Finding a use for old laptops - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ArchieAltz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 09:19:54 am
content: I have 2 old laptops from around 2009 or 2010 , they're core 2 duo CPUs and I was wondering what can I do with them cause both have bad batteries and really the performance is kind of meh. My dad has been saying that he needs something to do his spreadsheets on so I think one's got a use. Any recommendations for an OS or something that isn't too hard to teach my dad how to use ?

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 12:11:39 pm
content: Kubuntu works well.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 02:06:32 pm
content: The various entertainment uses do not really need a great amount of computing power.Photo storage and viewing.Video storage and viewing.Editing of above if only basic functions are needed.Streaming video.E-mail.Even surfing the web if done properly.The big computing power users/wasters are:Video games.Internet sales sites (Amazon, etc.). This is because they are never satisfied with just showing you what you ask for. Instead they bombard you with every side ad possible.Some CAD/CAM programs.and probably the biggest one of all,MALWARE!

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 02:21:51 pm
content: You could put one in your workshop and install your favourite microcontroller development environment (some can be storage-heavy but few, if any, will overstretch the CPU). Even Visual Studio works OK on my prehistoric workshop laptop.You could also install oscilloscope software on them, and an audio editor program can be useful for examining recorded audio signals. You might find other interesting apps that will come in handy.I don't know if you do any Windows programming, but I've written a couple of specialised Windows apps to support specific tasks in my workshop. And, of course, it is useful to have a web browser in your workshop for ordering parts and doing research, etc.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 03:03:01 pm
content: It depends on their general condition. If they've got any screen problems, a weak hinge or heavily cracked shell, bad ports or DC in jack, keyboard problems or a dodgy trackpad, it may be time to scrap them. If OTOH theonlyproblem is a bad battery, its probably worth saving them for any of the suggested uses above if they have at least 4 GB ram (preferably 8 GB), or can cheaply be brought up to that spec.However, there is likely to be a glut of used desktops with better specs this autumn as an increasing number of users are forced to upgrade to Win11 capable machines, so unless you or your Dad are particularly tight for space in the workshop or office a desktop is a far better long-term solution.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 06:51:13 pm
content: Things like flashing / automated testing / calibration / test&measurement instrument automation / data logging / simple CNC uses etc. Much handier than Raspberry Pis or similar because you have built-in monitor and keyboard.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 08:16:48 pm
content: Quote from: ArchieAltz on April 12, 2025, 09:19:54 amI occasionally do spreadsheets and word processing in MS Office 2000 on a Pentium 4 running Windows XP, so that is certainly doable, and a C2D will probably run XP/7 far better than a P4 does.Otherwise, I tend to use my older laptops for running older software, but the aforementioned P4 does have Arduino, and some basic (old) PCB layout software, as well as a solar power monitoring application, an IRC client, media player, and a semi-usable web browser.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 08:29:33 pm
content: Since you said it's for your dad: anything but Unix, please!My vote would be for Windoze 7.And no offense to your dad; not implying he's not smart or anything.

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 08:52:30 pm
content: Use these Oldies running a slim operating system of your choice, as an otherwise dumb terminal to VNC into other puters. Do this all the time to watch washing machine, automower, drive way, letterbox, email server, whatsapp ect. from several places around the house. Basically for free.

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 08:59:32 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on April 12, 2025, 08:29:33 pmUnix is not in question, too expensive.And it seems that your knowledge of open-source OS is 20 years out of date. Ubuntu Linux (and all its derivatives) is every way as easy to use as Win, if not easier.I run a couple of HP/Compaq laptops from around 2008 (Core 2 duo, 2 GHz, 4 GB) for schematic/simulation//PCB work with KiCAD 8 and spreadsheet and text editing as well as web browsing etc. Standard stuff.They need a lightweight Linux, which is why they run Lubuntu, but Kubuntu or Ubuntu Mate would do just as well. Very fast (much faster than Vista they were born with) and super-reliable and hassle free.That being said, keeping old consumer laptops alive makes little sense, but the business models with all their HW interfaces and top hardware do.I attach a screenshot of my desktop. Is there anything scary about that for your dad?

