Fun uses for an old ThinkPad?

[dmillerw]

I recently got an old ThinkPad, but am unsure of what to really do with it.

The battery life is next to none, so it has to be plugged in at all times, and the backlight is dead.

I've currently got a minimal version of Ubuntu installed (no GUI, console only)

Any suggestions on what to do with it?

[Sef]

what are your specs?

[dmillerw]

Pentium III @ 1.2Ghz
512MB RAM

[Paqman]

Would make a good little server. Throw Apache on it, sign up to DynDNS and say "Hello World".

[dmillerw]

Would make a good little server. Throw Apache on it, sign up to DynDNS and say "Hello World".

That's definitely one of the things I've been considering. Especially since my last one died. xD

[Rasa1111]

Ive got a Thinkpad older and weaker than that,
and while I never use it.. it runs Lubuntu great. With less than 200MB RAM.
Thinkpad E600.
Battery (both of them ) are also shot, and it needs to be plugged in..
but its about 13 years old.. and still kicks! lol

A server would be a good idea I think. For yours anyway.

Only laptops Ill ever buy are Thinkpads.
my Z61T (about 5 yrs old) kicks even new laptops arses. lol

[2F4U]

The nice thing about ThinkPads is that you can get spare parts for even old machines. You may be able to buy a replacement battery. I have an old ThinkPad X31 (12" screen size), which I carry with me as kind of netbook. Xubuntu is installed on it and runs very well. I use it for notetaking and web surfing. I have installed Firefox Aurora, which is much faster than the current stable versions.

[2F4U]

Only laptops Ill ever buy are Thinkpads.
my Z61T (about 5 yrs old) kicks even new laptops arses. lol

The nice thing about ThinkPads - the older models, I don't know much about the newer ones - is that these are business class machines. You can't compare a ThinkPad with any consumer laptop with respect to build quality and durability. I also found that they provide a very good Linux compatibility.

[dmillerw]

As I've said, the backlight is shot, so the screen is basically useless. I'll probably just go with the server.

[mips]

As I've said, the backlight is shot, so the screen is basically useless. I'll probably just go with the server.

Repairing the backlight should be easy & cheap, plenty of used spares going around.

You say the battery does not hold a charge for long which means the electronics are still good but the cells shot. Buying replacement cells and repacking the battery is pretty cheap and with the new cells today you will get better performance than with a replacement battery.

What's the exact model number of the laptop?

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki The best Thinkpad site out there!

I would restore it to it's former glory and install something like Crunchbang or Arch on it


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