My father buys new computers when the old ones have a problem* and gave me his old (read: previously used) HP Pavilion d4996t. This model is only a couple of years old and by no means obsolete. It runs Vista but has a number of viruses, since he doesn’t really know how to protect himself from them.
Dad needed a new power supply for the computer, but I think the techs at his retirement community erroneously installed a 360W instead of a 450W, so it won’t turn on. If I replace it with the proper power supply and reformat the hard drive, it should work great.
So my question is, what do I do with it? Neither my roommate nor girlfriend need new computers. I was thinking of wiping the hard drive and installing Linux, since I don’t have Vista or XP discs. My current computer (the same model) is my game box, and does everything else I need reasonably well.
I’m loathe to give up a nice spare computer if mine goes kaput for some reason, but maybe I should put karma first and donate it to a school or library after fixing it.
What would you do?
*I always offer to fix his computer problems and he says yes, but always ends up buying a new one before I can even take a look at it.
If it runs Vista, then it’s fairly new and modern. You could probably make money selling it if you wanted to.
You could use it as a media server in the living room. I’m not sure how that works with video, but it’s easy with audio, just use Itunes or something like that and plug your stereo into the audio output. You could rip all your CDs onto it, maybe losslessly if you have enough space. You can also stream Internet radio if you have an Internet hookup in that room, or wireless. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of stations you can listen to with all kinds of music and talk.
If you have a Tivo, there are ways to transfer shows to and from a computer. You can use the computer’s hard drive to increase your storage space for shows.
Long answer (skip to last line if you’re in a hurry):
When my last computer started giving me problems (it’d just randomly shut off) I gutted it and built a high powered gaming rig. I reused the case and discovered that I had exactly the same issues. Turns out that it was the power switch the whole time! :Facepalm:
So, I gutted an obsolete machine and reinstalled all the componets from the other computer.
Since we don’t have cable, and I needed something to entertain me while lifting weights or treadmilling,
Short answer:
I hooked it up to a TV in the weight room. That way I can watch Hulu or Netflix insta-watch.
You don’t necessarily need a T1 – a typical home broadband connection will be enough to handle a user or three. You won’t be able to download large files from it at blazing fast speeds, but many applications will work quite well. You can even stream video reasonably – so for example, you can buy a TV Tuner card, install something like orb (free: www.orb.com), and there you go: instant internet-accessible streaming tv/dvr.
The only question is, do you want to leave it running while you’re not at home? If not, then selling may be your best best. Computers obviously depreciate very quickly so you might as well maximize the cash you can get for it right now.
Dang! That computer’s not only better than mine (which doesn’t take much), but better than almost anyone I know (IRL) that is not a PC gamer. Heck, I know gamers with slower processors. Do I just live amongst poor people?
Anyways, I wouldn’t just install Linux on it if you are going to give it away. Surely you know someone with Vista who can give you an install disk, and then you can use the key on the back of the computer. Or maybe even just try a standard HP recovery, if the recovery partition hasn’t been touched (and it likely hasn’t).
If you do keep it and use Linux, you can still get a little karma by giving away your Vista license. Then again, you can’t sell it, because it’s only for a new computer.
As for what I’d do: It sound bad, but I’d only donate if it were the worst computer in the house. Otherwise, I might try to sell it, but I’d probably replace the worst computer in the house, and then give away that one. I’m not as altruistic as I wish I was.
Your local Habitat for Humanity group may also take it. They refurbish some computers for use by their recipient families and recycle the ones they can’t use for funds.
Windows Media Center. Put a tuner in it, hook it up to the TV. You’ll have a DVR with as much space as you want to put on it, easy access to your music, photos, home videos, internet TV, and DVDs. My daughter, who can’t read yet, can find a DVD she wants (which has been ripped to the HDD) without ever needing to handle a disk.
Windows Home Server is another good option. You can centralize the storage of all of your media and have the rest of your (Windows) computers automatically backed up every night. It will also let you access the files on your server and any other computer it connects to on your network remotely over the internet.