Ridiculous Situation: too many computers...

[NatronB]

I have a small collection of obsolete, underpowered, half-broken hardware that I know I'm not using to its full potential. Over the holiday weekend I'd like to try to come up with a better set up for my bedroom, I'm guessing you guys can give some pointers.

Assets/ Limitations:
Mac Mini, 1.5 GHz Core Solo, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HD, Leopard, upgrading to Snow Leopard shortly
iBook G4, 1 GHz?, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, broken screen, presumably can be hooked up to an external display, Tiger
PowerBook G4, 897 MHz, 640 GB RAM, 40 GB HD, broken Airport, no optical drive, Tiger
1.5 TB external HD, Firewire 400, USB 2, eSATA
Dell 26" LCD HDTV, VGA/DVI input, no HD tuner
Samsung SyncMaster 172W 17" LCD, VGA/ DVI
Airport Express, Firewire/ USB Hub, Ethernet Hub, 2G iPod nano, good computer speakers, mAudio USB keyboard, etc...

Desires:
over the air HDTV
take strain off Mac Mini's processor by shifting iTunes/ GarageBand duty to another machine?

I suppose my biggest problem is that the 26" HDTV (which is enormous) is not usable as a monitor (too low resolution). So I'm contemplating picking up a 21-24" HDTV/ display. I've looked at solutions from el Gato, but I think the cost for anything that won't put strain on the Mini is too high (and I have no need for timeshifting).

Can I use one of the 'books as a server? I'm clearly confused, and just kicking the ole peanut around, any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

-N

 

[flopticalcube]

Upgrading your mini's CPU to a 1.83GHz C2D or 2GHz CD will probably be the best upgrade you could do.

 

[milton.sheaf]

Take all that junk to the appropriate recycling facilities. Computers contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. They do NOT belong in the trash. My county waste transfer station has areas for recycling various things, including a dumpster that's specifically for computers, monitors, and other electronics.

 

[eawmp1]

Sell it all and put money toward a new/refurb mini with a faster processor.

 

[BlueRevolution]

You can probably cannibalize the iBook's optical drive and wireless card for the PowerBook. Laptops use less power than desktops, so that would make a decent server.