Help: Need cheap laptop for external mining [CLOSED]

Beaflag VonRathburg

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Quote from: crazyates on May 29, 2013, 09:30:39 AM

Quote from: deslok on May 29, 2013, 09:18:30 AM

here you go, thinkpad t61 for 132
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-7658-Notebook/dp/B000UDISEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369837068&sr=8-1&keywords=t61
I used an R61 in college with vista, s2008 and w7 before i sold it damn thing took a hell of a beating and the t's are supposed to be tougher, a 2gb memory module wouldnt hurt it but won't be too expensive if you think you'll need more than one gig of ram

You ever purchased a used ThinkPad? If the BIOS has a password, you can't do SHIT. Can't reset, can't boot off CD/DVD/USB, can't do anything. The only way to get around it is to physically unsolder the BIOS chip from the motherboard, and solder a new, unpassword-protected BIOS chip on. They take their anti-theft measures very seriously.

My recommendation is to grab an old Dell or HP off ebay. Or a refurb unit from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230808

There are all kinds of laptops/nettops for <$200 that would fit your bill.

I was given an R500 because the person corrupted the Windows install and couldn't get it to work. I unlocked the bios with a pair of tweezers, installed a new OS, and it is running as we speak.

crazyates

legendary

Activity: 952

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Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 07:58:10 PM

usb fan
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN24GY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I make homemade version of those all the time. Take a standard PC fan, any old USB cable (like any old USB 1.1 extension cable), cut them up, splice the fan power into the USB 5V wires, and electrical tape it up. The fans only run at 5V instead of the 12V they're designed for, so they run slooow, but also whisper silent. They also have an outer guard, so you can prop them up against a miner, unlike that fan.

See here: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/get_your_hack_on

joae1975

hero member

Activity: 752

Merit: 500

Thank you everyone!!! I ended up getting this one used:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008OHRSOM/ref=ox_ya_os_product

also got these:

10 port usb hub
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NGQWL2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

usb fan
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN24GY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and all for $217.47 after gift card. The gift card was from a credit card perk so I paid for it.

Malawi

full member

Activity: 224

Merit: 100

One bitcoin to rule them all!

Asus one's were cheap when they came out about 4-5 years ago.

I assume they should be enough for your needs, and pretty much dirt cheap.

Phil21

full member

Activity: 155

Merit: 100

Any random atom-based netbook with a broken screen (you can use an external monitor on it since you don't care about mobility) is the cheapest thing you're going to find for "cheap little servers" for the house.

However, I run Linux on them - not sure how well windows runs with that low of horsepower.

Keep in mind that if you run bitcoind at all, you might need to spec something higher than the typical Atom netbook - bitcoind uses around 1-1.5GB of RAM these days, and I know my dedicated wallet machine can get sluggish due to that fact.

ReCat

sr. member

Activity: 406

Merit: 250

Since that guy's trying to sell one here, I have one for sale too. 2 bitcoins. 2GHZ Intel dual-core and 4 GB of RAM. It's three years old. One of these. No HDD though.

PM me if interested. Tongue

hendo420

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Activity: 420

Merit: 250

Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 02:33:21 PM

Quote from: hendo420 on May 29, 2013, 02:16:55 PM

Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 02:14:48 PM

I do like that referred asus though. Gotta get my boy's thoughts.

You might think about checking your local craigslist. You could get away with a $50 pentium 4. Cheesy

cool, thing is I have an amazon gift card to spend

http://www.amazon.com/Gateway-LT2016U-KAV60-1-60GHz-Windows/dp/B004KRZOT6/ref=sr_1_10?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1369858087&sr=1-10&keywords=netbook
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Celeron-900MHz-512MB-7-Inch/dp/B0013NRQPU/ref=sr_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1369858087&sr=1-11&keywords=netbook
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-One-Zg5/dp/B00CN5EMKE/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1369858087&sr=1-13&keywords=netbook

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-D600-Laptop-1-6ghz-Drive/dp/B000M8OX6W/ref=sr_1_55?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1369858277&sr=1-55&keywords=laptop

joae1975

hero member

Activity: 752

Merit: 500

Quote from: hendo420 on May 29, 2013, 02:16:55 PM

Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 02:14:48 PM

I do like that referred asus though. Gotta get my boy's thoughts.

You might think about checking your local craigslist. You could get away with a $50 pentium 4. Cheesy

cool, thing is I have an amazon gift card to spend

hendo420

sr. member

Activity: 420

Merit: 250

Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 02:14:48 PM

I do like that referred asus though. Gotta get my boy's thoughts.

You might think about checking your local craigslist. You could get away with a $50 pentium 4. Cheesy

joae1975

hero member

Activity: 752

Merit: 500

I do like that referred asus though. Gotta get my boy's thoughts.

hendo420

sr. member

Activity: 420

Merit: 250

Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 02:07:37 PM

Quote from: hendo420 on May 29, 2013, 02:05:02 PM

I also upgraded it to windows 8.

Windows 8, Blah!! No offense. Thanks bro!

I can put whatever on it, I have Windows 98 all the way up to windows 8. lol I also have a windows 95 CD and some windows 3.1 floppys in storage. lol
I put windows 8 on everything and then add the program Start8 to get the start menu back. Its exactly like windows 7 only with some extra windows 8 features.

joae1975

hero member

Activity: 752

Merit: 500

Quote from: hendo420 on May 29, 2013, 02:05:02 PM

I also upgraded it to windows 8.