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 09:08:19 pm
content: QuoteThis!If any complex component in the laptop dies it is game over.In a desktop you have much more chance to repair it succesfully by exchanging cards, processor, ram even motherboard.Still any pc of that age is IMO only feasible if you have an application for it that requires an old pc. For instance an eprom burner with rs232/lpt interface that only runs on old DOS or old windows software.I myself throw away laptops after 15 years, most need new batteries each 4 yearscwhich is also a cost factor.If it is for your dad he probably wants also to go to the internet, don't use old OS's that do not have security updates for the internet, it is dangerous.

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 09:19:32 pm
content: Quote from: Kjelt on April 12, 2025, 09:08:19 pmI think you missed my distinction between "consumer" and "business" models. The business models are much sturdier and have many more features than the cheaper types, and build quality is higher.I run HP/Compaq 6910p and none of them have let me down yet (except for CMOS battery and accumulator). And the keyboards are a dream compared to the crappy stuff of today.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 09:31:40 pm
content: Quote from: Benta on April 12, 2025, 08:59:32 pmYeah, right.Just wait until the first inevitable problem pops up and he's advised to "just edit configuration file xyz" and "recompile the kernel".And by Unix I mean any *nix.

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 09:41:57 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on April 12, 2025, 09:31:40 pmNever had the issue, and I've been running Lubuntu since 2018.But a least the option is there. With MS it's all closed, and he'll just have to wait until someone might fix it. And who's talking about "recompiling the kernel"?Ubuntu and derivatives are ready-made compiled packages that work out-of-the-box. The application programs as well.Your knowledge still seems to be 20+ years old.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 10:52:14 pm
content: I have been thinking of using my laptop as a low power file and application server when I retire it, but it has a Ryzen CPU so is relatively modern.

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2025, 11:52:42 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on April 12, 2025, 10:52:14 pmWell, go ahead. Ubuntu Server version will do the job. You'll love the disk partitioning and user/file permission possibilities.Bullet-proof.

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2025, 01:07:27 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on April 12, 2025, 09:31:40 pmThere is always those who find early problems and have to do that in the absence of a corporate dev team. But I have always been able to get by without compiling the kernel and rely on downloading the fix. Pretty much just the way I do with Windows.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2025, 03:11:54 am
content: Quote from: Benta on April 12, 2025, 11:52:42 pmI ran tests last year using my old Phenom II workstation and had problems with SAMBA which could not be resolved.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2025, 07:30:14 am
content: Quote from: Benta on April 12, 2025, 09:19:32 pmI do agree they are better build but also these need maintenance.Laptops are known for overheating , thereby reducing capacitor lifetime, drying out the heattransfer compound on the heatsinks, continuously charging the batteries etc.My argument is that it makes no sense maintaining old pcs unless you have a dedicated use for them or retro hobbie and then it would be much easier to use a desktop version. Less maintenance and more second hand parts for replacement.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2025, 08:27:18 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on April 13, 2025, 07:30:14 amI am planning on putting mine into low power mode where even at maximum CPU load, the fan is not required, although being a now older Lifebook, it is easy to disassemble to maintain and clean. I leave it running now as an application server and the charging system has a mode to partially charge the battery for maximum operating life. For file server use, I have a plan I want to try to attaching large amounts of storage through USB.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2025, 09:26:14 am
content: Just hot my old notebook from work for small money as we held some employee sales last year- So my 10 year old notebook (ok, with nice specs, I admit...) is being repurposed under FreeBSD, and all of a sudden this thing is fast again!For simple things like web browsing, some spreadsheets, and such stuff the system is totally fine, and I am going to try to get some measuring software like test controller and scpi things like lxi-tools to work in the near future.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2025, 09:44:43 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on April 12, 2025, 08:29:33 pmThat's a bit of an assumption. Many older people started with UNIX back in the 70s and 80s, before Windows and will find Linux/BSD fairly easy to use.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2025, 02:04:05 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on April 14, 2025, 09:44:43 amReally? IME Many older people that know that stuff are techies and already have multiple computers, no need for a ten year old laptop.Most older people >75 years lack computer skills because they did not grow up with them perhaps US is exception since they had computers on highschool years before EU mainland. due to the older brain do not have the ability to remember commands for cli or the like, they need a desktop operating system, doesn't matter if windows, iOS or linux under the hood.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2025, 04:19:49 am
content: Many laptops now lacks the touchpad buttons and I can't depend on tap to click. I absolutely hate it. Imagine a steering wheel with buttons on it that you can't feel or don't know they are there then your sunroof starts opening up and your radio start changing stations and a whiole load of things start happening and you are left wondering why.I was at a computer shop 3 weeks ago where they scrapped a Dell Lattitude, I only had to guess which type and the reason, the keyboard. At this charity they were getting them that were only 5 years old where the plasics were cracking and had this useless bit of rubber instead of plastic support around the palmrest where it meets the base edge.Apparently the keyboard was going to cost more than what the laptop was worth. How can they put the Lattitude name on something so flimsry that I remember would be like the quality of low end Inspiron in about the 2010's.Benefits of them, CDROM drivers where you could SATA trays for hard drives, cardbus express stuff and the remote desktop.I still use this old Surface RT just for that.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 19, 2025, 07:11:48 am
content: I just repurposed an old Compaq laptop for the sole purpose of running dodgy Chinese software (for a ID/IC card reader/writer) that phones home.The software works completely offline, so I never had to connect the laptop to the internet.Quote from: MrMobodies on April 19, 2025, 04:19:49 amIf you ever get a chance to try an Apple laptop, their trackpads are actually extremely good. It's more "press to click" with a tactile snap when you do and it doesn't matter where on the trackpad your finger is. By far the best trackpad I've ever used.

