**Turning Trash Laptops into Treasure**

Today, we're taking trash laptops and turning them into fully functional setups. As long as your definition of fully functional is a little bit flexible, this can be a fun and rewarding project.

The goal is to take old and broken laptops and turn them back into something useful, even if it's not the original intention of the device. For example, instead of trying to fix a laptop as a laptop, we might consider turning it into an iMac or a desktop computer.

**Case Study: The MacBook Pro**

We have a 15-inch MacBook Pro that has some major issues. There is no trackpad, and the battery has bulged, causing the entire chassis to move up by half an inch. We're also missing some components inside the laptop.

However, despite these challenges, we believe we can turn this laptop back into something useful. We have all the parts to rebuild our MacBook, including a monitor, memory, and everything else needed.

**Step-by-Step Guide**

To start, we'll take apart the MacBook Pro and replace the old hard drive with an SSD (Solid-State Drive). This will give us more storage space and make the laptop run faster. We'll also replace the four gigs of RAM with eight gigs to improve performance.

While we're in here, we'll clean out any dust or debris that might be accumulated inside the laptop. This is especially important for older laptops like this one, which can be prone to overheating and other issues.

**Adding Storage**

We'll add five terabytes of storage space using a data doubler. This will give us an extra five terabytes of space to store files, music, and other media.

**The Original Cinema Display**

Inside the box, we have the original cinema display for this particular MacBook Pro. From the front, it looks like an iMac, but we actually have a different selection of ports available.

We can power the MacBook via the display using the MagSafe port, provide the video feed using the mini DisplayPort, and run other peripherals such as the webcam and USB devices using the USB ports.

**Conclusion**

This project is all about turning trash into treasure. We're taking an old and broken laptop and turning it back into something useful, even if it's not the original intention of the device.

We hope you've enjoyed this case study, and we encourage you to try a similar project yourself. Remember to check out our sponsor, CleanMyMac X, for all your cleaning and optimization needs!

**Special Thanks**

A huge shoutout to CleanMyMac X for sponsoring this video! Be sure to check them out at the link in the description below.

(And don't forget to like and subscribe for more fun content!)

