Technology grows by leaps and bounds. And, because of this, our devices get outdated rather quickly. They either get outdated because they are not supported any longer, or they get outdated because we want the newest gadget coming out and forget about the one we bought just recently. But, that does not mean these devices are no longer useful. In fact, some of the old laptops you have lying around may be quite useful if you reallocate their purpose. Before throwing out that old laptop, there is a possibility you can use it for something else more useful. In case you need to dispose of it because it does not work anymore, visit https://www.gigacycle.co.uk/ to learn how to do it in a ecologically safe way.
If you laptop has physical issues like a broke screen, or burnt up hard drive, then it may not have much use for us. But, if it is just slow and out of date then it may have some usefulness afterall. In fact, even if the screen is broken there is a chance the laptop can be connected to an external monitor, mouse and keyboard and be useful afterall if you don’t want to pay to have the screen fixed.
If you are inclined, you may want to see if that older laptop can be upgraded in anyway. You may be able to add some RAM or a bigger hard drive for very little money. Then to speed up the laptop, you can simply install a new operating system fresh. Before doing that you will want to backup all your files to an external drive in order to copy them back over to the new hard drive.
If you do not have an operating system disk like Windows 7 or 8, then there are free operating systems you can try out. The most popular are the various Linux flavors for you to download and install. In fact, these will probably run faster on an older laptop than Windows would anyway because they run more efficiently than Windows.
If you are already familiar with navigating in Windows, then you can try out Ubuntu Linux. It has a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables you to use a mouse to navigate around to different programs. Ubuntu is also good because it will include many of the drivers for popular hardware. Therefore, you will be surprised about how easy it will be to get up and running in short order.
If you absolutely do not want that old laptop, it is important not to just throw it away with the rest of the trash. There are components inside a laptop that are not good for the environment. Therefore, it is not a good idea to find its way into a dump where it can be exposed to the environment. Try to see if you can sell it on the secondary markets like eBay, Craigslist or Amazon. Someone else may find a use for it, or they may be able to use it for parts.
If you are not interested in selling it, there are companies that will pick up and dispose of old computers. Just make sure that you format the drive and completely wipe it. Or, make sure the computer disposal company does. Or, you can just pull the hard drive out before giving away the computer.
Another option may be to donate the computer to a charity. Be sure to get the proper tax documentation for the charity for your tax records. Again, be sure to wipe the drive before donating, however.
Think twice before deciding that old laptop is no use anymore. You may be surprised the use you can get out of it. And, if you can’t, maybe someone else can.