Revived dell. (!links to pictures, attached!)

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ThinkPad · #1 Post by **ThinkPad** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:07 am

I found an old Dell Latitude L 400 I purchased back in 1999 I believe. It had layers of dust on it and the OS was corrupted. I removed the hard drive and repartitioned on my thinkpad via the ultrabay cradle. Dusted off the unit, installed XP, let it charge for a couple hours and it runs like a champ.

It is no powerhouse with the P3 700mhz and 256 ram, but it is very portable and light with the 12inch LCD, smaller than the thinkpad and can process basic applications, not sure on the graphics card. It has no optical drives though and no wireless. I think I could use a pc card setup for wireless.

For those who know dell computers how much might I be able to get for this laptop?

ThinkPad · #2 Post by **ThinkPad** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:10 am

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/ ... 8f4ddb.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/ ... 8ba0a3.jpg

admin edit: sorry, had to make these into links.. for a DELL it sure looks to be in good condition..!

pianowizard · #3 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:44 am

How big is the hard drive? If it's 20GB or more, then my guess is $250.

ThinkPad · #4 Post by **ThinkPad** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:49 am

The drive is 10gig 4500 rpm.

If I keep it, I might upgrade to 60gig 7200 rpm. I remember back then 10gig was a big deal

#5 Post by **draco2527** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:53 am

LOL!

I got one of them too! It is still in "like new" condition...

The biggest down side on it, is the fact that it will not handle more then 256MB of ram. Due to the single SODIMM slot on the mobo.

Plus I can't type on that keyboard, I hit two keys all the time.

I also have the "Dell" branded carry case for it. It is like a portfolio, so the laptop fits in there nicely!

I will try to get some pictures up for it. Mine has only 128MB of ram in it..LOL!

naro · #6 Post by **naro** » Tue May 09, 2006 6:53 pm

ThinkPad wrote:I found an old Dell Latitude L 400 I purchased back in 1999 I believe. It had layers of dust on it and the OS was corrupted. I removed the hard drive and repartitioned on my thinkpad via the ultrabay cradle. Dusted off the unit, installed XP, let it charge for a couple hours and it runs like a champ.

It is no powerhouse with the P3 700mhz and 256 ram, but it is very portable and light with the 12inch LCD, smaller than the thinkpad and can process basic applications, not sure on the graphics card. It has no optical drives though and no wireless. I think I could use a pc card setup for wireless.

For those who know dell computers how much might I be able to get for this laptop?

u've got a nice unit over there..

i also haf a 12 incher, a Compaq N400c, which i left back home.. the form factor is so small and this makes it very portable...

i was considering selling it but the price that i would get from selling it is so small... i think i better keep it for myself...

icantux · #7 Post by **icantux** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:21 am

That's perfect for a linux installation.

#8 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:55 am

old notebooks can be very useful in simple control applications..
also, auto shops might want them for readouts from the device (forgot the name) that reads and sets the car computer..

naro · #9 Post by **naro** » Tue May 16, 2006 12:50 pm

BillMorrow wrote:old notebooks can be very useful in simple control applications..
also, auto shops might want them for readouts from the device (forgot the name) that reads and sets the car computer..

i think its for modifying the ECU to pump more BHP.....

i'm wondering whether i should sell my N400c to finance the purchase of Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1........

djpharoah · #10 Post by **djpharoah** » Tue May 16, 2006 1:24 pm

Auto shops love laptops with serial/parallel connections since the computers they use for emissions, errors and what not use these connections.

A friend of mine gave his old P2-300 laptop to a Midas and got a $100 tax rebate.

JHEM · #11 Post by **JHEM** » Tue May 16, 2006 2:37 pm

djpharoah wrote:A friend of mine gave his old P2-300 laptop to a Midas and got a $100 tax rebate.

Under CA's computer recycling project?

Regards,

James

KF9YR · #12 Post by **KF9YR** » Tue May 16, 2006 9:56 pm

BillMorrow wrote:old notebooks can be very useful in simple control applications..
also, auto shops might want them for readouts from the device (forgot the name) that reads and sets the car computer..

If the vehicle is later than 1996 it has an OBDII connector under the dash. There are interfaces you can buy for $100-$200 dollars that you can plug into the OBDII connector and the serial port.

The program can then read information from the cars sensors (speed, oxygen, fuel injector, error codes, etc., etc) and keep it in a log. Old laptops work really well for this because some symptoms only show up while driving and it works well to stick the laptop in the passenger seat and record the data to a log file.

You can also reset dashboard warning lights and computer error codes....

christopher_wolf · #13 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:03 am

If I remember correctly, John Romero actually had a Ferrari that had that exact same ability; although it was a custom system and used either a serial port or a parallel port (I can't recall which) to actively tune the engine while the car was running.

See; http://rome.ro/ferrari.htm

#14 Post by **BillMorrow** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:31 am

naro wrote:
BillMorrow wrote:old notebooks can be very useful in simple control applications..
also, auto shops might want them for readouts from the device (forgot the name) that reads and sets the car computer..
i think its for modifying the ECU to pump more BHP.....

no, they have EPROM burners and hot chip data files for more BHP at the wheels..

ASIDE: for me, my SL600 gives MORE than enough BHP at the wheels to get into trouble..
thats why i got a valentine 1..
perhaps i'll take a photo of that setup sometime..

like the other poster said, old laptops are great for dealing with OBD-II data..
you can get a program to run on the laptop and a plug and you don't need to pay for a high priced OBD-II meter..
(OBD-II is the device whose name i forgot last post)

and another neat use for an old laptop would be to run a camera for rearview use but more to record the last 20 minutes of view through the front windshield..
so as to have a record in case of accident or other crazy traffic incidents..
and you don't NEED to reveal that record unless it shows what you want it to show..

Revived dell. (!links to pictures, attached!)

Revived dell. (!links to pictures, attached!)

Re: Revived dell. (!picture attached!)

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