When have you used an old laptop for a single specific purpose eg calendar, clock?

When have you used an old laptop or other devices for a single specific purpose eg calendar, clock?

I have an old slow laptop and decided to have it just sit around on a tray to be a USB hub to charge my other devices.

My tablet I basically have it as a non lock screen google calendar.

What are some ways you have diminished the purpose of a full computer or tablet to a single purpose? Especially one where the device remains stationary in a room.

 

old laptop as get-rid-away toy for mom Although she could use it for multiple purposes.

I guess best single way use for laptops are Internet and movie-player.

 

Media client connected to a TV?


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The only 'single use' purpose I make of my old electronics is (basically long before they can perform a single function for me or anyone else), I give them away, usually for free to a deserving person/family.

I don't assume they are used only stationary; but definitely more as a desktop type of use model than a mobile system as when they were originally bought for.


The electrical power needed to keep old devices in use negates any benefit I could ever receive from them as a single use device. Especially when I have 3-7 current devices that I use on a regular basis anyways.

 

Why do you repeat your thread title as the first sentence of your post?

 

1 as a built in computer in my kitchen ( heavily modified eeepc netbook)
2 as routers ( 2011 MacBook pro 15" with a bad screen and lvds connector on motherboard & Dell D620

 

Been using my old hp nc8430 as a remote for my htpc. I know I can use remote, smartphone or wireless keyboard. But somehow I find it easier to do it via another pc...

 

I repurpose old laptops as media centers. Have one in every room now, lol. But great for streaming movies and videos and additional laptop in a pinch when nieces/nephew/friends come over and want a laptop to play web games with friends.

 

To play old games because I can't be bothered to sort out compatibility issues with newer machines.

 

Running older software which does not play nice with newer OS. Programming two way radio and broadcast equipment which needs old, slow machines with real serial ports. Light duty audio editing. Print servers. Linux boxes.

 

Does nostalgia count as a single specific purpose? Because, let's be honest, that's the main reason I have a 1997 laptop. Sure, it's also fun for important experiments like seeing if Excel 2000 runs with 8 MB of physical RAM, despite officially requiring 20 MB (it does indeed run). But it's mainly nostalgia.

 

Have (1) older laptop I use for a print server. It could use a replacement fan soon (sort of makes rattling noises occasionally) so it may be back to a direct-to-printer connection for awhile if the fan gives up the ghost.

 

My old laptop (well not that old, still got a sandy bridge i5 and 600 series entry level nvidia chip) has a broken touchpad
Now sitting there for p2p and occasionally used as bluray player

 

I fired up my 2007 HDX and it runs like a clock. Albeit, the HDDs are now slow in comparison to my current unit. If I put an SSD in it (I'm not going to) it would work perfectly for 60% of my takes. Only complex editing and 3D (which it can't do) shows it ages.

I am curious if I can relocate it to a render machines though? That and opening any suspicious links, drives, sites, etc. Not a whole lot of CPU grunt, but at least I could effectively use it as a desktop.

I still need to go through and save any useful information that might be stored on the drives before wiping them and putting it into use for those purposes. I may do this over the holidays. Until then, I leave it in the drawer to conserve desk space.

 

My old Dell Latitude D600 from like 2004 serves its purpose as a print server for our ancient HP Laserjet 4L. It's our last laptop with an LPT port. 1.7 GHz Pentium M + 2 GB RAM + HM160HC runs vanilla XP Professional quite well.

 

haha. Yeah. I used to keep an old Pentium (original) PC around to program my old simulator data input panels because they required 60/66MHz FSB to work right. It sat in a big behemoth case and that was its only purpose, running Windows 95 no less.

 

Until around 2009, the copier in my university's math/CS offices was controlled by a computer running Windows 9x. That was its only job - be the link between the copier and the system that kept track of copying balances. Around 2009 they upgraded the copier to something newer, and either it could handle it automatically or they just made it free to copy, can't remember which.

The other operating system I only ever saw on one university computer was Windows Vista. For some reason there was a single computer with Vista, but for all the other hundred/low thousands of Windows PCs, they went straight from XP to 7.