What to do with old MacBook?

[lil' brudder]

So I've decided on getting a new MacBook Pro base 15" model, and I am SUPER excited to get it. It is going to be a great computer all the way around and will be a nice step up from my current system (see signature).

My only question now is what I should do with my old MacBook. I don't want to sell it, recycle it, or give it away, because I still want to be able to use it as a backup computer in case, God forbid, my MacBook Pro is a lemon. What do all of you use your old Macs for? I was thinking maybe getting an external drive and making it a file server or maybe using it as an HTPC. What do you all think?

 

[KwanMan]

So I've decided on getting a new MacBook Pro base 15" model, and I am SUPER excited to get it. It is going to be a great computer all the way around and will be a nice step up from my current system (see signature).

My only question now is what I should do with my old MacBook. I don't want to sell it, recycle it, or give it away, because I still want to be able to use it as a backup computer in case, God forbid, my MacBook Pro is a lemon. What do all of you use your old Macs for? I was thinking maybe getting an external drive and making it a file server or maybe using it as an HTPC. What do you all think?

Get a glass display cupboard and it there. Just like my collection of SLRs

 

[Capt Underpants]

If I were you, I'd sell it... after I verified the new MBP was in good working order. Its value will only continue to drop, and your new MBP will have a one year warranty in case any problems come about.

 

[asdad123]

If I were you, I'd sell it... after I verified the new MBP was in good working order. Its value will only continue to drop, and your new MBP will have a one year warranty in case any problems come about.

I agree with this. Once you make sure that your MBP is working fine, sell your old one to help decrease the cost of spending so much money.

 

[Captain Dynamo]

I agree with this. Once you make sure that your MBP is working fine, sell your old one to help decrease the cost of spending so much money.

Sold my 5 year old white Macbook for $450.

 

[gngan]

I plan to use my late 2007 MB as a server after i get my MBA. So i can access all my files on my HDD at home with MBA.

 

[lil' brudder]

The thing about my MacBook is that it is... well... special. By special, I mean I've put it through its paces.

#1 The optical drive died because it got bent somehow when I picked it up using one hand on that side (not a big surprise).

#2 The screen has had a spot on it since I got it where it was jabbed with a pen by the previous owner... poor thing :'(

#3 It is bi-racial. The plastic cracked really bad on it and I had issues with it after replacing the Wi-Fi antennas so I completely replaced it with black plastic

#4 It has the typical palm rest cracking that the models are notorious for

#5 The Wi-Fi reception still kinda sucks

#6 The screen flickers pretty badly.

#7 It has suffered two very serious falls that involve drops onto pavement and bouncing across a tile floor (in what seemed like slow motion) and the corners are really beat up

Basically suffice all of this to say that it is in pretty rough condition so I'm not sure its resale value is that high, not to mention I like having a second computer around. I guess I am just looking for a function for it rather than sticking it in its box in my closet.

 

[superericla]

I'm actually in the exact same situation as you. I have a spec-for-spec same white macbook that I've replaced with a MacBook Pro 15". What I've been doing with mine is just running ubuntu on it. I use it when I have the MacBook Pro doing video conversions and for testing various types of software.

 

[Yumunum]

The thing about my MacBook is that it is... well... special. By special, I mean I've put it through its paces.

#1 The optical drive died because it got bent somehow when I picked it up using one hand on that side (not a big surprise).

#2 The screen has had a spot on it since I got it where it was jabbed with a pen by the previous owner... poor thing :'(

#3 It is bi-racial. The plastic cracked really bad on it and I had issues with it after replacing the Wi-Fi antennas so I completely replaced it with black plastic

#4 It has the typical palm rest cracking that the models are notorious for

#5 The Wi-Fi reception still kinda sucks

#6 The screen flickers pretty badly.

#7 It has suffered two very serious falls that involve drops onto pavement and bouncing across a tile floor (in what seemed like slow motion) and the corners are really beat up

Basically suffice all of this to say that it is in pretty rough condition so I'm not sure its resale value is that high, not to mention I like having a second computer around. I guess I am just looking for a function for it rather than sticking it in its box in my closet.

Honestly, at that point, I'd keep it. Selling it would barely get you enough money. Keeping it would give you an extra working computer, to do pretty much anything with.

 

[lil' brudder]

any other ideas of what to use it for? Is it even capable of being an HTPC or is it too underpowered to play bigger media? If I were to get an external blu-ray drive, could it play that with VLC or something?

 

[superericla]

any other ideas of what to use it for? Is it even capable of being an HTPC or is it too underpowered to play bigger media? If I were to get an external blu-ray drive, could it play that with VLC or something?

It should be capable enough to use as an HTPC. You won't be able to play blu-ray disks straight from the drive but you could rip the blu-ray movies using software such as makemkv and play them.