author: guenthert
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2025, 08:49:43 am
content: A number of years ago, I bought the laptop (a dirt-cheap lenovo ThinkPad 11e EDU series) I'm writing this on from a fellow who used it as a baby-monitor. I thought that was a peculiar application, but the laptop has a microphone, camera, decent WiFi and -- crucially -- no fan.My use is rather mundane: casual web browsing and remote hacking on my Raspberry Pi -- it's my "coffe-table PC". I quite like the keyboard -- the screen not so much, although meanwhile I find that my aging eyes can focus more easily on the (here a bit rough) non-glaring screen than on the one of the company's shiny new M$ Surface Pro.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2025, 05:19:39 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 19, 2025, 07:11:48 amI've always been a fan of Apple's trackpads, going back to the PowerBooks. The tap to click works nicely, but even on the old power books, the single physical button worked very well too. I'm not as keep on the integrated button on the newer ones, but its not that much of a loss as the tap to click works so well.I have a ThinkPad T420 now as my main laptop and I don't care much for the trackpad on that. Its difficult to feel the edges and your finger doesn't glide over it as nicely. Being a ThinkPad, it does have a TrackPoint, but I prefer the pad.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2025, 05:26:04 pm
content: Collect their HDD, then scan those disks to retrieve forgotten bitcoins.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2025, 08:33:30 pm
content: Quote from: steve30 on April 19, 2025, 05:19:39 pmI don't have an Apple laptop but I did came across a few ten years ago and they didn't exhibit the issues I have with tap to click so maybe the sensitivity is different.I grew up with the track pointer and prefer that over the touchpad but I find I have to turn off the touchpad where my hand gets in the way and triggers movement when I am using the track pointer.

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2025, 05:29:57 am
content: I was given an old laptop, but it was password locked. I guess I just have to reinstall an OS to get around that.It weighs a ton, and it's probably 10-20yrs old, but I'd like to put it on my workbench. I'd put some programs on there, like for hooking up to a logic analyzer, or MCU, or just to open a file on the bench.

