libraries to do so. There is one at https://www.stempsoft.com for the Garmin. Search around and you might find one for the Magellan. It is probably a serial port interface. If you can find the source code, you could put it on a mcu and build a neat robot.
 

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spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Just trashed one of those several years ago, actually it was a very early car phone and rather than deep six I gave it to a friend in W. Va. who wanted it. Still have a few rotary phones and a early touch tone version. Hey, you never know.

Ron

I still have my old slide rule. When all of the computers and calculators suddenly stop working, I will sell it for a small fortune. ;)
 

Thread Starter

Zero Potential

Joined Mar 25, 2015
84
I think I'll leave the trash undisturbed.

Sad, how fast this stuff depreciates and turns into curiosities. But I guess I should think of that as what it is: evidence of crazy-fast technological progress.
 

Thread Starter

Zero Potential

Joined Mar 25, 2015
84
I decided to fish it out and check. It's a Magellan Trailblazer XL. The battery compartment will not open, and it has interesting chemical deposits around the cover.

Some...discerning shopper...on Ebay recently paid $15 for one of these things. Windfall!!
 

bobward

Joined Sep 18, 2011
2
I had to take over my dad's affairs, and from time to time I gather useless papers and other items from his office and put them in the trash. Among today's finds: a 1996 handheld Magellan GPS.

I don't know what this thing cost in 1996, but a wild guess would be over a grand. Anyway, I couldn't think of a use for it, so I threw it out. Comparing this thing to a five-year-old smartphone is like comparing wooden snowshoes to the space shuttle.

Should I dig it out of the trash? Is there anything in there worth salvaging?
I do not know where you live, but a few years ago, looking at collector sites, I saw a wonderful sales technique. I quote
:- I buy rubbish, I sell antiques. Someone out there will want what you have. You have to advertise it. 'Here everybody, do you see what I have. Do you want it? How much will you give me? Along those lines, good luck. If you have no luck, approach your local museum. It is crazy these days, the things that are being thrown away because we have no room for them or they do not work anymore. There is a Cray computer in the Science Museum in London. It doesn't work any more but they have it, showing people what we did have.
Bob Ward Loughborough England
 
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