What to do with Outmoded Boys Toys ?
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What to do with Outmoded Boys Toys ?
On my desk sits an Acer Aspire one netbook, early version running Linux/Fedora. Apart from an utterly abysmal short battery life (and it's been that way since new) the device is perfect.
Trouble is, I have no use for it. Even my HTC smartphone does more things, and does them better, faster and more easily.
It's taking up space and it annoyes me, since I haven't a use for it and feel I should have.
I can't give it away to some "deserving child from a poor family" because frankly, even here in cash-strapped Spain (so they tell me) and financially bust Catalunia (so they tell me), every child I know has an iPad or whatever. Some have two.
So this is a question for Computer Issues: what to do with stuff that still works perfectly but has been passed over by speeding technology ?
Oh and I also have a Palm PDA - same thing applies. I can use it for e-mails but it's more complex and slower than Giggle's Android. No longer needed.....
So ?
P.S. before someone takes the p*ss - it's the Toys that are Outmoded, not the Boys !
Trouble is, I have no use for it. Even my HTC smartphone does more things, and does them better, faster and more easily.
It's taking up space and it annoyes me, since I haven't a use for it and feel I should have.
I can't give it away to some "deserving child from a poor family" because frankly, even here in cash-strapped Spain (so they tell me) and financially bust Catalunia (so they tell me), every child I know has an iPad or whatever. Some have two.
So this is a question for Computer Issues: what to do with stuff that still works perfectly but has been passed over by speeding technology ?
Oh and I also have a Palm PDA - same thing applies. I can use it for e-mails but it's more complex and slower than Giggle's Android. No longer needed.....
So ?
P.S. before someone takes the p*ss - it's the Toys that are Outmoded, not the Boys !
Last edited by OFSO; 2nd Aug 2012 at 16:50.
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I'm sure some charities would take it for edumacational use in some schools in Effrica.
Or send it to me if it has a 10" screen, I have a netbook that needs a new screen
Or send it to me if it has a 10" screen, I have a netbook that needs a new screen
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You can get about £11 for it on websites like
https://www.sell-your-laptop.co.uk/
(don't know anything about that website - but put in typical details...).
Probably no point.
You could use it as a photo frame? For reading recipes on in the kitchen (doesn't matter if it gets splashed). As a web / file server / for backup purposes. For streaming movies through onto a TV (no idea how powerful that laptop is - haven't looked it up).
I used to use old hard disks as coasters. Might be something you could use the Palm Pilot for? Or take the laptop apart and use the screen as a place mat...
https://www.sell-your-laptop.co.uk/
(don't know anything about that website - but put in typical details...).
Probably no point.
You could use it as a photo frame? For reading recipes on in the kitchen (doesn't matter if it gets splashed). As a web / file server / for backup purposes. For streaming movies through onto a TV (no idea how powerful that laptop is - haven't looked it up).
I used to use old hard disks as coasters. Might be something you could use the Palm Pilot for? Or take the laptop apart and use the screen as a place mat...
Controversial, moi?
You have actually answered your own question when you state:
I know it feels wrong but it is effectively scrap. We pay good money for these things and hang on to them when we buy something newer/better/faster/smarter but that is the mistake people make. When I buy a new piece of kit I rapidly sell whatever it is replacing on ebay while it still has some value.
How many people here have a drawer full of old kit they no longer use but cannot bear to throw out? Try it, it is actually quite cathartic!
Even my HTC smartphone does more things, and does them better, faster and more easily.
How many people here have a drawer full of old kit they no longer use but cannot bear to throw out? Try it, it is actually quite cathartic!
SWMBO and I have a house which is too big for 2 but which was fine when the kids were young.
Thus, we have plenty of room..............and a huge risk of collecting crap.
Sometimes it comes in handy. Mainly it doesn't.
So, our rule for the last couple of years has been "Anything new in, something old out"..................works for clothes, shoes, (OK, it works for MY shoes), IT stuff, furniture, etc etc.
Currently awaiting disposal in the garage are 1 old pc, (I keep forgetting to take out the hard drive to smash it up), 1 old M & S sofa, (pre-fire regs, so no good to charities) with added special effect paint marks all over, I old Nokia and I GalaxyS. Last week's trip to the re-cycling dump and shop made me feel very virtuous....... If in doubt, dump it............
(I've just come back from borrowing a friend's car ramps - I dumped mine in an earlier clean up.....)
Thus, we have plenty of room..............and a huge risk of collecting crap.
Sometimes it comes in handy. Mainly it doesn't.
So, our rule for the last couple of years has been "Anything new in, something old out"..................works for clothes, shoes, (OK, it works for MY shoes), IT stuff, furniture, etc etc.
