Very dependent on the IT department! Many schools and libraries get too many donations and don't know what to do with them all. The IT people are key. Most don't know Linux and fewer still know about LTSP to setup the easy server/client system to use the really old pc's as client terminals.
The other problem is users come in and want to use MSOffice products, not knowing that Open Office can support MSOffice formats (somewhat back to the IT people again).
No big deal on shipping - most ebay sellers will list that separately from the sales price.
If you don't want to futz with them (get them working again), then: (1) post on Craigs List under Free and "Porch Pickup" and do that or (2) post on ebay with all defects (needs battery, cracked case, powers up etc), the manufacturer/model number and what it has (10GB HDD, 128MB RAM, etc) with $1 starting price and $15 for shipping. I ship many repaired desktop towers for $20 that have full CD/HDD/metal cases - I suspect your laptops will ship in the (newer/larger) post office priority mail box for $12 with some padding.
If you have a P2/3-500Mhz or faster you can run Xubuntu Linux fine (I'm using one for work travel and presentations now with the latest 8.04 loaded - battery is bad but the rest is ok) And have used a P2-350Mhz with Xubuntu 6.06 since it has a good battery. I save any files on a USB flash drive anyway. Open Office productivity suite, Firefox browser, Thunderbird email, and Gimp are my main tools (you can try these out on Windows too).
I only hear about laptops and desktops "being too old/slow for anything by people living in Windows... 98SE worked ok for P2's, needed P3/P4's for XP, need multicore/big ram for Vista...
I just set up a Xubuntu 8.04 server with LTSP.org for the neighbors kids (to get them off Mom & Dad's pc). The server is P3-733Mhz, one client is P2-233Mhz - that only displays/keyboard/mouse activity for that user logged into the server while the other kid is local on the server. Also installed Dansguardian to protect the kids from the shadier side of the internet. Happy kids and Parents.
I have set up a small manufacturing company based on Linux and LTSP - from receptionist to shipping department for $50 in purchased equipment (the rest was considered "scrap - too old to use" by the those getting rid of it. Great for bootstrapping new businesses.
Keep in mind, the typical recycling center just shreds equipment (there are some impressive YouTube videos if you search). This takes a significant amount of energy and nasty chemicals to sort, remelt, and create new computer equipment from. This especially includes computer manufacturers taking returns (they want old units out of circulation so you buy new ones they make). Refurbishing/reusing allows people to avoid the expense and environmental issues of a few upgrade cycles.
For some more ideas see a project of mine (Green Land PC)
I'm sure there is someone near your location (craig's list is the quickest way to locate) for local support. If you can cover shipping I can suggest alternatives or find homes for them.
No big deal on shipping - most sellers will list that separately from the sales price.
If you don't want to futz with them, then: (1) post on Craigs List under Free and "Porch Pickup" and do that, (2) post on ebay with all defects (needs battery, cracked case, powers up) with $1 starting price and $15 for shipping. I ship many repaired desktop towers for $20 that have full CD/HDD/metal cases - I suspect your laptops will ship in the (newer/larger) post office priority mail box for $12.
I use even older hardware with this and it's fine! It won't be a FPS game playing system, but you can do all the regular business and internet stuff, and "tetris"-like games you want - logging in at any terminal in the house. My current server is 2.4Ghz (I've even used a 450Mhz!) with Xubuntu/Kubuntu (they are faster than Gnome/Ubuntu) and install LTSP. The clients are all P2/233Mhz (can't waste anything faster), 128MB ram, and no CD/HDD drives (use USB sticks for local saves if needed or just keep on the server) - depending on the NIC you have you may need a floppy disk to boot the ethernet card PXE into the server.
I've done this with an old P2/233Mhz desktop - inside a child-lockable cabinet (inquisitive toddler in the house). I did have to modify the keyboard to fit cross-wise inside (no number pad now).
However, I don't think wifi is working yet with LTSP. You could use DSL mini distro and VNC via wifi into your other server.
I don't find VNC as nice to use as a well running LTSP setup.
Good to know - and I'm glad that system manufacturers are building in energy savings to reduce the dent.
Though a couple of things that are still unanswered... How much cash to acquire a P1-166mmx vs core2duo for this type of application? How many years will the new machine need to idle to balance out the energy consumption of manufacturing the newer rig (and grinding up the old one if someone were to recycle vs heavy metals in the landfill)? Maybe a second hand core2duo can be obtained inexpensively? How often will the machine be at full power vs idle in a NAS application and does that balance out on its own?
