What use is an old laptop?

[d000hg]

A new battery is probably cheap so it could be nice for a family member if you are sure to wipe the disk properly.

[OwlHoot]

Melt it down- There are valuable rare earth elements in those things!

[mudskipper]

There's charidees that recycle laptops to Africa.

Computers 4 Africa | Home

Think - it could be the server for the next Nigerian scammer.

[prozak]

I have an old WinXP P4 laptop (2.8GHz 1GB RAM 80GB HDD) which in its day (c.2005) was the dog's danglies. But I haven't used it for ages and it's just taking up space. I've spent a few hours wiping data and programs off and it's still quite a nippy. But the fan is noisy. Battery life not great. Wireless by means of a dongle.

I'm thinking I'll give it away to someone, if I can find anyone who wants but does not already own a laptop.

Or am I missing a trick? What else could I usefully do with it?

Win8 is £25 quid for the upgrade.

Then give it to someone as a netbook.

[northernladuk]

Particularly useful during winter

[nomadd]

I have an old WinXP P4 laptop (2.8GHz 1GB RAM 80GB HDD) which in its day (c.2005) was the dog's danglies. But I haven't used it for ages and it's just taking up space. I've spent a few hours wiping data and programs off and it's still quite a nippy. But the fan is noisy. Battery life not great. Wireless by means of a dongle.

I'm thinking I'll give it away to someone, if I can find anyone who wants but does not already own a laptop.

Or am I missing a trick? What else could I usefully do with it?

Have some fun: Shooting my Laptop - YouTube

[KentPhilip]

I asked the same question some time ago and was advised to gut its innards and turn it into a tea tray..

[xoggoth]

Various charities will take them.

[doodab]

Rent it to my clientco, they need to upgrade.

[SimonMac]

I have turned a few into large photo frames, take out most of the gubbins, get a nice wooden frame and you are set

[Pondlife]

I have an old WinXP P4 laptop (2.8GHz 1GB RAM 80GB HDD) which in its day (c.2005) was the dog's danglies. But I haven't used it for ages and it's just taking up space. I've spent a few hours wiping data and programs off and it's still quite a nippy. But the fan is noisy. Battery life not great. Wireless by means of a dongle.

I'm thinking I'll give it away to someone, if I can find anyone who wants but does not already own a laptop.

Or am I missing a trick? What else could I usefully do with it?

Whack Ubuntu on it and use it as a SSH/sFTP/web server and/or as a way of accessing shared storage when away from home.

[Platypus]

I have an old WinXP P4 laptop (2.8GHz 1GB RAM 80GB HDD) which in its day (c.2005) was the dog's danglies. But I haven't used it for ages and it's just taking up space. I've spent a few hours wiping data and programs off and it's still quite a nippy. But the fan is noisy. Battery life not great. Wireless by means of a dongle.

I'm thinking I'll give it away to someone, if I can find anyone who wants but does not already own a laptop.

Or am I missing a trick? What else could I usefully do with it?