Flea markets in Spain: what is sold here and what can you buy?
For a while I live in Spain, in a city called Nerja (this is in the south). Sea, sun, delicious food – everything is here. But on a technological resource like Habr, describing all this does not fit into the topic a little, although I have seen several articles of a similar orientation.
Therefore, I’d rather tell you about what a geek might be interested in – flea markets, they are also flea markets. Why flea markets? The thing is that here, in addition to, in fact, junk (second-hand clothes, used dishes, furniture, etc.), electronics are sold. Sometimes there are very interesting gadgets or their components. In continuation – a selection of devices that we managed to buy over the past month.
Portable multimedia center Archos Gmini 500
A portable player that is equipped with a 4-inch display and a 40 GB hard drive. As it turned out, the disc contained a huge amount of different music and several films, including “Harry Potter”. Of course, most of the content is in Spanish, since the device was purchased on the territory of Spain itself, as mentioned above.
Surprisingly, the condition of the player is very good, including the battery. I haven’t tested it for several hours, but half an hour of playing one of the movies saved on the device’s disk took only about 10-15% of the battery. The manufacturer promises about 5 hours of video playback, so it looks like the battery is fine. The sound is there, does not rattle, the volume level is excellent. The screen is not scratched, all buttons work.
The only thing is that the body is a little worn out, but this is understandable, because the player is already 15 years old (it was released in 2005, at the time of release it cost like a cast-iron bridge). You can use it now, both as a media center and as a voice recorder. A USB cable is used to download files; if desired, this thing can be connected to a TV and output sound to an external source.
In general, it is quite a functional device, which is still relevant today.
The purchase price is 6 euros (initially the seller wanted 15).
NeatoXV Signature Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Judging by the description (I haven’t had time to try it yet) – a chic robot vacuum cleaner, which, unlike most models of the Roomba series, is equipped with a laser navigator. It has a special dome on the body, under which a rotating laser is located. It scans the room, detecting obstacles and the amount of work, so that the vacuum cleaner can rightfully be called smart.
Before starting work, the robot scans the room, selects the mode of operation and movement. So the manufacturer does not recommend rearranging furniture in the process – the map has already been drawn up.
Robot Specifications:
• Type of cleaning – dry.
• Power source – two NiMH batteries.
• Charging time – 3 hours.
• Working time – 90 minutes.
• Dimensions – 33 cm x 31.8 cm x 10.2 cm.
• Weight – 3.9 kg.
• Installation for charging – automatic.
• Sensors – optical.
The robot looks gorgeous, although I bought it and not in the most perfect condition – there are signs of wear, though not very significant. I managed to buy it with a box, docking station, power cable.
Unfortunately, the robot turned on, but did not work – when it began to understand, it turned out that the laser head did not rotate, its electric motor was out of order. After studying the problem, I realized that this is a typical breakdown of the vacuum cleaner. I ordered a new motor from Amazon for 15 euros and installed it. After that, the vacuum cleaner “started up”, began to ride around the room, but moved in a strange way, just like a blind puppy. Pushes in one direction – backs up, in the other – the same thing, sometimes rolls in a circle.
Most likely, either I connected the cable incorrectly during assembly, or something else failed (it may well be that the sensors are dusty). There is no time to investigate further, so I left the robot until better times.
I bought it for only 10 euros, so I don’t regret it – the toy is interesting. On Amazon, the same is sold for 200 euros. If I fix it, I will either use it (I already have a couple of iRobot Roomba robots) or sell it. Perhaps I will review here, on Habré – both the repair process and operation.
Tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab A6
One day I found an excellent tablet at a flea market – Samsung Galaxy Tab A6. It did not turn on, according to the seller, the tablet was suitable only for parts. He was right, since the screen was intact, there were no special scratches on the plastic, so the tablet was suitable for disassembly into parts.
Back home, I decided to try charging it using a laboratory power supply unit (LBP). The consumption current turned out to be normal (over 1 A), which already gave hope that the device could be brought back to life. When connected to power, the tablet also made a sound like a splash of water, which usually means normal operation.
It became clear that everything works, except for the screen. If the display was inoperative, then the tablet would only be good for parts – Samsung displays are usually expensive for both phones and tablets.
I decided to open the device, after which I disconnected the battery and reconnected the display cable. Putting everything back together, I returned to the original situation – the screen did not work. Out of stubbornness, I decided to repeat the process, wiping the loop contacts with isopropyl alcohol. After I connected everything back, the screen turned on. As it turned out, this is a “trick” for these tablets – I was convinced by watching a couple of videos on YouTube (before opening it, I simply trusted my own intuition).
So far, I have the tablet, I have not decided what to do with it. It works well, but is not particularly needed, and there is no time to fiddle with the sale. In general, I’m just glad that a good device has received a second life. I’m thinking of giving it to someone I know.
The tablet costs over € 100 on eBay, I bought it for 15.
