I've just acquired an old Thinkpad!

[TomsMacBook]

Well, as the title says, I've just found an old Thinkpad in my possession.

Basically, it was originally my older brothers laptop. He got a new one, I got this one. I got a MacBook, my little brother got this one for general usage. Recently, he downloaded an .exe that stated itself as 'Pirates of the Caribbean PS2 Cheats', which was, of course, a virus. I got rid of the virus (Hurrah for AVG.) and now it's found itself in my possession.

But the question is, what do I do with it? I already have a MBP, so I don't need another on-the-go computer. I was thinking about using it to get my 360 online with. The sharing-the-computers-internet jazz. But I'd like to hear some suggestions!

Here's the spec's:
Intel Pentium 4 Mobile - 1.2GHz
256MB RAM
??? - Video RAM.

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong section, I couldn't think of another place to put it, haha.

PS - If you're going to come and tell me that I'm spoiled, then you can just leave the thread now. Honestly.

 

[PowerFullMac]

Have you heard of the PowerFullMac donation DMC fund? Its a very good charity that helps PowerFullMac get a DeLorean, all money and valuable items (like, say, a ThinkPad) are accepted!

 

[angelneo]

Well, there's always charity.

or you could set it to do miscellaneous like converting your dvd library to itunes or run SETI/folding.

 

[ChocolateJesus]

Throw a lightweight Ubuntu install on it and use it as a beater laptop. Comes in handy!

 

[tsice19]

Throw a lightweight Ubuntu install on it and use it as a beater laptop. Comes in handy!

I like the Ubuntu part...

I would personally put Ubuntu on it and give it back to your little brother... it would make a good web browsing machine.

Don't bother using it to hook it up to your 360. It won't be worth the lag (I think it cuts your bandwith in 1/2)... I tried hooking my PS2 Slim up to my MB... was slow as heck. Don't quote me on that tho.

 

[TomsMacBook]

I like the Ubuntu part...

I would personally put Ubuntu on it and give it back to your little brother... it would make a good web browsing machine.

Don't bother using it to hook it up to your 360. It won't be worth the lag (I think it cuts your bandwith in 1/2)... I tried hooking my PS2 Slim up to my MB... was slow as heck. Don't quote me on that tho.

My little brother is now sharing my old iMac with my parents. Introducing him early

Anywho, I can't really connect my 360 any other way, haha. I can't stretch a bright red/grey/white wire across the hallways, and the wireless receiver is a tad expensive. It worked alright with my old laptop, managed to play some decent online games on US servers quite well.

Anywho, I do like the charity idea. Keep em' coming!

 

[Melrose]

ThinkPad's supposed to be some of the best made PC notebooks (albeit being butt ugly... that is if you think butts are ugly) - I once spent many hours drooling over owning one someday. Then I saw the PowerBook G4s and my mind took a different track.

Honestly, I don't really think you'll have a use for it - donate it to a charitable cause. I kept (well, still have) my old Dell laptop with specs very similar to the one you describe - and, honestly, haven't used it once since I bought my MBP last December. I do all my testing with XP on my Mac (VMWare).

Mine sits in it's bag, battery probably dead by now, collecting dust. I've tried pricing them out a bit to sell it, but I don't care for some dude being able to run forensics on the HD and get my browsing history or CC number. I think I'll spend $20, get a laptop HD case, and use the drive for portable storage or something. I've already used the Windows serial code to license the version of XP I installed in Fusion on my Mac, so the computer really doesn't owe me anything and I can therefore justify partsing it out.

And that is a long winded answer to a simple question.