August 08, 2005

• How about a mobile NES/Mame/Dos emulator? Not sure how feasible it would be, though.
• I have an ancient P200 that still works fine and I hated to just get rid of it, so I stripped everything off it except for the OS, IE and a network card, cat5'd it to my home server, and made it into a "news and weather" station. I basically keep two browsers open split-screen at all times, weather.com's 10-day and the NYT front page, and every once in a while click refresh (sometimes it does it automatically, sometimes not). Nice to be able to walk by, get the headlines and weather quickly, and move on. Don't know if you like to cook, but a little recipe laptop in the kitchen would be useful along the same lines (propping those friggin books up is a pain).
• Why do you need a bootable CD-ROM to be able to install Linix? That's not what we did in the old days. Remember?
• If the laptop has a network connection (and the card is supported in GNU/Linux) you can use a boot floppy to start it up and a net install CD which grabs the bulk off the net. I've used Debian net install, but there are lots of others. Even if there is no net connection, you can burn a full distribution to a bunch of CDs and use a boot floppy to start up.
• you can burn a full distribution to a bunch of CDs and use a boot floppy to start up. I think the issue is that the CD and floppy share the same connection, and only one can be used at a time.
• Check out this page for information about mini-distributions of linux. I've tried a few of them and they work as advertised. Depending on what needs you have (or can think of) for your home network, something like this might do well for you. You can dedicate each laptop to a specific function -- DNS server, print server, router/firewall, web server, jpeg viewer/picture frame, etc -- and get good service from them. Damn Small Linux and Coyote Linux are two I've used quite a bit. I actually used Coyote Linux on an old p75 laptop with no CDROM to get network functionality so I could install Damn Small Linux via the network. Once installed, I used it as a souped up typewriter (Joe, Jed, Pico, etc. for text-editing) and basix web-browsing via Lynx/Links. Alternatively, you can use them as dumb terminals which connect to a server for their functionality. I've looked into this before, but it was beyond my meager skills and patience to actually get it going. You might have more luck, though.
• techsmith: Ah, ok, that would make sense. muteboy:Install a minimum GNU/Linux distro from a couple floppies to the HDD. After you can boot from HDD, use a net install CD to get a full distro.
• Thanks all of you. Techsmith: that is exactly the problem with the swappable CD/floppy drives. Hence the attempted BIOS upgrade. Nomen Nescio, malthusan: That looks to be the way forward. I'll give it a try. Skrik: You're right of course. Wasn't thinking straight. Forgive? ;) As for actual uses, I dunno. Just to say I did it? The pleasure of squeezing the hardware to the end? I must say the Picture Frame idea sounds good. The screen on one of the laptops is a bit loose...
• Remove the laptops' hard drives and use a 2.5"->3.5" IDE adapter to hook them to a desktop. Copy whatever you want over and reinstall in the laptops. I'm starting to think a laptop makes the ideal home server: it's quiet, compact, has a built-in screen, keyboard, and mouse, and, with USB ports, pretty darned expandable. They generally aren't fast, so they're lousy game machines, but they're perfect for a lightly used web server, print server, e-mail server, shared hard drive server, router, etc. -- stuff you need to leave on all the time.
• Keep your eyes open for used but still functioning larger-capacity hard drives. Laptops with broken screens, spill or drop damaged, etc. I've got an old laptop that I primarily use for writing and text editing. Sometimes it's nice not to have all the modern distracting bells and whistles.
• I just came into possesion of a very old laptop. I've now turned it into a thin client for my main computer so I, and other members of the household, can access it from downstairs.
• Muteboy - You're not alone, and not out of luck. Sounds like a good use for an older machine that may not have enough "ooomf" to run 2000 or XP, especially on a 100MB hard drive. I wish I had done this on one of the old laptops that I got rid of before I moved last year. Could have been an excuse to keep one or more of them.
• Ok, my plug for linux. Use the Debian Floppy Net-install I used it for my p100 toshiba -- boot from floppies, it grabs what you need off the net. You need to have either a broadband connection or lots of patience.
• For something that old, like my antique P-266 MX, you'd need an older Linux distribution or one meant for "obsolete" or "minimal" machines. I broke down and spent my savings on this Athlon 1800 a couple years ago when installing Redhat 9 simply would not work.
• I actually have a 486 laptop. Still works well, though the battery is gone. No USB ports, no CD drive, just a nice floppy drive (3.5" - state of the art). Just replaced it last year.
• Would make a great doorstop.
• ant farm.
• Fish tank for a very narrow (and non-ambitious) fish. Maybe a very small flounder.
• http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Uses+for+a+very+old+laptop&btnG=Search
• Mine still works well - runs word, excell, solitaire - everything you really need. Though I don't think it has a network card... which is why it was replaced and sent to my mother. For doing excell whereever she would like.
• Once you get them up & running again, you might consider donating them to a community literacy project. I know that the umbrella organization in your country is National Literacy Trust, but your local school district or even the local council can probably tell you who might be able to use them. Right up front, I will say that some organizations get snooty and want relatively recent computers. Please don't get turned off by them. In my locality, I am working to see that everybody gets access to computing technology. When I/we get computers that everyone else would consign to the dungheap, we use them to teach computing skills where blazing speed or fast graphics aren't an issue (e.g. word processing, programming, or even letting interested teens figure out how to repurpose them). Of course it would not be practical for you to donate them here--and besides, the guiding principle is that you might do something to help your community. I won't think ill if you decide against donating (hell, I won't even know, will I?); I just want to put the word out there that not everyone has access to computing technology, and more and more, those without basic competencies in computing will find it hard to get anything but manual labor jobs, further widening the gap between haves and have-nots. /steps off soapbox
• You could turn it into a digital picture frame.
• Late, late... Load OpenBSD on that machine and use it as a firewall. Several posters have mentioned how quiet laptops are, that is right. I have an antique Compaq machine with a P166 running OBSD as my firewall and its fan never ever comes on. The footprint of a basic (CLI-only) OBSD installation is pretty small and you will have plenty of room.
• ha, this thread made it onto the first page of results for that very google page it links to. Self link?
• There is no link in the post, and self links are ok in the comments, so long as their identified as such. Not sure which link you mean, but maybe yiu and the commenter just need to understand the rules.
• I think he meant this thread has become a sort of recursive self-link, because now when you google things to do with an old laptop, this thread is the first link.