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Today, we are taking trash laptopsand turning them intofully functional setups.As long as your definitionof fully functional isa little bit flexible.This is a laptop that a friendof mine recently gave me,which is, well, has a few issuesand that really got me thinking,odds are you probablyhave some old computer,some old laptop in your lifethat's either broken or old and obsolete.So today we have a very simple mission,to turn junk into treasure,to turn something old and bustedinto something new and shiny.Well, maybe not shiny,but at least it'll work and be better.So this is some modelof a 15-inch MacBook Proand it has some pretty major issues.So there's no trackpad,the battery has bulgedso you can see that the entire, I mean,the entire chassis movedup by like half an inch.I also believe that we'remissing some componentsin the inside.You got another laptop?We already have a laptopthat we're doing the video on the MacBook.Is this a laptop without a screen?- Yes.- No RAM, no storage, no wifi,Bluetooth card, no battery.I'm gonna be really madif this was expensive.Look, I'm all about trying toturn trash into treasure here,but like I have to havesomething to work with here.Here goes nothing.I wonder what happened,the way it looks likethe battery expanded,I bet it like pushed the trackpad out.Remember to keep talkingand nobody explodes.- I have no idea.- Wooh, God, I don't evenwanna touch that thing,look at that.So when it comes to the Dell,even though it's missingso many components,for our project,we can actually turn this thingback to life pretty easily.All we do is grab a coupleof SODIMM modules, DDR4,grab an SSD, even like a 240 gig SSDand plug this guy into ethernetand we have what shouldbe a usable desktop,but the MacBook,I think the MacBook is goingto be the trickier thing.So we have the abilityto fix this as a laptop,but what I think will make more senseis if we turn it into an iMac.We attach it to like a cinema displayor we attach it to some kind of monitorand we turn this old, broken laptopinto something which youcan still use today in 2020.Now, mind you, I don't knowhow good it's gonna be,but there's some prettyeasy upgrades we can doto give this Mac a lot more longevity.And so we have all the partsto rebuild our MacBook,including the monitor andthe memory and everything,but before we can get to that,let's actually take this apart.First of all, we're goingto be replacing our 750gig hard drive with an SSD,we are going to replace ourfour gigs of RAM with eight,and we're going to beremoving the optical drivein favor of a data doublerto give us an additionalfive terabytes of storage.- You don't need youroptical drive on an older Macand wanna replace itwith an SSD or hard drivethis is what you use.- While I'm in here, I'mdefinitely going to clean it out.It's actually not in that bad shape,but it's a little dustyand any time you're taking apart a laptop,especially something like this,which is what, 10 years old,it always makes sense totidy and clean what you can.This, this, we do not need it anymore.(air whooshing)- Oh, that was a cool sound.- So inside this tiny hard drive,we will be adding five terabytesof space to our MacBook.Now is this too thick to fit?Maybe, 'cause that's athick hard drive, wow!- Oh, that's really dense.- I don't think that'sgoing to fit it all,there's no way that, no way.So that's roughly how much it sticks out.- Oh, that's fine, that's okay.- Inside this box we havewhat should be the original cinema displayfor this particular MacBook.So from the front, itlooks a lot like an iMac,however, we actually havea interesting selectionof ports available.We have a MagSafewhich will power yourMacBook via the display,we have a mini DisplayPort,which will provide the video feed,then you have a USB which is ableto run not only our webcam,but also around back,we have three USB 2.0 ports, I believe.So theoretically, this islike an all in one solutionbefore you had somethinglike Thunderbolt 3which will do it all via a single cable.- So I mounted my books,all of the fans have alittle bit of clearance.There's some air channels that will allowfor some ventilation, I think, I think.- You think it will be fine?- It should be okay.- I guess it's already alive.So your Mac might not be quiteas much of a challenge as ours.However, you'll likely find the sponsorof today's video veryhelpful, CleanMyMac X.So even though MacOS is of coursea very reliable operatingsystem generally speaking,it's still has its fair share of issuesand that's where itCleanMyMac comes into its own.So first of all, CleanMyMac X can speed upand breathe new life into your old Mac,regardless of how good you think you areat keeping things up todate and nice and clean,there's always extrastuff in the backgroundand that's exactly whatthis is meant for.You'll also be able to makesure that you know exactlywhat programs are installed on your Macand if any of them have permissionsthat you might not be aware of,such as your microphone or camera,and CleanMyMac X has smart scan,which not only clears out someextra stuff in the backgroundthat you might not need, but importantly,it even runs a quick malware scanto make sure that everythingis running as swiftlyand as smoothly as possible.If all that's not enough,CleanMyMac X also has somebuilt in optimization featuresto make sure that youcan really get the mostout of your MacBook,whether it's a week old or 10 years old,well, 10 years old youmay need an upgrade.But regardless, definitely be sureto go check out our sponsor,CleanMyMac X at the linkin the description andhuge shout out to themfor sponsoring this slightlyquestionable idea for a video,thanks guys.