sure.
You can attach an external display. Or turn it into a small home server
Or as an always online syncthing node, but that basically makes it a homeserver.
ultra low profile headless server with built in UPS? Heck yeah!
If you run any services (jellyfin / a media server, torrents, document storage, etc), have them run on it.
@dessalines sounds interesting, but how does something like jellyfin work on a laptop without any display ?
You use the laptop to run the server that dishes up the content for the client devices that have working displays to watch on
@tophneal too nerdy stuff for me.
I’m afraid if the display is actually dead then most of the options to keep the laptop computing will likely be “too nerdy” for you. Pretty much all of them will involve using it as a headless server.
…what the fuck are you on about? Have you never seen an HDMI jack on a laptop before?
Nah you’re right, I was mid-first cup. HDMI, usbc dp are both potential options to use video out. I’ve been corrected. Rude as fuck way to do that though.
Cut them some slack, they’re rampantly paranoid.
Now I’m curious why you chose that particular username 🤔
The way I see it, it’s basically downgraded to a desktop (assuming it has a separate display output). People use laptops like that as desktops and even home servers all the time.
The two major things to look out for is you probably want to configure it so that closing the lid doesn’t put it to sleep, and if possible, detach the battery and just run it off the charger to prevent the battery from puffing up from being constantly charged.
Hell, detach the screen entirely and you basically have a DIY modern Commodore 64.
If you have an external monitor, turn it into a halftop.
i have a macbook pro from 2019 and the display has some defect and all the colors are inverted. i installed ubuntu and used it as a desktop for awhile.
As useful as any mini PC. Unless it’s one that refuses to boot without a working battery or requires you to jump through hoops to get display out blindly.
Self-hosting aside, I had one during the work-from-home times. I wanted to easily move my setup from room-to-room, but not worry about the built-in screen being in the way of my nice monitors/CRT/TV or ruining the battery by leaving it plugged in all day.
@monovergent how do you boot a PC without looking into the monitor ?
The halftop I used was a Thinkpad and Lenovo has an online BIOS simulator. I followed it to the display output settings and set it to default to HDMI out instead of the internal LCD. Which then let me do everything including BIOS configuration on an external monitor.
@monovergent you did it by tinkering with the hardware ?
Not strictly, that was just a BIOS option. Can’t guarantee every laptop comes with it. The power button was situated on the lid though, so I had to bodge it into the lower chassis.
Could also maybe be repaired
@sexy_peach that costs an awful lot of money, and the investment is really not worth it considering the age of the machine.
It costs like $100 to order a replacement screen, depending on the model.
