uses for your old laptop

Many people say to me "whats the point in buying an old laptop, or even using an old laptop you still have at home?"
There are loads of uses for the old laptop you may have in the loft or propping the door open etc..
you could also be doing your bit for the environment by reusing the old laptop you have instead of chucking it in the recycling tip, or better still instead of buying a new one.

here are a few useful things to do with your old laptop:

- give the old laptop to your kids so that they don't keep messing with your new expensive laptop. if they damage the old laptop then it isn't that much of a headache to go and buy another one for £10-£20 instead of £300! you would spend that much on a new toy, why not give them something which will help them learn IT!
- use the old laptop as a backup of all your old dos games and programs you used to play / work with, (these old dos games now no longer work properly on new laptops)
- use it as a cheap word processor, or for spreadseets - organise your finances - on a very cheap laptop - saving you money at the same time!
- old laptops are also ideal for dos based programming - programing chips on pcbs etc..
newer laptops are just too quick and cause problems when trying to program in dos.
- you can install Damn Small Linux on old laptops with a 386 processor or more and more than 16mb ram, it also takes up a miniscule amount of hard drive space, in some cases only 2mb!! more info on the web!
- old laptops are also great for when carrying out simple tasks whilst working in mucky / dirty / unsafe environments - vehicle workshops, scrap yards, chemical / engineering labs, prep schools, warehouses etc... because they are not too fussed about a bit of dust, unlike newer laptops these days. They don't build them like they used too!
- old laptops can still do most of the things your brand new dual core centrino laptop can do - work, games, music, surf the net, read a pdf, store digital camera pics, run a paint package etc.. the only difference is that recent "bloatware" has made newer operating systems require larger amounts of processor power to run, behind all the fancy graphics they still do the exact same job.
- another great use for your old laptop is if you are good at diy or techy stuff, then you can convert the old beast into your very own digital photo frame! it is a great idea, and loads of people have done just that, I too have made a few of these photo frames from old laptops which I was going to chuck in the skip!
instead I have done my bit for the environment and made something which looks great in my hallway!
you could even hang it on a wall and then connect a joystick or a wireless mouse to it and use it like a pc!
or an interactive calender, the possibilities are endless
they work great! you can have them running a movie or a few pics of your friends and family. If you've got some free time, why not try it!
- another twist on the above option would be to fit the laptop into a old text book, where the pages are all torn and beyond use as a book, tear out the pages, then in the space remaining you could design and create your very own interactive text book viewer, add the files by cdrom or usb memory stick, wifi, ethernet or even floppy disk and then read at your leisure in your favourite armchair instead of the desk, from the outside the book just looks like an ordinary book, but from the inside it is completely different, one side you could have the screen, then the other side you could fit the keyboard and mouse!
- why not set it up as an mp3 player? instead of buying a new mp3 player plus docking bay, just install a pair of decent external speakers and that's it, you have your own standalone media player, unlike traditional mini hifi systems or mp3 players with docking stations, your laptop can also play movies (if its fast enough!) and any format of music available (you can always download additional drivers and codecs at a later date).

the list goes on and on and on....

Or you could give it to a third world country (via a registered charity) - they are desperate for IT equipment and an old 386 / 486 or pentium laptop - your trusted doorstop to them would make all the difference.
If you don't have the time to do that then simply donate it to your local school.

If after all those options you still cannot see yourself using the old laptop you have, then you can always drop it off at your local recycling centre or sell it off on ebay!

so the next time you decide to chuck that old heap of a laptop in the bin, think again!

you must never throw your old laptop or any old IT equipment in the bin - as well as being illegal this is also harming the environment by throwing redundant IT equipment in landfill. Allways use official registered recycling centres.