Akoya E1318T Laptop
Laptops in good condition, at least in terms of external signs of wear, are not often found at flea markets. A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky to stumble upon an Akoya E1318T laptop with almost no signs of use (scratches, stickers, etc.).
The laptop turned on, judging by its appearance, it was not released under Tsar Pea, and there seemed to be no problems with it. The seller, however, gave it away for a modest money of 25 euros (of course, after the bargaining, they initially asked for 50 euros), which was clearly not much for such a device, albeit not the most famous vendor. A suspicion arose that not everything is as good as it seems.
And for sure. Arriving home, I realized what was the problem with the low price – the laptop was not charging. It turned on, entered the BIOS, but did not load the OS. I tried to install Windows, but after 10 minutes the laptop shut down. Having connected it to the LBP, I saw that charging was not going on. I checked the battery – it showed about 12 V at a rate of 14 V. I tried to charge, bypassing the power controller – it charged, but the laptop still did not turn on.
Having disassembled it, I found out that, firstly, a 256 GB SSD is installed inside (the “native” configuration provided for a 500 GB HDD), and secondly, the amount of RAM is 4 GB instead of 2 GB. Not bad already.
Having studied the circuit a little, it became clear that the second input bridge was broken. By short-circuiting it, I achieved switching on from the network (it still did not turn on from the battery, and did not charge). I ordered both input mosfets on AliExpress, waited for their arrival, replaced them, and got a fully working laptop, and with a touchscreen display. The battery is in working order.
In the end, this laptop cost me 28 euros, taking into account the ordered items.
Injoo VOOM Classic watches
Repeatedly met Chinese smartwatches of various manufacturers at the flea market. For the most part – some strange crafts with a huge plastic case and basic software. I myself wore Samsung S3 Frontier for a long time, so I didn’t pay much attention to other watches.
But about a month ago I saw a very decent watch Injoo VOOM Classic. They did not turn on, there was no charging, so it was not clear whether they worked or not. The seller agreed to sell the device for 5 euros, and I went home to check them. To my surprise, they charged from the LBP without any problems. It turned out that the watch has a metal case, a metal strap, a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure meter, and even a pulse oximeter function. It’s hard to say how all this works correctly from the point of view of medicine, but the measurements were similar to those shown by the Samsung S3 Frontier.
I ordered a USB power cable from Amazon and got a fully functional device. By that time, the device from Samsung had become boring, so I sold it and for a month now I have been walking with a Chinese smartwatch, the capabilities of which are completely satisfactory to me. They measure the number of steps, pulse, blood pressure, wake up in the morning and remind when to get up and stretch. The watch connects to my iPhone 8 plus (by the way, I had to look for the application – there was no mention of which program the watch was working with, I accidentally came across a mention of the application in an advertisement for women’s smartwatches of the same company). If you’re interested, it’s WearFit 2.0. The watch also works with Android.
For 5 euros – just fine. On Amazon, a new watch of this model costs 80-90 euros.
PDA HP iPAQ RZ1710
To be honest, I’m a fan of the iPAQ line of PDAs. In my opinion, these devices (almost all) are just perfect. At one time I used 3 different models, from the simplest to the most sophisticated. Until now, there is one of the models that I use as a smart remote control for a TV, an air conditioner, another TV, a media player and a couple of other devices.
At the flea market I saw the iPAQ P2200 model. The device did not turn on, so I didn’t really hope for anything. The seller did not have a charger or a box. But he sold it to me for only 1 euro. For me it was a kind of blasphemy on his part – after all, in due time I would have given my right hand for such a device.
Characteristics:
• Operating system: Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.
• Processor: Samsung S3C2410 203 MHz.
• RAM: 32 MB (16.84 MB available to the user).
• ROM: 32 MB (11.33 MB available to the user).
• Expandability: SD / MMC slot (SDIO support), IrDA.
• Screen: 3.5 ”(active area: 53×71 mm) with a resolution of 240×320 pixels, 65 thousand colors.
• Battery: non-removable Li-Ion, 1000 mAh.
• Dimensions: 114x70x13.4 mm.
• Weight: 120 g.
But okay, 1 euro is so 1 euro. I brought it home, connected another iPAQ to the docking station – and the PDA started up. He turned on, allowed himself to be configured and began to work without glitches. I checked all the functions, including navigation (as it turned out, a memory card with a navigator was inserted into the SD slot, albeit with maps that are almost Franco’s contemporaries). There is a stylus, no problems with use, so I’m satisfied. On the farm, this device is not particularly needed, but I think to make it a retro review in the near foreseeable future.
In the dry residue
Visiting flea markets is my hobby, for several years I have accumulated a good collection of various devices. If interested, I will publish similar collections in the future. Plus I can make more or less detailed reviews of individual devices. Below is a survey about which of the devices presented in the first selection do you consider worthy of a separate review.