Currently awaiting disposal in the garage are 1 old pc, (I keep forgetting to take out the hard drive to smash it up), 1 old M & S sofa, (pre-fire regs, so no good to charities) with added special effect paint marks all over, I old Nokia and I GalaxyS. Last week's trip to the re-cycling dump and shop made me feel very virtuous....... If in doubt, dump it............
(I've just come back from borrowing a friend's car ramps - I dumped mine in an earlier clean up.....)
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Ancient - Currently awaiting disposal in the garage - now com'on, 'fess up, that's not exactly "disposing" is it ? There are a few people on JB who discussed this very subject a few years ago. Most of us have STUFFED FULL garages, some even more than one.
It's the following step that's so hard to take......
It's the following step that's so hard to take......
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you've two choices
seek it on Ebay for spares (preferably broken into bits - people pay silly money for parts)
or take it to a pawnbrokers "cash in a dash" type of place, grab whatever they offer and run. They've often not got a clue re the value of IT equipment
seek it on Ebay for spares (preferably broken into bits - people pay silly money for parts)
or take it to a pawnbrokers "cash in a dash" type of place, grab whatever they offer and run. They've often not got a clue re the value of IT equipment
I've just spent a fortune on a Samsung Smart TV. In the instructions is a leaflet saying "Renew your TV every year" There's me thinking that I will have problems getting rid of this set for a new one. However it seems that Samsung have come up with their own ideas on upgrading by bringing out a "Smart Evolution Kit" This improves performance with enhanced CPU GPU (?) memory and software.
No need to go to the local tip with my old set!
No need to go to the local tip with my old set!
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Currently awaiting disposal in the garage are 1 old pc, (I keep forgetting to take out the hard drive to smash it up), 1 old M & S sofa, (pre-fire regs, so no good to charities) with added special effect paint marks all over, I old Nokia and I GalaxyS.
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I have a mint, last of the line HP iPaq. Nothing wrong with it at all, got all the boxes and manuals. I paid some €300 for it, convinced that I needed it. Never really used it. An iphone or android phone blows it clear out of the water. They go for €20-30 on ebay. As M.Mouse says, it just feels wrong to through it out but it is scrap.
Gadget addiction is a cruel and unforgiving mistress.
Gadget addiction is a cruel and unforgiving mistress.
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OFSO,
I still have my original 7" screen AA1 and still use it regularly.
Admittedly I did make two key changes which make it a really useful machine.
1. Junk the original cutdown linpus OS and replace it with a full copy of Fedora 13 (the last one before the useless Gnome 3 interface).
2. Buy the 9 cell battery which gives it a 7.5 hour operating life.
The inbult camera above the screen with a USB headset and small form factor it makes a great skype terminal and is really handy in the cramped conditions in cattle class compared with my monster work laptop.
EG
I still have my original 7" screen AA1 and still use it regularly.
Admittedly I did make two key changes which make it a really useful machine.
1. Junk the original cutdown linpus OS and replace it with a full copy of Fedora 13 (the last one before the useless Gnome 3 interface).
2. Buy the 9 cell battery which gives it a 7.5 hour operating life.
The inbult camera above the screen with a USB headset and small form factor it makes a great skype terminal and is really handy in the cramped conditions in cattle class compared with my monster work laptop.
EG
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Thanks, Ex., good advice. Yes I have used it for Skype and I agree. But a 7" Andy tablet fits in my pocket and also has Skype......
Oh, temptation !
R
Oh, temptation !
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OFSO,
I suffer from 'fat finger trouble' so touch screens are a PIA. I like the real keyboard.
It is really easy to upgrade to full fedora. Just download the livecd. Create a bootable USB stick (there is a free windows utility to make live USBs). Stick it in. As the AA1 boots there is an option to change the boot drive. Change it to the USB and it will boot up happily. Once booted there is an icon to install to the hard drive. That was it.
The other change I made was to set font size to 80% to allow for the 1200x600 screen (Which you cannot do out on Gnome3 without mods).
HTH
EG
I suffer from 'fat finger trouble' so touch screens are a PIA. I like the real keyboard.
It is really easy to upgrade to full fedora. Just download the livecd. Create a bootable USB stick (there is a free windows utility to make live USBs). Stick it in. As the AA1 boots there is an option to change the boot drive. Change it to the USB and it will boot up happily. Once booted there is an icon to install to the hard drive. That was it.
The other change I made was to set font size to 80% to allow for the 1200x600 screen (Which you cannot do out on Gnome3 without mods).
HTH
EG
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When I get a new machine I pop the last one in to Cash Converters and they give me a quarter of new price. For example forty quid back on my froyo tablet helped me buy a hundred quid gingerbread. Dunno if the same applies to fingers.
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ZX81 preferred usage
Awww - lovely. Don't sell, keep it as a pet, take it to bed with you, cuddle it, cosset it, feed it on cream and alky aa cells. At Cash Converters about twenty-five quid.