author: bte
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2025, 12:15:42 pm
content: Quote from: MathWizard on April 21, 2025, 05:29:57 amIf it's a windows laptop, you don't need to reinstall. You can use this to remove the password:https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2025, 06:45:56 pm
content: I'll install win7 anyways, I don't care whats on there. I've never bought a laptop, I could have used one a times, but I just stick to a desktop.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2025, 10:28:17 pm
content: I've been messing with Linux for 25 years or so (although my main OS is Windows), and I think most users could get used to something like Mint (my preferred distro).However, there is a big problem: Linux apps are absolutely dire! Using a Linux computer for day-to-day stuff is like going back in time 30 years. Most Linux apps are open source, and many of them feel prehistoric because they ARE prehistoric. Loads of them really do go back thirty years or more.Open source apps are developed and maintained by geeks and nerds, and said geeks and nerds are bloody hopeless at user interface design. One reason is that they have an intimate knowledge of the code, and so understand precisely how to use it. So long as THEY know how to use it, it doesn't occur to them that some modernisation might be a good idea.Geeks and nerds are usually somewhere on the autistic spectrum, and for some reason people on that spectrum tend to be very resistant to change - it makes them uncomfortable, even afraid. Which is another reason why open source software is rarely updated in terms of its UI. The people working on it don't see the need for change, and are instinctively opposed to it.The end result is that - for a present day Windows user who is considering switching to Linux - adapting to the new OS is the least of your problems. Giving up 21st century user interfaces and having to use ugly, klunky and obscure apps is going to be a heck of a culture shock for most people. Speaking for myself, that issue is big enough to make Linux an absolute non-starter for my main workstation.Let's be honest: Windows vs Linux: who gives a fuck? They are just OSs - nobody cares. Your work gets done in the APPS, not the OS. For the best looking, cleanest and most professional apps, Apple holds the crown*. A close second is Windows. And running last, by a long way, is Linux.So no, I wouldn't recommend installing Linux on your old laptops unless you just want to use them for one specific job - like a file server or media player - and don't have to spend all day on them.*Actually I find MacOS apps are not to my taste;in generalMacOS app UIs make heavy use of menus and keyboard shortcuts, with much sparser toolbars than typical in Windows apps. I find toolbars more accessible than menus and keyboard shortcuts. I'm also the only person on the planet who loves using the ribbon UI.

author: u666sa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2025, 01:43:52 pm
content: Basically the world of hacking. Programs in linux can both break wifi networks and jam wifi networks. Easy peazy.Other than that, keep in mind 720p is not a good resolution for anything. So unless you have a 1080p laptop, it's not much useful for internet like watching youtube while you lay on the coach, etc.If you have no battery. Well, another use is video dvr. Laptop USB cameras are cheap and they are USB. You just get a smallest one you could find and connect it with about 5 meters of good USB cable. Your camera could be inside of a cable. Depending on how big is your house or apartment, you could have a good video surveillance system.

author: Ranayna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2025, 02:18:11 pm
content: The Dell Latitudes still have buttons, even if they are not visible.You can press down the pad, and depending on where your finger is, that is interpreted as a left or a right click.I just fiddled around with the pad on my Latitude 7450... The zone where a click is interpreted as a right click is actually quite small, and also it changes if you keep your finger in contact with the pad.The pad is surprisingly usable, but still crappy compared to a mouse.

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2025, 11:55:11 pm
content: SteveThackeray, reply #33...Do remember, you don't have to just run linux repository software on a Linux PC. Some of the windows exe software one is used to may run well under the Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) compatibility layer. I've been on Linux (Mint, Mate flavour) for about 10 years as daily driver, I wouldn't have been able to escape the Windows ecosystem had I not been able to bring Windows software with me this way. As it stands I get the best of both worlds, the Windows software I'm used to but a Linux OS which doesn't suddenly force an update that messes everything up for me. If something you need doesn't work under Wine you can always resort to putting Windows in a virtual machine, that way you get the benefit of having Linux as your main system but can still have Windows software that isn't Wine compatible, and you can easily keep the Windows VM offline so as not to need to worry about keeping it secure. I rather like the way so much of the open source software keeps a consistent interface, I can 100% approve of the philosophy of the geeks behind much of it, but simply because the software tools which come with Linux don't always measure up to the tools someone is used to from Windows doesn't mean that Linux is forever off-limits to them, they just need Wine.In 10 years with Linux Mint and Ubuntu systems I've never had to recompile a kernel, I have "had" to edit config files a few times. When I say "had" I mean choosing to do so because it made some system behaviours better, none of the times I "had" to do that were absolutely essential for the system to keep on running. To be honest, editing a file with sudo and a text editor is often easier than hunting through a menu for something to change. Unlike Windows where one has to do constant damage control when Microsoft changes things, on Linux one only really has to go diving in to settings when setting up a new system.As for "old" laptops, the usefulness really depends on how old. I'm typing on a machine from around 2012, works fine for Linux daily driving as long as I'm not trying to do really computationally intensive stuff. Moore's law has been weakening for a while, so there's not much speed difference for general lightweight usage between Linux on something a decade old and Windows on something brand new. The main thing that older machines may lack, which still does give a major speed boost, is an SSD rather than HDD. With older machines you're looking at SATA drives which can be changed with a screwdriver, given the secondhand prices for some old machines, an SSD might cost more than the computer would. Getting older than this though and you start to come across things like really weak celeron processors and lower resolution screens...