raymac46 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/21/pc_officina_positive_trashware/?td=keepreading Seems like I have independently arrived at the same conclusions the Italian group has: No 32 bit CPUs No IDE No DDR2 memory SSD preferable You can still restore Core2Duo and Quad but Core i3/i5 CPUs are better. I like Linux Mint Xfce too. Edited June 23 by raymac46 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 My exception to the rule is an old Dell Inspiron desktop where I updated the BIOS to allow 8GB of DDR2 and put in a high end Core2Duo. It's more of a curiosity than a daily driver now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I got an interesting call yesterday from the organization I dropped off some old laptops for donation to "the less fortunate", which may include families on assistance, battered spouses leaving abusive situations, etc... I've mentioned in other threads that I installed ChromeOS Flex on these older (circa 2005-2008) laptops, and how pleasantly surprised I was at how well ChromeOS Flex ran on these devices. Much better than Windows ever did (even when new) and truth be told....even better than Ubuntu, which is what I had installed on them in the early 2000-teens. I was mostly interested in wiping personal data, but used that as an opportunity to try ChromeOS Flex, as a matter of curiousity. When I saw how well ChromeOS Flex ran, I just couldn't "junk" these devices, so I took them to my buddy who runs a PC and repair shop, and demonstrating the success of my ChromeOS Flex conversion, showing him the operating system and how it works, then "powerwashing" my personal data from the machine to reboot in an OEM state for a new user to setup. As an Android phone user, he caught on quick and thinks the potential integration with your Android device is very important. Hadn't thought about that before, but I can't disagree. All in all, he admitted it was pretty impressive, had read about ChromeOS Flex, but hadn't really had a reason to pursue it any further. He was intrigued. But he also said my old laptops weren't really of any use to use him, as they were just too old for a purchaser to be interested in, but that he sometimes provided refurb PCs to the aforementioned charitable organization for the "less fortunate." I thought that was the PERFECT solution and asked him to "please do THAT!" Fast forward several weeks to yesterday... My buddy calls me and asks several questions about ChromeOS versus ChromeOS Flex. He's obviously been researching, and has a pretty good handle on the situation, but wanted some clarifications. Turns out, he has acquired a sizeable "lot" of enterprise-grade laptops that are all nearly identical machines, from the same organization. Rather than re-image them with Windows10, which he believes wont be supported for a long enough time, he wants to install ChromeOS Flex on these machines. Those that can refurbed into a "like new" condition, he plans to sell in his shop; those that cannot be made to look "like new" again will be donated to that same charitable organization. He seemed very excited at the prospects that this new opportunity may provide to his business. I consider this an all around win for everyone involved. His knowledge has helped me solve some sticky computer problems in the past, so it was nice to share knowledge with him that he didn't have yet. The business that sold those laptops avoided increasingly expensive re-cycling fees. He picked up a LOT of enterprise-grade laptops that are easily refurbed, at a great price. More and more customers come to his shop looking for Chromebooks....now he can provide that product, but with SUPERIOR hardware to the WalMart and Target offerings, at a competitive or even better price! The charitable organization continues to receive perfectly functional donations that only have cosmetic blemishes. And best of all....a whole bunch of hardware that was likely headed for a landfill somewhere is now back in service for many more years! It's a sound business model, and I hope it catches on! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 19 minutes ago, Hedon James said: I consider this an all around win for everyone involved. His knowledge has helped me solve some sticky computer problems in the past, so it was nice to share knowledge with him that he didn't have yet. The business that sold those laptops avoided increasingly expensive re-cycling fees. He picked up a LOT of enterprise-grade laptops that are easily refurbed, at a great price. More and more customers come to his shop looking for Chromebooks....now he can provide that product, but with SUPERIOR hardware to the WalMart and Target offerings, at a competitive or even better price! The charitable organization continues to receive perfectly functional donations that only have cosmetic blemishes. And best of all....a whole bunch of hardware that was likely headed for a landfill somewhere is now back in service for many more years! It's a sound business model, and I hope it catches on! Top result. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I have some junkers towers out in my workshop that are 32 bit with IDE and DDR2 memory. I could still get them up and running with older versions of Slackware that are still downloadable from that website. Heck, I still have some older version of Slack on CD/DVD here right now on the shelf in front of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 37 minutes ago, V.T. Eric Layton said: I have some junkers towers out in my workshop that are 32 bit with IDE and DDR2 memory. I could still get them up and running with older versions of Slackware that are still downloadable from that website. Heck, I still have some older version of Slack on CD/DVD here right now on the shelf in front of me. Neat idea. You could do that after installing your ssd to your main pc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 (edited) If I remember correctly Chrome OS Flex does not support the Android phone apps but I might be