Windows 8, Blah!! No offense. Thanks bro!

hendo420

sr. member

Activity: 420

Merit: 250

I'll sell you this laptop for $400, I paid $800. I'll even throw in my laptop bag, its black with red trim like the laptop. It matches very well. Cheesy

Its a little over 2 years old. I sent it in at 2 years which was the end of the warranty and they replaced the mobo, it didn't have anything really wrong with it but they gave me a new mobo. Cheesy

Its in almost new condition, i take really good care of my electronics. I also upgraded it to windows 8.

I can set it up on bitmit if your interested and want to pay in bitcoins. If you want to pay cash I can set up an ebay auction.

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GX633.html

Pm me if interested.

crazyates

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Activity: 952

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Quote from: joae1975 on May 29, 2013, 01:46:13 PM

Thanks guys, I like that Asus. What's the most processing power a computer really needs to run those external ASICS? Not much huh?

Well a rPi can do it, so pretty much ya.

joae1975

hero member

Activity: 752

Merit: 500

Thanks guys, I like that Asus. What's the most processing power a computer really needs to run those external ASICS? Not much huh?

ReCat

sr. member

Activity: 406

Merit: 250

Quote from: crazyates on May 29, 2013, 09:30:39 AM

Quote from: deslok on May 29, 2013, 09:18:30 AM

here you go, thinkpad t61 for 132
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-7658-Notebook/dp/B000UDISEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369837068&sr=8-1&keywords=t61
I used an R61 in college with vista, s2008 and w7 before i sold it damn thing took a hell of a beating and the t's are supposed to be tougher, a 2gb memory module wouldnt hurt it but won't be too expensive if you think you'll need more than one gig of ram

You ever purchased a used ThinkPad? If the BIOS has a password, you can't do SHIT. Can't reset, can't boot off CD/DVD/USB, can't do anything. The only way to get around it is to physically unsolder the BIOS chip from the motherboard, and solder a new, unpassword-protected BIOS chip on. They take their anti-theft measures very seriously.

My recommendation is to grab an old Dell or HP off ebay. Or a refurb unit from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230808

There are all kinds of laptops/nettops for <$200 that would fit your bill.

Then don't purchase a used thinkpad that has a bios password.

deslok

sr. member

Activity: 462

Merit: 250

It's all about the game, and how you play it

Quote from: crazyates on May 29, 2013, 09:30:39 AM

Quote from: deslok on May 29, 2013, 09:18:30 AM

here you go, thinkpad t61 for 132
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-7658-Notebook/dp/B000UDISEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369837068&sr=8-1&keywords=t61
I used an R61 in college with vista, s2008 and w7 before i sold it damn thing took a hell of a beating and the t's are supposed to be tougher, a 2gb memory module wouldnt hurt it but won't be too expensive if you think you'll need more than one gig of ram

You ever purchased a used ThinkPad? If the BIOS has a password, you can't do SHIT. Can't reset, can't boot off CD/DVD/USB, can't do anything. The only way to get around it is to physically unsolder the BIOS chip from the motherboard, and solder a new, unpassword-protected BIOS chip on. They take their anti-theft measures very seriously.

My recommendation is to grab an old Dell or HP off ebay. Or a refurb unit from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230808

There are all kinds of laptops/nettops for <$200 that would fit your bill.

Yes i have ... laptop bios password issues aren't unique to them and for reference desoldering the bios chip isn't required http://www.ehow.com/how_7385409_reset-bios-lenovo-t61.html

considering the build quality of dell and hp laptops you're just asking for broken hinges going on ebay.

crazyates

legendary

Activity: 952

Merit: 1000

Quote from: deslok on May 29, 2013, 09:18:30 AM

here you go, thinkpad t61 for 132
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-7658-Notebook/dp/B000UDISEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369837068&sr=8-1&keywords=t61
I used an R61 in college with vista, s2008 and w7 before i sold it damn thing took a hell of a beating and the t's are supposed to be tougher, a 2gb memory module wouldnt hurt it but won't be too expensive if you think you'll need more than one gig of ram

You ever purchased a used ThinkPad? If the BIOS has a password, you can't do SHIT. Can't reset, can't boot off CD/DVD/USB, can't do anything. The only way to get around it is to physically unsolder the BIOS chip from the motherboard, and solder a new, unpassword-protected BIOS chip on. They take their anti-theft measures very seriously.

My recommendation is to grab an old Dell or HP off ebay. Or a refurb unit from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230808

There are all kinds of laptops/nettops for <$200 that would fit your bill.

deslok

sr. member

Activity: 462

Merit: 250

It's all about the game, and how you play it

here you go, thinkpad t61 for 132
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-7658-Notebook/dp/B000UDISEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369837068&sr=8-1&keywords=t61
I used an R61 in college with vista, s2008 and w7 before i sold it damn thing took a hell of a beating and the t's are supposed to be tougher, a 2gb memory module wouldnt hurt it but won't be too expensive if you think you'll need more than one gig of ram

puffpuffpass

member

Activity: 70

Merit: 10

I'm nobody.

not cheap, but it's cool: https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/lemu4

Topic: Help: Need cheap laptop for external mining [CLOSED] (Read 2087 times)