I rather figured that would probably be the case. That's what I get for only having a Minor in Computer Science... just enough understanding of how things work to be able to dream about how I'd like them to work!
It just seems sad to let that otherwise useless hunk of metal and plastic go to waste. And I wouldn't have known for sure unless I'd asked.
If you go and get a new network card then it will run at the standard LAN speed of 100Mb/s which is quite fast and the system should be able to keep up with that. If you get an el cheapo harddrive and fit it in then you can use it as a nice networked storage backup box and it will do that job at pretty much the full speed.
As for the CPU processing power - its not worth trying to get any more out of it. Its a fact of computing that your old machine is many many times slower than your new one.
If you run a VNC server on the old box then you can run a VNC client on the laptop and view the screen on the laptop. Also if you buy a projector or have a large monitor for it then you can use the old box as a projector / map slave for VTT's when playing RPG's
You could always put linux on it and learn that if you don't know it. Linux tends to be quite a bit less memory intensive than Windows (especially Vista), so you may even see comparable performance even if the hardware is older. You could also use it as a file server...Originally Posted by Karro
Joe
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Thats what I just did. Downloaded a turnkey linux distribution, and dropped in a SATA card an two 500GB sata drives running mirrored. Total cost < $250CDN.
I'm also using it as a print server.
-Rob A>
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Oh, you tease me! I haven't had an opportunity to play in, oh, like 4 years now. Since I moved to Atlanta like a year-and-a-half ago, I haven't been able to build up a base of gamer friends. I've finally found some who enjoy niche boardgames (Settlers of Catan and others) via my fiancee, but few of these are interested in trying out RPGs any time soon if ever.If you run a VNC server on the old box then you can run a VNC client on the laptop and view the screen on the laptop. Also if you buy a projector or have a large monitor for it then you can use the old box as a projector / map slave for VTT's when playing RPG's
This was my original plan for the old machine--to try out Linux. I thought I'd be safe giving UBUNTU a whirl. But the soon-to-be-wifey suggests that since we both have an old desktop and a laptop that we ought to dump one of the old desktops (and we won't really have room in our new house for the clutter of multiple desktops). I don't anticipate her sacrificing her newer desktop for linux tinkering... We'll see if I can save it!
A basic home server that can serve the Laptops around the house and do all the hard-line stuff would be a good use.
Thanks everyone!
Don't forget that latest Ubuntu will run in a window on Windows. But yeah Id run a networked file server as an archive / backup system for the laptop in case it failed on you.
Edit -- Ahh but not for Windows Me it seems - almost everything but ME tho. Never did like ME much anyways.
Last edited by Redrobes; 06-11-2008 at 01:49 PM.
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