wrong. Otherwise it makes a fine candidate to refurbish an old laptop. That said, your friend might also want to offer Mint Xfce as an option when a customer comes looking for a refurbished machine. Debian 12 might be a good choice too, now that it includes the firmware needed to get most wifi working. Edited June 23 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 3 hours ago, Hedon James said: I got an interesting call yesterday from the organization I dropped off some old laptops for donation to "the less fortunate", which may include families on assistance, battered spouses leaving abusive situations, etc... I've mentioned in other threads that I installed ChromeOS Flex on these older (circa 2005-2008) laptops, and how pleasantly surprised I was at how well ChromeOS Flex ran on these devices. Much better than Windows ever did (even when new) and truth be told....even better than Ubuntu, which is what I had installed on them in the early 2000-teens. I was mostly interested in wiping personal data, but used that as an opportunity to try ChromeOS Flex, as a matter of curiousity. When I saw how well ChromeOS Flex ran, I just couldn't "junk" these devices, so I took them to my buddy who runs a PC and repair shop, and demonstrating the success of my ChromeOS Flex conversion, showing him the operating system and how it works, then "powerwashing" my personal data from the machine to reboot in an OEM state for a new user to setup. As an Android phone user, he caught on quick and thinks the potential integration with your Android device is very important. Hadn't thought about that before, but I can't disagree. All in all, he admitted it was pretty impressive, had read about ChromeOS Flex, but hadn't really had a reason to pursue it any further. He was intrigued. But he also said my old laptops weren't really of any use to use him, as they were just too old for a purchaser to be interested in, but that he sometimes provided refurb PCs to the aforementioned charitable organization for the "less fortunate." I thought that was the PERFECT solution and asked him to "please do THAT!" Fast forward several weeks to yesterday... My buddy calls me and asks several questions about ChromeOS versus ChromeOS Flex. He's obviously been researching, and has a pretty good handle on the situation, but wanted some clarifications. Turns out, he has acquired a sizeable "lot" of enterprise-grade laptops that are all nearly identical machines, from the same organization. Rather than re-image them with Windows10, which he believes wont be supported for a long enough time, he wants to install ChromeOS Flex on these machines. Those that can refurbed into a "like new" condition, he plans to sell in his shop; those that cannot be made to look "like new" again will be donated to that same charitable organization. He seemed very excited at the prospects that this new opportunity may provide to his business. I consider this an all around win for everyone involved. His knowledge has helped me solve some sticky computer problems in the past, so it was nice to share knowledge with him that he didn't have yet. The business that sold those laptops avoided increasingly expensive re-cycling fees. He picked up a LOT of enterprise-grade laptops that are easily refurbed, at a great price. More and more customers come to his shop looking for Chromebooks....now he can provide that product, but with SUPERIOR hardware to the WalMart and Target offerings, at a competitive or even better price! The charitable organization continues to receive perfectly functional donations that only have cosmetic blemishes. And best of all....a whole bunch of hardware that was likely headed for a landfill somewhere is now back in service for many more years! It's a sound business model, and I hope it catches on! Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 6 hours ago, abarbarian said: You could do that after installing your ssd to your main pc. I still need three more matching SSDs and a new vid card before I waste any time on this ol' jalopy. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 48 minutes ago, V.T. Eric Layton said: I still need three more matching SSDs and a new vid card before I waste any time on this ol' jalopy. Why? You use the SSD for your OS, not storage. SATA drives are for storage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I do my backups for /dev/sda -> sdb (Slackware - rsync) and /dev/sdc -> sdd (MS Windows + Storage - Clonezilla) onto matching drives. I've just always done it this way and I'm hard headed about it, I guess. And honestly, my mechanical drives are nearly instantaneous. I'm not even sure I'd notice the "speed increase" of the SSD. Booting Slackware takes about 15 seconds to the command line. Why would I need it to do it in 5 seconds? And to be really truly perfectly honest... I'm rapidly losing my interest in computers and the Internet as the days go by. I never know from one month to the next if I'll have Internet access or not and I've just decided that if this old clunker machine dies on me, that'll be the end of it for me, since I don't have the financial means to fix this one or build a new system. I have many other higher priority problems in my life... - paying my household bills each month - repairing numerous things around here that desperately need fixing (roof, plumbing leaks, general home repairs, stereo repairs, tree trimming, truck repairs, etc.) - I have enough books in my living room to keep my busy for the next 50 years - and so on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 (edited) My comment was just Tyke humour. We poke fun at each other in Yorkshire then we help out. It is hard to explain, a bit like laughing in the face of adversity. 12 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said: I'm not even sure I'd notice the "speed increase" of the SSD. You should see very measurable difference when playing Stalker or opening Gimp etc. 12 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said: I'm rapidly losing my interest in computers and the Internet as the days go by. You would be missed here for a variety of reasons. 