A huge upshot to using a laptop is you have a built-in UPS and KVM.
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
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I had one active a good while back. To quote Buddy Guy '..ain't nuthin' wrong with that.' Hell, I have a 15 year old, self build computer. I use it daily. It works, and pretty well too.
If you haven't already, I'd see if you can run it sans battery, just power cord. Reason being, old laptop batteries can be a hazard. They can swell and burst, they can over heat,. In some cases, they can become a fire hazard. Best to be safe.
If you've already done so, then awesome , and ignore the second paragraph. Is this your first foray into selfhosting?
some machines restrict cpu clock speed if there's no battery fyi. my 2008 macbook does this
Ideally see if you can do a battery charge limit. Lithium batteries are happiest around 40-60% charge. If you can limit it that low then you keep your built in UPS, don't risk the CPU running at a crawl, and the battery is happy. Even just the normal 80% that good laptops offer will be sufficient.
Wow... Never thought about this ! To bad my battery died years ago ! Craptop still going strong though 👍💪
Well, that's something to think about. I've always thought it best to take mine out. Tempting fate and all that.