cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/40805695
I have two machines:
- 2014 Mac Mini
- HP Pavilion g7
Mac Mini 2014:
Very slow, probably can no longer be updated, nor can it run worthwhile programs.
HP Pavilion g7
Extremely bulky, chunky, and doesn’t even turn on unless it’s plugged in. It’s basically a desktop since the battery doesn’t hold a charge.
I put Linux on it (Mint I think) a few months ago as a weekend experiment.
Question:
What should I do with them? Are they worth salvaging? Should I simply donate or recycle them?
I was thinking I could use at least one of them as a home media server or something so that I can disconnect my Smart TV from the internet, but I’m not sure if they will hold or how I would even control them from my phone (Android) if I’m sitting on the couch.
Open to all ideas. I’m somewhat technical (perhaps far less than the Lemmy community), but I don’t know much about Linux or the command line unless I’m given step by step instructions on how to do something.
You can get an adapter board that will make it work with an M.2 SSD. I believe it’s only PCIe 2.0, so there’s no point putting a high end SSD in it unless you need a high write endurance. Any SSD will be a huge improvement over a hard drive.
Most Linux distros will run on it since it’s using a 64 bit Intel CPU. If you have the version with 4GB of RAM, you will need something very lightweight though. I would run Debian if I was going to use it as a server or Mint if I was going to use it as a desktop.