Hey!
Just take them to a recycling center and buy something from this
decade used
for under 200.
Hold on a sec.
Why go through all the bother?
1) 200 bucks all at once may not be a feasible outlay.
2) some of the older software may run just fine on the older machines
(a newer one won't make the software run better).
3) I find something satisfying about computer resurrection that I
don't get by "taking them to a recycling centre". That goes for a lot
of "stuff" folks do with old things like: fixing the old '69 Mustang
in the garage instead of junking it, collecting/reading musty old
first edition books instead buying the newest repring, refinishing
furniture instead of hitting up IKEA, maybe pruning very old trees.
4) This is what the OP decided to do, presumably after ruling out
purchasing any new machine.
It's only cheap if your time
isn't worth anything?
Which is a statement that could be applied to any hobby or sport or
(fill in the blank).