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Good uses for old computers

C

coolVariable

Diamond Member
What can I do with 3 old computers sitting around?

2 Dell Optiplex G1 desktop mini-towers
1 Toshiba Portege small laptop


Dells:
- PIII 600MHz
- 128MB RAM
- 14GB HDD

Toshiba
- Pentium M 600MHz
- 256MB RAM
- 20GB HDD


File server is out since I already have one and they don't support a lot of drives (and no SATA).

I was considering using one of the Dells for video encoding (I have a MCE with lots of recorded TV that I want to convert from DVR-MS into Divx).
Would be cool if I could configure it so I only need to copy the DVR-MS to the computer via the network and then it automatically converts everything in a monitored folder ...

Any other ideas?
 
generally not worth the power they consume
laptops on the other hand only use ~30 watts, esp if you keep the lcd off..those can be somewhat useful.
 
Format it, install m0n0wall, run it 24/7 without the monitor as the ultimate homemade firewall 😉.

Or a home file server, or give it to an AT member willing to pay shipping.

Or best of all, donate it to charity so some family who can't afford a PC will get some use out of it.
 
I belong to a computer user's group in Licking County, Ohio. They have a semi-annual recycling drive. I know they would keep both your computers, check them out thoroughly, and make them available to folks who are not able to afford a new computer.

I believe their cutoff point now in 600 MHz. In other words, if the processor is slower than that, they send them to a re-cycler who breaks them down and extracts valuable metals for recycling into other uses.
 
That laptop could have a lot of uses for Linux experiments, firewall and maybe a file server if you can use an external drive on it. I'd love to have a little laptop like that, maybe for some... less legal uses too 😛
 
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