Old laptops are destined for recycling facilities, but they often still have a lot of potential uses. I've been working with a couple of older models myself. I have no interest in using them on the go, so I take a few steps to get them ready for use in dedicated setups. Let's take a look.
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Safety first with the battery.
One of the first things to consider with an old laptop, especially if you plan on using it in a stationary setting, is the battery. Older batteries can sometimes be a bit unpredictable or even pose a safety risk over time so I prefer to take them out.
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| Removing the internal battery from an older Acer laptop. |
In my opinion, if the laptop is just going to sit plugged into AC power, it's often a good idea to take the battery out. I do this with the laptops I repurpose for stationary tasks. It just simplifies things and removes one potential point of failure or risk. I store the removed batteries in "fireproof" bags. Better safe than sorry, even if they aren't holding much charge.
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| A fireproof document bag used for storing removed laptop batteries. |
However, there are some quirks. On some laptops, like the Dell Latitude I have, you might find you can't update the system firmware (BIOS) without the battery installed or if it's not fully charged. There are sometimes workarounds you can find online, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. I tend to keep the battery rather than recycle it if the laptop is new enough there might be future security updates.
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| Stack Overflow page discussing methods to update BIOS without a battery. |
Now that I think about it, the battery in the laptop wouldn't charge. I had to use this method unless I wanted to buy another battery.
The Dell Latitude E5250
I picked up a Dell Latitude E5250 a few years ago from eBay's certified refurbished program (they apparently were supposed to check sellers in the program but clearly didn't do enough). In retrospect it was a bad purchase. The laptop arrived in terrible condition. I should have sent it back but I ended up fixing it up myself because I wanted to make a video about it (YouTube link).
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| Repairing the not so refurbished Dell Latitude E5250. |
After fixing the physical issues, I put some more RAM and an SSD into it, and now it's decently quick for its age. This one has an Intel i5-5300U processor with integrated graphics. The battery it came with wasn't great, likely because the original owner neglected and misconfigured the laptop, leaving the battery incapable of being charged for a long time (hence the BIOS update I did). I took that battery out, and the laptop works perfectly fine plugged directly into AC power.
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| Upgrading the RAM in the Dell Latitude E5250. |
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| The original battery removed from the Dell Latitude E5250. |
My current use case of this Dell laptop is as a second streaming location where I have a desktop computer running a variant of StepMania, called Outfox, with soft-pads for exercise. I have multiple webcams attached to the Dell and use it as a dedicated streaming machine using OBS. While it doesn't have a GPU for hardware encoding, the Intel i5 processor does have Intel's Quick Sync feature, which helps with streaming performance in OBS.
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| The Dell Latitude E5250 running OBS for a functioning StepMania streaming setup. |
I had to run multiple USB hubs to get 4 cameras, the built-in webcam (I have a toggle for that in OBS), and a USB based audio input working so I can take in audio from the game computer. Though the laptop did hit some sort of USB capacity limit with cameras so that's pretty the maximum of what I think it is capable of.
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| Wikipedia page for Intel Quick Sync Video hardware encoding. |
My older ACER laptop.
I also have an older Acer laptop I've used for various projects since the battery doesn't hold much of a charge. It's a bit bigger than the Dell but has a much nicer screen. The model number is the V7-482PG-6629 (Intel Core i5-4200U 2 cores at 1.6 - 2.6 GHz). It's slightly older than the Dell, but does have a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 750M GPU. This was actually my very first streaming device when I used it for Super Nintendo games on Twitch back around 2014.
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| The older Acer laptop, previously used for streaming SNES games. |
That 750M GPU is pretty much unsupported now. The latest graphics drivers from Nvidia are from 2019, and recent versions of OBS have stopped supporting this generation of Nvidia GPU for hardware encoding (NVENC). So, while it worked great back then, its streaming capabilities are more limited now compared to the Dell with its newer version of Quick Sync, ironically. Like the Dell, I've removed the battery from this one for safety and simplicity since it's only used when plugged in.
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| OBS GitHub page noting that older Nvidia Kepler GPUs are no longer supported for NVENC. |
OS and Power Considerations
Both of these laptops run Windows 10 just fine. Windows 11 is generally a no-go for machines of this era unless they happen to have specific hardware like a TPM 2.0 module and an Intel CPU of 8th generation or higher.
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| Windows 11 excludes a large amount of old CPUs. |
Keeping them running on Windows 10 for specific tasks is possible, but the future alternative will be a Linux distribution once Windows 10 leaves its security update phase, which is October 2025 as far as I can tell.
With my current StepMania streaming setup, I might try Linux and make a video about it. At least with the Dell laptop that's running OBS. Originally I had wanted to use Linux, but gave up on the idea after starting with the other PC which runs the StepMania game itself. Linux can run that game, but it's through WINE, which is emulation, and I was having configuration issues. Open Broadcaster has dedicated Linux ports, so that could be easier to get working.
Other Project Ideas
What else can you do?
Here are a few ideas...
- Retro Gaming: An older laptop is often more than powerful enough to run emulators for classic game consoles.
- You could build it into a custom arcade cabinet. With a smaller desktop one or a larger screen laptop, it would make sense to repurpose the screen so basically the laptop would be reformed into a cabinet.
- Home Automation: Use it as a small, low-power server to run home automation software, connect sensors, and manage smart devices. Considering the ACER has a touch screen I think that style of laptop would be the best option.
- DIY Tablet/Frame: If the laptop has a touchscreen (like the ACER does), you could potentially transform the components into a makeshift tablet or information display.
- Some sort of firewall or NAS depending on expandability of the laptop. A lot of people do this with a Raspberry Pi, but in this case if you do get a replacement battery then you'd have a built-in battery backup to keep it running with the power off. It would be extra cool to transplant it into a case with better cooling and expandability.
- Someone in my video's comment section mentioned using it for a media server.
- I do a lot of video work. You could turn an older yet decently spec-ed laptop into a dedicated recording device. For example, I have a hands-on filming area where I use an Atomos Ninja V HDMI recorder attached to a mirrorless camera. With the right I/O components a laptop could work and it has a dedicated preview screen.
I saw that iFixIt sells a replacement battery kit for the ACER making this very viable for people with a 3D printer.
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| IFixIt website. I'm assuming this is the correct battery. I didn't try to verify. |
These are just a few ideas. Old laptops can be pretty efficient, compact, and potentially very low-cost options for various tech projects.