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View Full Version : What can I do with a secondary laptop computer?



TheNessus
September 2nd, 2010, 01:04 PM
Ok, I bought a new lappy recently which will be my main. Now I'm stuck with an Intel-t3400, 2gbRAM, 250GB computer. I can't sell it for any good money, other than about 20% its original worth or less, which won't make it quite worthwhile. So I'm looking for an idea about what I can use it for. I have zero knowledge in things like servers or firewalls or stuff.
:)

an0dos
September 2nd, 2010, 01:09 PM
Ok, I bought a new lappy recently which will be my main. Now I'm stuck with an Intel-t3400, 2gbRAM, 250GB computer. I can't sell it for any good money, other than about 20% its original worth or less, which won't make it quite worthwhile. So I'm looking for an idea about what I can use it for. I have zero knowledge in things like servers or firewalls or stuff.
:)

Then you now have a fabulous opportunity to learn about 'servers and stuff'. :)

You could always look into turning it into a media server for your TV. Laptops are nice because they use less power than desktops and have a built-in battery backup that lasts more than a few minutes.

wojox
September 2nd, 2010, 01:13 PM
Do you know .rpm's

You could always install Fedora on it and learn yum and rpm.

TheNessus
September 2nd, 2010, 01:17 PM
Do you know .rpm's

You could always install Fedora on it and learn yum and rpm.
I didn't like fedora at all. I do enjoy openSUSE though. But I could always do those on a virtual machine or the other lappy.

Interesting idea with the media server. However the onboard Nvidia 8200 graphics card overheats very easily, up to 90C even. It won't last when constantly viewing movies, especially HD. good opportunity to learn stuff though, yes,

TheNessus
September 2nd, 2010, 01:18 PM
I'm also considering donating it.

wojox
September 2nd, 2010, 01:19 PM
I didn't like fedora at all. I do enjoy openSUSE though. But I could always do those on a virtual machine or the other lappy.

Interesting idea with the media server. However the onboard Nvidia 8200 graphics card overheats very easily, up to 90C even. It won't last when constantly viewing movies, especially HD. good opportunity to learn stuff though, yes,

True openSUSE kde is a great distro. I never cared for kde until I tried that. :)

undecim
September 2nd, 2010, 02:09 PM
Turn it into a server and run Folding@HOME one it 24/7. Laptops are gret for F@H, because they are built to be so energy efficient.

Or ship it to me! I can always use spare computers.

samalex
September 2nd, 2010, 02:40 PM
I agree with the other posters, set-up either a server or try another distro. Personally I like using VirtualBox for distro testing so it doesn't tie-up a whole system, but having a dedicated Linux server at home is always a bonus. And given most laptops use much less power than a desktop it's a great solution for a 24/7 server.

What we did with my iBook when I retired it last year was I set it up in our kitchen as a media computer. We listen to music, watch movies/videos, look-up recipes, look-up weather, etc, and being in a central location it's a great appliance to have quick access to.

Just some thoughts...

Sam

an0dos
September 2nd, 2010, 02:43 PM
I didn't like fedora at all. I do enjoy openSUSE though. But I could always do those on a virtual machine or the other lappy.

Interesting idea with the media server. However the onboard Nvidia 8200 graphics card overheats very easily, up to 90C even. It won't last when constantly viewing movies, especially HD. good opportunity to learn stuff though, yes,

You could always take this as an opportunity to do some hardware hacking and jury-rig a water cooling system for it.

Come to think of it, those are three things that should never be combined: juryrigging, watercooling, and a laptop. Just be sure to post some pics of when it catastrophically fails. :)

Leeteq
September 2nd, 2010, 03:13 PM
Since it sounds like it is not incredibly important to you, I would say the best thing you can do with it is to help someone who really need it.

You probably have a local charity organisation fairly close by which for example may need extra computers to teach kids about computing or the like.

Often it can be quite easy to contribute slightly to "making the world a better place" :-)

maggoteer
September 2nd, 2010, 03:30 PM
yes donate it - to ME! But seriously, there are many many organizations, especially ones that provide working computers to underprivledged children, that would drool for that laptop, as they tend to be given only ancient 286 Windows 3.1 laptops with 640K ram and ... well you get the picture. And depending on where you live (eg the USA), the tax credit value of the donation may be greater than the resell value. You should consider that.

Finally, I've noticed that many an open source project has links to "wish lists" of it's developers. Maybe see if someone who works on your favorite, most appreciated OSS project would like it as a donation. But no matter how much you love Ubuntu, don't send to Mark Shuttleworth, I think he can afford his own toys!

cra1g321
September 2nd, 2010, 05:15 PM
You cold run different distros and try out lightweight distros or beta version of new distros.
Or i could take it off your hands ;)

TheNessus
September 2nd, 2010, 05:59 PM
You cold run different distros and try out lightweight distros or beta version of new distros.
Or i could take it off your hands ;)

Meh, I've tried many distros on this poor thing. Ubuntu is my main partition but on others I tried suse, fedora, #!, debian, puppy, and what not. So many formats done that the HD has bad sectors on it too. I think I will donate it, most probably. Nothing else has any real use for me really...

thanks all!

(by the way, my new lappy is incompatible with linux :( I use win7 on it. No optic driver, and since its dell R13, it has some weird network card that linux wont recognize, any distro... besides, win7 seemed to me always to be more efficient with battery issues, too bad )

cra1g321
September 2nd, 2010, 11:23 PM
why dont u buy a usb wifi adapter for your new laptop ? just plugin it into a usb port then your ready to connect to your modem. Ive had two for a old laptop that didnt have wifi an both have worked with ubuntu/linux mint

Glad your donating the laptop and not throwing it away