Today as I was hunting garage sales for cheap hosts to add to my home lab network, I was able to pick up a working Lenovo 20428 laptop for $10.
Whenever I hit a garage sale, I always ask the sellers if they have any computer equipment for sale even if nothing is out on the tables. Usually the answer is no, but I just keep trying. At this particular garage sale I asked and the answer again was no. But I kept chatting with the ladies hosting the sale and just before leaving I mentioned that I was off to continue my hunt for cheap, used computers equipment. Fortunately I did because one of the ladies said, “Come to think of it, I do have an old laptop that’s been sitting in my closet for years.” She asked what price range I was looking for and I said $10 because I’m willing to work with old equipment that most people will just throw out. So, she went and dug the laptop out and sold it to me for $10.
Here are the basic specs for the machine I purchased:
- Make and Model: Lenovo 20428
- OS: Windows 10 Home
- Processor: Intel Core i3-4012Y 1.50GHz
- RAM: 4 GB
- Hard Drive: 500 GB HDD
It’s a really nice little laptop that has touchscreen functionality and folds back on itself so it can be used as a tablet. I don’t need either of those capabilities for what I’ll be using it for but they are cool features.
I don’t yet have a specific purpose for this machine, but there are a lot of possibilities. If you are interested in some reasons why a laptop can be a good choice for a home lab server, watch this video from LearnLinuxTV:
