Tip of the week: Clear out your tech junk

Jared Newman
|
April 19, 2022

On Friday, April 22, UBreakiFix stores will hold a one-day recycling event for Earth Day. That means it’s a fine time to clear out any old electronics that you can’t easily sell for cash.

UBreakiFix’s eligible device list includes DVD players, cables, keyboards, mouses, and printers, most of which will have little to no value on tech buyback sites. You can find nearby UBreakiFix stores by scrolling down to the “Find your store” section on this page.

For phones, tablets, wearables, and other high-value gadgets, I suggest trying to sell them instead. Flipsy and SellCell are great resources for comparing prices at various tech buyback sites. You can also check out the new buyback program at Back Market, or use Phoneswap to trade up between used iPhones.

With these buyback sites, you’ll get a prepaid shipping label for easily shipping off used gear, and will receive money in return (typically via PayPal or equivalent services). For folks who are willing to put in more legwork, there’s always Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or Swappa, where you can list your own devices and sell them directly to other people.

If you miss out on uBreakiFix’s Earth Day event, fret not. Best Buy stores will let you recycle up to three items per day at any time of the year, so you can avoid sending them to the landfill. You can even get 15% off a new router by bringing in your old one.

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Greetings from Maryland, where I’m visiting my folks for the week and getting some much-needed help with the kids, who are off school. This of course means I have once again activated Serious Travel Computing Mode, as pictured here:

For the eagle-eyed, yes, I did try to run Elden Ring on a thin-and-light laptop with integrated graphics. It did not go well.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve got in this week’s full issue of Advisorator:

  • The best ways to block trackers and avoid invasive ads on the web
  • Faster formatting in Google Docs
  • A slicker alternative to PowerPoint
  • Big savings on OLED TVs, chargers, earbuds, and more

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Thanks for reading!

– Jared