Need idea for how to use a Dell Latitude D400

[psychospacecow]

Unbeknownst to me, my uncle gave us a Latitude D400, a compact laptop computer from 2003 that requires an external Disc Drive....

Its pretty bad, and we don't know the password. I'm thinking of reformating the entire thing to run off of linux, but I can't seem to get a good reference for what exactly this thing can actually do by default. I'm wondering if I could treat it like a raspberry pi.


http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-latitude-d400-series/

[Filler]

I used to own that type of laptop. It's pretty sturdy internally, but (For me) the hinges were so tight, they began to snap off.

Unless you add better Ram and processor, it's pretty much a paperweight.

EDIT: Might as well add the fact I couldn't find any graphics drivers on a modern OS that worked with the thing. Became a brick when Windows 10 rolled along.

[psychospacecow]

Yeah, I'm not expecting much. I figure that at worst, I could get it to run linux and have a fancy paperweight. XD

[Kosheh]

XD;

have you considered running some lightweight form of ubuntu and kodi on it, and turn it into a video player? likewise, you could also stream whatever's on your PC by accessing it remotely, be it from home or out and about

[Petie]

For anyone curious, I answered this in the other place he asked it:

Looks like it has a 1.4 GHz Pentium M and 512 MB (2x256 MB) of RAM. It shipped with XP Pro in July 2004 so as a whole, it's likely not going to do much for you in terms of serving as an actual computer. It would be a very power-hungry Raspberry Pi substitute but you could definitely run a lightweight distribution of Linux on it. Perhaps consult this site for a few potential ideas: https://www.linux.com/news/best-lightwei...ux-distros

Seems Kosheh had more or less the same idea, though spec-wise, I'm not sure it would be all that good for video playback of anything above 480p.

[Kosheh]

Seems Kosheh had more or less the same idea, though spec-wise, I'm not sure it would be all that good for video playback of anything above 480p.

cue a loop of petie and i just patting each other on the back

yeah, given the processor and onboard graphics you're probably not gonna pull above 1024x768 on that thing. the other thing is if it's running XP then yeah it's about as handy as an RPi. i GUESS you could pop a bunch of emulators on it (along with kodi) and plug it into your TV; plug a controller in and enjoy some really old videogames at a mediocre resolution, and maybe lug it around with you on vacation. while you're at it, just install linux distros willy-nilly and see how they run.

but at that point, why not buy an Ouya or an RPi...they'd both probably cost you about the same; more or less equal in elbow grease

if you're stumped though, just wipe the hard drive and donate it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