Obviously, if someone were to spend to buy a new machine the small NAS appliances will be the way to go - but if an old machine is handy and fills the need then FreeNAS offers a good solution.
If you don't have an old pc (like Pentium II-233Mhz, approx manufactured in 1998, or newer), then ask friends, relatives, and neighbors. You'll quickly find one. Then buy a couple of drives, pull out all the unneeded cards (audio) and hook it up to your network. Configure BIOS to be power proactive and you'll be the best off (older pc's use less power than newer machines, and can be underclocked to further improve). You'll also be doing the environmental responsible thing by reusing instead of energy intensive recycling that old machine. There is some statistic out there that 2 tons of raw materials are consumed to create a modern pc.. much more energy than a possible ratio of buying other options new vs possible energy use tradeoffs.
There are open source Linux programs to do all of these tasks. Open Office has a powerpoint equivalent... in fact I gave a presentation at a Fortune 10 company today that was entirely produced on Linux/Open Office. While I haven't pursued it, apparently Evolution will sync a palm under Ubuntu. Also, I have retired parents who switched from Mac to Kubuntu Linux - painlessly.
There is a large audience that will pick up the $200 computer knowing they have to learn the software - but they'd have to learn any of the software on an XP or Vista or MAC OS system if they paid more anyway. Most people don't have cutting edge requirements - they aren't playing the latest games, they don't need fancy window manager "eye-candy", and they don't have a need to brag that their OS is bigger than your OS. They just want to get a few things done at a good value.
The big question I have is how soon will Wal-mart's inventory be depleted - the last time they tried selling in this market they found they ordered too few.
Last Windows installation I did was more painful than three Linux installs. Googling "where's the magical.dll driver?"...like looking for Waldo.
Point is, most people think Linux is hard to install because they have never installed Windows from scratch - they just went to big-mart down the street and bought a pc already loaded up.
If you're a linux newbie get something like SimplyMepis or Xubuntu.
I repair pc's.. at the end of the 90's I had example boxes from Gateway, Dell, Compaq, and others that were identical except for the cases and the burned-in bios. Most notable was the common Intel motherboard. So the "quality" was practically the same.
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Very dependent on the IT department! Many schools and libraries get too many donations and don't know what to do with them all. The IT people are key. Most don't know Linux and fewer still know about LTSP to setup the easy server/client system to use the really old pc's as client terminals.
The other problem is users come in and want to use MSOffice products, not knowing that Open Office can support MSOffice formats (somewhat back to the IT people again).
Some people even collect PEZ dispensers, baseball cards, old cars, vintage clothes, and whatnot.
No big deal on shipping - most ebay sellers will list that separately from the sales price.
If you don't want to futz with them (get them working again), then: (1) post on Craigs List under Free and "Porch Pickup" and do that or (2) post on ebay with all defects (needs battery, cracked case, powers up etc), the manufacturer/model number and what it has (10GB HDD, 128MB RAM, etc) with $1 starting price and $15 for shipping. I ship many repaired desktop towers for $20 that have full CD/HDD/metal cases - I suspect your laptops will ship in the (newer/larger) post office priority mail box for $12 with some padding.
If you have a P2/3-500Mhz or faster you can run Xubuntu Linux fine (I'm using one for work travel and presentations now with the latest 8.04 loaded - battery is bad but the rest is ok) And have used a P2-350Mhz with Xubuntu 6.06 since it has a good battery. I save any files on a USB flash drive anyway. Open Office productivity suite, Firefox browser, Thunderbird email, and Gimp are my main tools (you can try these out on Windows too).
I only hear about laptops and desktops "being too old/slow for anything by people living in Windows... 98SE worked ok for P2's, needed P3/P4's for XP, need multicore/big ram for Vista...
I just set up a Xubuntu 8.04 server with LTSP.org for the neighbors kids (to get them off Mom & Dad's pc). The server is P3-733Mhz, one client is P2-233Mhz - that only displays/keyboard/mouse activity for that user logged into the server while the other kid is local on the server. Also installed Dansguardian to protect the kids from the shadier side of the internet. Happy kids and Parents.
I have set up a small manufacturing company based on Linux and LTSP - from receptionist to shipping department for $50 in purchased equipment (the rest was considered "scrap - too old to use" by the those getting rid of it. Great for bootstrapping new businesses.
