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I'm aware this isn't terribly Ubuntu specific but I thought I might get creative ideas from this community - hope it won't considered off topic. I got an old laptop and would like to give it a second life. I thought of using it as a backup server or turn it into a media center through Boxee, but I'm sure someone here can come up with something more creative! How can I creatively repurpose an old laptop? |
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You might like to try Xubuntu, which is slimmed down in many ways for older hardware that might not handle the latest softwares. |
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If you do not need badly a laptop. I would suggest to install lightweight version of some Ubuntu derivative (like Xubuntu or Lubuntu) and donate a laptop to some charity club for elderly people (. Of course it depends on your country and social life of elderly people. Why to install Ubuntu and not Windows ? I think Ubuntu has less glitches than Windows, not destructible by viruses and non-experienced users (it happens with elderly people :) So I think it would be a wonderful act of charity and promotion of linux systems 'for masses'. Best wishes, Vincenzo |
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I had the same, here are some of the stuff I did: -repurpose into a jukebox with Lubuntu + Banshee -into a media Center w/ XBMC Live (it's based on Ubuntu) -Turn it into a headless NAS/streaming server w/ subsonic + ssh + mediatomb + Airvideo + Torrentflux + AjaXplorer + Headless Dropbox => that takes care of all the Getting and streaming Media to and from whichever Device you have! it's an old (7 years old) Asus Laptop, and apart from the HDD I upgraded, it still works like a charm! |
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My best choice when recycling old PC would be to build networked Drive & Download Managers :) If your laptop has a good HD and low power consuming it would be nice to install a Torrent Downloader with Web Interface ( e.g. Transmission or Utorrent ). It is a good solution because you prevent the HD of your main machine to overwork ( and eventually break ) |
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I've used a powerbook wallstreet (300 mhz, 128mb ram). My suggestion is a minimal ubuntu server install and then, if you're skilled, pure command line, otherwise a light fluxbox and a little eyecandy with wbar. I use this little beast as a terminal client to access my desktop when I'm in the kitchen or in the bathroom and I need to surf the web or similar stuff. It also works as a torrent server with rtorrent and samba I've created a network folder where I just put torrent links from my other computers it "eats" the torrent and gives me back full downloads con another share respecting my bandwith limits during daytime. Your needs and creativity are the only limit on an old pc. Just be patient, use command line and NEVER GIVE UP. My little boy is standing up with wbar, desktop and conky using 60mb of ram :) ps the mediacenter idea is definitely NOT for very old hardware pps maybe using openfiler to turn it into a NAS? :) |
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