On 10/25/2015 4:58 PM, philo wrote:
I suppose I could also buy a spare...I pretty much have a spare...everything.

Must have at least 20 computers in the house and boxes of spare parts.

Old computers still retain functionality. An old modem may be a doorstop
once your ISP "moves on". I have several pricey ( $1K) dialup modems -- e.g.,
Telebit 8840's -- that are *barely* useful as doorstops!

http://hancomputer.com/media/product/2a/telebit-fastblazer-8840-f9.jpg

Likewise, many DOCSIS 2.0 devices effectively rendered useless by the
move to DOCSIS 3.0, etc.

It rarely pays to make long term "investments" in technology -- esp
commodity products!

Find an auction nearby (police, city/county, university, large business,
auctioneers, etc.) and pick up what you want for a song, typically.

I need a "new" (IDE) DVD writer for one of my computers. I'll pick
up a scrap computer for $3 next week, pull the DVD drive, RAM and
hard disk -- then toss the rest in the recycle pile (not worth
salvaging anything beyond this level of "detail")