With a new solid-state hard drive, an old laptop is reborn

Don’t throw away that older computer! Revive it with a solid-state hard drive and a RAM upgrade.

Here are the details in this week’s tech column:

A technologically dated computer isn’t as lucky as an old smartphone. Instead of becoming a trade-in, then reused, it’s a hand-me-down, basement clutter or electronic waste.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Anyone brave enough to dig inside an aged laptop can perform relatively easy and inexpensive upgrades that will transform the machine. I’ve recently completed archeological digs into a MacBook purchased, I believe, during the Nixon administration and a 2009 Mac Mini rescued this summer from Craigslist, along with an Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse, for $300.

After adding RAM, the random access memory used by computers to read and write data, and a solid-state hard drive to each, I barely recognize the old-timers. They boot up faster, shut down faster, open applications faster and act years younger. I turned both into dedicated music servers, but make yours into whatever you want, whether it’s connected to an HDTV as a movie library or for general-purpose computing.

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