One of the biggest dilemmas faced by the modern day geek is the issue of getting rid of redundant gadgets. Should one donate it to Goodwill or hand it down to a younger sibling (good luck with that)? If you have no clue what to do with your old laptop (we feel you) then don’t fret as Walyou comes to the rescue with some alternative uses. The DIYs listed below will make you see your laptop in a new light; so don’t just throw it away yet.
Turn Your Laptop Into A Digital Frame
Why spend hundreds of bucks on a digital photo frame when you can achieve the same with your old laptop? The project seems simple on paper, but does require some basic technical skills, which you can read about here.
Turn Your Laptop Into A MP3 Player
Be different from the crowd and groove to your favorite tunes on your laptop turned music player instead of the ubiquitous iPod. A laptop with a color screen is recommendable and the DIY posted at Instructables used Windows XP to run visualization plug-ins.
The Atari 800 Laptop
Gamers rejoice. Now, you can walk down memory lane and relive the days before the PlayStations and the Nintendos. Modding Guru Ben Heck tells you how to convert your laptop into an 8-bit machine and enjoy the goodness of Ballblaze.
Turn Your Laptop Into A Tablet
Forget the iPad or the Galaxy Tab and be original by showing off your own modded tablet by doing some minor hardware tweaking and software installation. While it may not run iOS, it does support OSX along with pen input.
Connect Robotic Wheels To Your Old Laptop
Have some fun and unleash the creative genius within you. Hook up an old laptop to a LaptopWheels robotic platform like in this Instructables and turn it into an uber-cool mobile low-angle camera tripod.
Turn Your Laptop Into A Toy
Parents with young children will appreciate this DIY, since it tells you how to turn your old notebook into a toy laptop. Kids will love pounding away on the keyboard and hopefully stay away from the real thing.
Turn Your Old Laptop into A Second Monitor
The video posted below tells you how to turn your old laptop into a second monitor and enjoy some split-screen goodness via Xdmx.
Turn an Old Laptop into a Wall-Mounted Computer
Think big and avoid the digital frame route by turning your laptop into a fully functionally interactive wall space. Blogger Justin transformed an old Sony Vaio to a self-contained hanging Wall PC that can be controlled via a mouse, AirMouse iPhone app, or even a Xbox 360 controller.
How to Make a Projector from an Old Laptop
Upcycle your laptop by converting it into a cheap projector. The DIY is not too complicated and requires an old overhead projector, which can be purchased from Craigslist for fewer than 30 dollars.
Interactive Cocktail Table
Hands down the coolest DIY, as it lets one turn their boring old IKEA sideboard into an Arcade Cocktail Cabinet. Blogger Frederic Sebton used a broken Mac PowerBook and mounted it on an IKEA table and equipped it with a very retro looking joystick.
So if your laptop is also catching dust and you have no clue what to do with it, try any of the ideas posted above and let us know if your gadget wizardry was a successor not.
