Ideas for Using an Old Laptop

fitzie79

I have an old dell laptop that I am no longer using having upgraded to a newer laptop. The old laptop no longer has an OS on it (old one from work so it was wiped). Are there are possible uses for the laptop that could be recommended. I was previously looking at buying a NAS so that I could access files/music from a central location and link it to a Logictech Internet Radio that I have. Is there a way of using a laptop as a NAS (ideally I'd like it to power up/down depending on the time of the day) or are there other uses for it?

Stuxnet

Stick on a free OS like ubuntu and the world is your oyster !

Kenny Logins

I have an old Dell Inspiron and I did install Linux Mint, but realised I really don't need another laptop. Would be interested to hear of any other uses for it too.

phill106

iPwnage wrote: »

Stick on a free OS like ubuntu and the world is your oyster !

Indeed, hook it up to tv with a vga connector. Instant media centre.
Sort out remote access and you can remotely set it to download movies while away then have them ready on your arrival!(from itunes, i wouldnt mention downloading illegal movie torrents from the net).
You can also use it for backup purposes.

fitzie79

thanks for the feedback. putting something like ubuntu on and using it as a media center is certainly a good option. i also came across freenas which was mentioned on the web as a good use for an old laptop. anyone got any experience of this? am i better off with ubuntu and using it to somehow backup files rather with the extra functionality of being a media player?

Paulj

Give it to charity... www.camara.ie might take it. They send pc's to africa for education purposes.

Ghost Train

linux mint, debian lxde, crunchbang, ubuntu xfce etc are all pretty fast on old machines, handy for web browsing or spare pc

freenas is fine but just like having a network hard disk