How to Give a Second Life to the Parts of Your Old Laptop

I’m sure you’ve come across some of those craft videos, 95 percent of which simply don’t work (but go viral anyway). Well, here’s a striking example from the remaining 5 percent. The DIY Perks channel published an excellent short video in late January that shows us how to reuse the parts of an old laptop, no matter the external damage or the fault it has suffered. From speakers to the cooler, through the microphone and the diffusers in the screen, your laptop doesn’t have to end up in the trash or stored in a drawer.

One of my laptops is starting to feel its age, but instead of decommissioning it definitively, I decided to install an SSD, replace a good part of its case (which I got for pennies and in very good condition), and with a copy of Windows 8.1 (I have the license, why not take advantage of it?) it was ready to continue its adventure. Some users apply the same strategy, but others prefer to confirm the final retirement and favor new hardware. Now the question is: What do we do with that old system?

All this! The DIY Perks channel is known for its relationship of “quality over quantity”, and a couple of days ago it published this video that teaches us to give a second life to the parts of any old laptop. The first step? Disassemble it completely, down to every piece. The first example in the video focuses on the speakers. Most current portable systems don’t have great sound, but there was a time when manufacturers prioritized audio, installing very good speakers inside.

Next, it shows us how to reuse the cooling module for LED lights. Some models are so powerful that they need to be installed on a surface that helps dissipate heat, and the copper block with its fan is ideal for that. The case of screens is even more interesting, because they are useful even when broken. Inside there are lights (either LED or CFL), diffusers, and Fresnel lenses that are begging for a second chance. Fake windows, ambient lights, and magic mirrors are three excellent projects to reproduce.

Finally, the microphones of laptops sound much better than we think (as long as we help them with a small amplifier), hard drives have magnets and mirrored platters, and by connecting a laser to the tip of the head we can generate very interesting light effects. An entire screen can be transformed into a second monitor with a universal controller, webcams only need a USB connector to work outside the computer, and a battery that seems “dead” doesn’t mean all its cells suffer the same condition. When you open a battery you’ll find 18650 modules that can recover all their vitality with a good external charger (the video doesn’t recommend using batteries below 2.8v, but in my experience that’s not a problem; the important thing is that it has some voltage before recharging them).

The most obvious options are left for last: Retrogaming/emulation compatibility with old accessories that don’t work in recent versions of Windows, and “headless” units are just three possibilities. The video goes on for almost 20 minutes but it’s worth every second, and if you have a broken laptop to spare, I think your next weekend will be very busy...