Keep in mind, the typical recycling center just shreds equipment (there are some impressive YouTube videos if you search). This takes a significant amount of energy and nasty chemicals to sort, remelt, and create new computer equipment from. This especially includes computer manufacturers taking returns (they want old units out of circulation so you buy new ones they make). Refurbishing/reusing allows people to avoid the expense and environmental issues of a few upgrade cycles.
For some more ideas see a project of mine (Green Land PC) I'm sure there is someone near your location (craig's list is the quickest way to locate) for local support. If you can cover shipping I can suggest alternatives or find homes for them.
No big deal on shipping - most sellers will list that separately from the sales price. If you don't want to futz with them, then: (1) post on Craigs List under Free and "Porch Pickup" and do that, (2) post on ebay with all defects (needs battery, cracked case, powers up) with $1 starting price and $15 for shipping. I ship many repaired desktop towers for $20 that have full CD/HDD/metal cases - I suspect your laptops will ship in the (newer/larger) post office priority mail box for $12.
I use even older hardware with this and it's fine! It won't be a FPS game playing system, but you can do all the regular business and internet stuff, and "tetris"-like games you want - logging in at any terminal in the house. My current server is 2.4Ghz (I've even used a 450Mhz!) with Xubuntu/Kubuntu (they are faster than Gnome/Ubuntu) and install LTSP. The clients are all P2/233Mhz (can't waste anything faster), 128MB ram, and no CD/HDD drives (use USB sticks for local saves if needed or just keep on the server) - depending on the NIC you have you may need a floppy disk to boot the ethernet card PXE into the server.
I've done this with an old P2/233Mhz desktop - inside a child-lockable cabinet (inquisitive toddler in the house). I did have to modify the keyboard to fit cross-wise inside (no number pad now). However, I don't think wifi is working yet with LTSP. You could use DSL mini distro and VNC via wifi into your other server. I don't find VNC as nice to use as a well running LTSP setup.
Good to know - and I'm glad that system manufacturers are building in energy savings to reduce the dent. Though a couple of things that are still unanswered... How much cash to acquire a P1-166mmx vs core2duo for this type of application? How many years will the new machine need to idle to balance out the energy consumption of manufacturing the newer rig (and grinding up the old one if someone were to recycle vs heavy metals in the landfill)? Maybe a second hand core2duo can be obtained inexpensively? How often will the machine be at full power vs idle in a NAS application and does that balance out on its own? Obviously, if someone were to spend to buy a new machine the small NAS appliances will be the way to go - but if an old machine is handy and fills the need then FreeNAS offers a good solution.
If you don't have an old pc (like Pentium II-233Mhz, approx manufactured in 1998, or newer), then ask friends, relatives, and neighbors. You'll quickly find one. Then buy a couple of drives, pull out all the unneeded cards (audio) and hook it up to your network. Configure BIOS to be power proactive and you'll be the best off (older pc's use less power than newer machines, and can be underclocked to further improve). You'll also be doing the environmental responsible thing by reusing instead of energy intensive recycling that old machine. There is some statistic out there that 2 tons of raw materials are consumed to create a modern pc.. much more energy than a possible ratio of buying other options new vs possible energy use tradeoffs.
There are open source Linux programs to do all of these tasks. Open Office has a powerpoint equivalent... in fact I gave a presentation at a Fortune 10 company today that was entirely produced on Linux/Open Office. While I haven't pursued it, apparently Evolution will sync a palm under Ubuntu. Also, I have retired parents who switched from Mac to Kubuntu Linux - painlessly. There is a large audience that will pick up the $200 computer knowing they have to learn the software - but they'd have to learn any of the software on an XP or Vista or MAC OS system if they paid more anyway. Most people don't have cutting edge requirements - they aren't playing the latest games, they don't need fancy window manager "eye-candy", and they don't have a need to brag that their OS is bigger than your OS. They just want to get a few things done at a good value. The big question I have is how soon will Wal-mart's inventory be depleted - the last time they tried selling in this market they found they ordered too few.
Last Windows installation I did was more painful than three Linux installs. Googling "where's the magical .dll driver?"...like looking for Waldo.
Point is, most people think Linux is hard to install because they have never installed Windows from scratch - they just went to big-mart down the street and bought a pc already loaded up.
If you're a linux newbie get something like SimplyMepis or Xubuntu.
I repair pc's.. at the end of the 90's I had example boxes from Gateway, Dell, Compaq, and others that were identical except for the cases and the burned-in bios. Most notable was the common Intel motherboard. So the "quality" was practically the same.