Avoid the Trash: 5 Incredible Ways to Reuse Your Old Laptop for the Best

Do you’ve got an old laptop or computer lying around? Please don’t throw it away. Throwing away can only add up to the e-waste.

According to 2019 reports, 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste was generated worldwide. This would increase to several folds by 2030. what to do with an old laptop

This is why you need to start repurposing and reusing whatever you’ve already done to save our environment and lead a sustainable lifestyle. There are endless ways to reuse a laptop.

Here are the top 5 incredible ways to reuse your old laptop.

• Assess the Condition

What to do with an old laptop can be a daunting task. Take one step at a time.

Understanding the condition of your old laptop will help you pick out the best way to reuse it.

Does your laptop have a cracked screen or broken keyboards? Then it is time to reach the recycling heap.

However, if the internal parts are in good condition, you’ve got many options.

Start with a cleanup. Format the hard drive and install the Windows once again. Before that, ensure you’ve backed up all the data.

• A Digital Photo Frame

A DIY enthusiast will love this hack. Strip down your old laptop into a beautiful digital photo frame.

The best part is that the entire process is simple, and you don’t even require help from anyone.

You can look into a lot of online tutorials. However, the ones I’m mentioning is pretty straightforward.

1. Separate the keyboard and screen of your laptop into two. The LCD here is necessary.
2. Make a frame for the LCD to hold.
3. Mount the gutters of the laptop behind the frame.
4. Boot the frame and install with a photo frame software.
5. You are ready to go!

• Convert to a Chromebook & a Wireless Hotspot

A Chromebook has limited accessibility yet functional with less processing power. It has a Google powered interface.

Even with the simplest hardware and Google’s ecosystem, it runs smoothly. In simple words, your old laptop will serve as a web browser and a reservoir of chrome-based apps.

Moreover, you can use it as a wireless hotspot for places that don’t get proper network connectivity. How?

1. Create a new computer-to-computer wireless network.
2. Rename the network
3. Ensure to set the security type to “ WPA2-Personal.”
4. Enable the connection and share it via your regular network card.
5. Change the adapter settings to enable internet connection via an adapter.

• A Home Media Centre

The main motive is to turn your laptop into your television. This enables you to record shows, watch Netflix.

However, the downside is if your laptop lacks horsepower duty, then you can’t be used. Make sure your old laptop has HDMI output for processing the input.

You need some technician to help you with it. If you want to give it a try, watch this tutorial.

• Sell the Parts

As simple as that, if your laptop hardware is in good condition or even in damage, you can still make money out of it.

Many online sites accept used hardware, used laptops. Before selling, ensure you wipe all the data out of the system.

You can choose any option to sell your old laptop: in-person, online, trade-in for a new one.

The Final Takeaway

Turning a used laptop into something useful takes some time and effort. If you aren’t comfortable doing it, then please don’t take the risk.