2014-10-15, 19:18
The typical knee jerk reaction to using a laptop like this is usually about the cooling, which you seem to not have a problem with. Problems might start if you were to try to use it as a server as well, with weeks of uptime.
I have used a laptop to feed movies and shows to a tv in a hotel I lived in for two months, but that was a new machine.
I scrounged a desktop when I lived in France and Morocco, parts there are old and expensive, importing is difficult, so I took what I could get for free, put crunchbang linux on it, and had a download box/media server that fed my raspberry pi and tablets. I've cobbled together other desktops, also successfully, usually for a single purpose (document servers on the oldest, photo and video servers midrange, basic day to day for recent stuff).
I have access to four laptops right now, from 2007-2010 (a friend gets a new one every year for Christmas and puts the old in storage) but with two kids under 3, I just don't feel the time investment to be worth it, when a raspberry pi or a pogoplug can do all the hacky, server-y stuff I would do on an old laptop, and because most laptop motherboards seem less friendly even to linux installations. Running from a stick is ok for testing, but for long term, the difference is noticeable.
Older, scroungeable laptops will also struggle with HD video, and the older HDMI cards didn't put out audio. With tablets under $200, I stopped recommending building from used parts for friends and family.
I have used a laptop to feed movies and shows to a tv in a hotel I lived in for two months, but that was a new machine.
I scrounged a desktop when I lived in France and Morocco, parts there are old and expensive, importing is difficult, so I took what I could get for free, put crunchbang linux on it, and had a download box/media server that fed my raspberry pi and tablets. I've cobbled together other desktops, also successfully, usually for a single purpose (document servers on the oldest, photo and video servers midrange, basic day to day for recent stuff).
I have access to four laptops right now, from 2007-2010 (a friend gets a new one every year for Christmas and puts the old in storage) but with two kids under 3, I just don't feel the time investment to be worth it, when a raspberry pi or a pogoplug can do all the hacky, server-y stuff I would do on an old laptop, and because most laptop motherboards seem less friendly even to linux installations. Running from a stick is ok for testing, but for long term, the difference is noticeable.
Older, scroungeable laptops will also struggle with HD video, and the older HDMI cards didn't put out audio. With tablets under $200, I stopped recommending building from used parts for friends and family.