(air whooshing)Step one is goingto be getting our Delllaptop up and running.So we have a wide varietyof parts to try and do this,"as cheaply as possible" andby as cheaply as possible,I mean probably the same priceas if we bought a working Dell,but this one's going to be cooleras long as you don'tcare about the aesthetic.First step, we need to get theactual laptop up and runningbecause it has been sothoroughly stripped,it's never going to be portable again.So instead, what we're going to dois install some RAMsince it literally needsthat to function.All right, next, let's install an SSD,which I have a 240 gigs SATA SSD, perfect.(Austin laughs in a questionable manner)I'm sure that'll stay.Secure.Look, it's at the desktop,we're not even gonna shake it like that.Okay, okay, okay, calm down, calm down.- It's fine, we did it.- I'm so much lead upfor the word, it's fine.So rightfully you might be asking,why are you doing this project?Which is an excellent questionthat I have no answer to,but secondly, you may also be asking,how are we going to get around the factthat you have no screen?Well, we're going to attach itto the back of this Dell monitor.We picked a Dell monitorpurely because it matchesand we wanted to keep with our Dell theme.- I call dibs on this monitor after.- Well, if you take the monitor,you're gonna have totake the whole computer.- Sure.- Okay, cool.Oh, Ken Bolido, what a smart idea!No wonder you get paid the big bucks.- I do?- No wonder youshould get paid the big bucks.What is that?The cooling pad?No, no, no, no, look how clean this looks,we can't ruin it with a cooling pad.This looks--- Clean.- Wait, let'sbring the monitor down.- It's clean, it's clean, look, look,we can get the rotationtoo, look, look, look.It's totally--- Fine, fine.- You have your cooling,you have your cooling.You also have this KeychronK2 which is a choice.- Can I just ask,was the Keychron K2keyboard more expensivethan our laptop itself?- 85 bucks.- Oh, not more expensive,but still more expensivethan everything else, got it.- Yes, Keychron K2 is probablythe highest quality thingwe have in this setup.I like the yellow button.- That's orange, that's orange.- Sorry, I can't color.- You okay.- No.- Do you need a doctor?- I need help.- What kind of help?- A lot.- That's a great answer.So today has gone very interestingly.So when we came intothe studio this morning,we're like, okay, let'sfinish shooting the video.We've made it as far as we can.So we figured we would just plug it inand show what it would look likeif it was actually functionaland at that point, it decided to turn on,I was able to install Windowsand is now fully flawless.So everything shows up,I didn't even realize ourquad core i5 processor.So we have a 6440 HQ, wehave our 16 gigs of RAM,our SSD, everything shows up here,absolutely no problem.Now on the MacBook side,okay, so there's goodnews and there's bad news.The good news is it is working,so after a little bit of driver trickery,we have not only everything showing up,so we have our 15 inch MacBook.When we first installed High Sierra,which is the highest OSthis will actually support,the graphics were not working,we actually had to manuallyforce those Nvidia graphics on.These were known to haveissues, not only for failures,but also just the drivers are old,I guess would be the best way to put it.However, by forcingthose Nvidia drivers on,it's not like we needbattery life or anything,it now works no problem.And we of course have itconnected to our cinema display.Now, looking at these two systems,a very legitimate question is why?Now, when we started this video,the idea was we really wanted to show youthat if you have an old laptop,or you able to picksomething up for cheaperor as a hand-me-down or whatever,there's real value tothem and that is true.These are both fully functional setupsthat are much, much less expensivethan anything new that you would getand both I would say are completely usablebased on your actual needs.However, the way we've done it,maybe not the greatest idea,the five terabyte hard drivethat we put in the MacBook doesn't show upbecause I don't think it's supported,so questionable decision.The cinema display actually looks greatso it has not only thepower for the laptop,but we also have our miniDisplayPort and USB,that's all great,but the problem is as itresets for some reason,'cause I touched the cable,this was a $500 display andit came with a chip on it.So look, it looks great,it is very well supported,but at $500 you probablycould have just got an iMac.Out of the two setups,this one's probably the more usable.We have a quad coreprocessor, 16 gigs of RAM,but the thing is the actual laptop itselfwas just too expensive.Considering that it wasbasically just a motherboardand nothing else.It's not necessarily the greatest.This Dell monitor is great,obviously your peripheralsand stuff that you wanna do,but we had to spend a fairbit of money on an SSD,on memory, all that kind ofstuff to get up and running.- So don't buy these laptopsif you have them laying around, yes.- Thank you very much for watching.Make sure to subscribeand definitely be sureto check out our wonderful sponsor,CleanMyMac X at thelink in the descriptionand I'm gonna go findsomething to recycle now.I think we've reduced and reused enough.We've got to keep thatvirtuous circle, circling.(upbeat music)