technology

23741 readers

88 users here now

On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

Rules:

1. Obviously abide by the sitewide code of conduct. Bigotry will be met with an immediate ban
2. This community is about technology. Offtopic is permitted as long as it is kept in the comment sections
3. Although this is not /c/libre, FOSS related posting is tolerated, and even welcome in the case of effort posts
4. We believe technology should be liberating. As such, avoid promoting proprietary and/or bourgeois technology
5. Explanatory posts to correct the potential mistakes a comrade made in a post of their own are allowed, as long as they remain respectful
6. No crypto (Bitcoin, NFT, etc.) speculation, unless it is purely informative and not too cringe
7. Absolutely no tech bro shit. If you have a good opinion of Silicon Valley billionaires please manifest yourself so we can ban you.

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

context@hexbear.net

EmmaGoldman@hexbear.net

SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net

gaycomputeruser@hexbear.net

ZoomeristLeninist@hexbear.net

What's the best way to make use of an old laptop? (hexbear.net)

submitted 4 months ago by MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net to c/technology@hexbear.net

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

My aunt's got an old slightly broken laptop. She's got a new one. No one has any need for this old one anymore. It has no selling value. Etc etc etc.

I know I can put an SSD in it and run it on Linux to make it run smoothly as a laptop for emails and word processing etc, but I already have a crap old laptop for exactly that.

What sort of fun things can you do with an old laptop? I'm talking like, using it as a whole new device. Maybe using it as a 'TV Box' of sorts - getting some radio apps, and hacked streaming apps... Or loading up a bunch of PS2 games on it... or having it as the jankiest personal assistant, with timers, and calendars, and all that.

You know what I mean.

I love pointless gadgetry.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] znonymous@hexbear.net 17 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (5 children)

I turn all my old laptops into servers. Most often, I use them to experiment with various self-hosted services.

Most laptops these days can be put into clamshell mode, especially if they have an HDMI out. Just get a headless dummy plug -- they run about $6.

Plug one of those in, close the display, and you have a small, book-sized server with a built-in continuous power supply backup battery.

Of course eventually, the power consumption of all these devices can add up. Older devices are often less efficient. Sometimes, just retiring and getting a device "recycled" (to the extent possible) is best.

[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 7 points 4 months ago (4 children)

What sort of self hosted services do you mean?

[–] znonymous@hexbear.net 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Stuff like this:

https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted

[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 2 points 4 months ago

That rules

load more comments (2 replies)