12 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said: I have many other higher priority problems in my life... We all have problems in life.How we deal with them is a personal choice there is no universal solution. For me I would like to think that I will not let the darkness overtake me, that I will keep on stepping into the light and laughing at the face of adversity, until I step over the line into uncharted territory from which no one has ever returned. Edited June 24 by abarbarian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 5 hours ago, abarbarian said: My comment was just Tyke humour. No worries... I didn't take it the wrong way. 5 hours ago, abarbarian said: when playing Stalker or opening Gimp etc. Can't play STALKER anymore because of current vid card (or possibly mobo socket) issues on this system. As far as any app in Slackware goes, when I click the app shortcut, they all open nearly instantaneously. My mechanical drives are pretty darn fast, particularly when in Slackware; Windows is a bit more sluggish, but not enough to bother me. Besides, since I'm not playing any games lately, Windows hasn't even been booted up in months. 5 hours ago, abarbarian said: You would be missed Oh, I know... and I would definitely miss ALL my online friends, but life goes on... 5 hours ago, abarbarian said: there is no universal solution. Au contraire, mon ami... the solution to the vast majority (99%) of my current issues would be $$$. 5 hours ago, abarbarian said: I will not let the darkness overtake me, that I will keep on stepping into the light and laughing at the face of adversity I envy you your attitude. I find that I'm just thoroughly exhausted from struggling this last decade or so. I've literally lived on charity and have become nothing but a burden to family and friends. It's a sad situation to be in. I never would have foreseen this 20 years ago; although, I should have seen it coming because that was around the time that my employment struggles started... then got worse after 50 years old because NO ONE want to hire old people in the country anymore, regardless of the education/skills. Aww, well... I'm patiently waiting for: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 21 hours ago, raymac46 said: If I remember correctly Chrome OS Flex does not support the Android phone apps but I might be wrong. Otherwise it makes a fine candidate to refurbish an old laptop. That said, your friend might also want to offer Mint Xfce as an option when a customer comes looking for a refurbished machine. Debian 12 might be a good choice too, now that it includes the firmware needed to get most wifi working. You are correct. But there are still "integrations", such as shared access to text messages, google drive, google docs, etc... between Android phones and ChromeOS. And you can "link" your phone to the Chrome device for automatic login, if your Android phone is present. But the presence of a LinuxVM (actually, a sandbox, IMO) allows for the installation of Linux apps, which are accessed just like Chrome apps. If you can type in the cli incantation for Debian package managers "sudo apt install foo", you are golden! I had previously introduced him to various Linuxes, including Mint and Lubuntu, but he wasn't comfortable providing support for that on a longer-term basis. He's a 1-man shop and can't afford to be bogged down with requests for "how do I ___________ in Linux?" That's a fair comment on his part. He's comfortable with ChromeOS because of the large userbase, and he'll be able to point folks to online sources for "how to" and tutorials. His call... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 24 Author Share Posted June 24 51 minutes ago, Hedon James said: I had previously introduced him to various Linuxes, including Mint and Lubuntu, but he wasn't comfortable providing support for that on a longer-term basis Well if he plans to enable Linux as part of his Chrome OS Flex install he will have to offer some limited Linux support. I think the fact you could get a refurbed computer with a Linux install would be a nice option. Around here any refurbed machine offered for sale will have Windows 10, so you have to get rid of that if you want a Linux machine. Maybe if I went to his shop he could at the very least sell me an "OS free"" machine with an up to date Setup (EFI or BIOS) and let me take it from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 24 Author Share Posted June 24 Disclaimer: I do have a Chromebook which I am just leaving as is to allow the grandkids to use. Really no need to install sandbox Linux as I have at least 4 other junker laptops that run various and sundry distros. I am relying on HJ's experience with Chrome OS Flex to determine whether I'd put it on a laptop later on. My daughter's old HP Pavilion might be a good test case later on this year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 4 hours ago, raymac46 said: Well if he plans to enable Linux as part of his Chrome OS Flex install he will have to offer some limited Linux support. I think the fact you could get a refurbed computer with a Linux install would be a nice option. Around here any refurbed machine offered for sale will have Windows 10, so you have to get rid of that if you want a Linux machine. Maybe if I went to his shop he could at the very least sell me an "OS free"" machine with an up to date Setup (EFI or BIOS) and let me take it from there. he's not going to do that. he figures ChromeOS Flex is probably sufficient for 80%+ of the computer users he encounters. And he figures that the users who are sophisticated enough to know what Linux is, and how to flip the switch to enable it in settings, are likely sophisticated enough to NOT ask him for help. I think he's probably right... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.b8f31cd6a0409c33c1e90ceb542908ed.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.