You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Having a bit of a clear out and found my old HTC Legend and thought it might have some uses especially for the kids. Pretty sure and I can root it and put a more up to date version of Android on (I think I can get 4.1).
So far I'm thinking it can be the iplayer remote, replace using my phone as a microscope, camera (would like to try doing some timelapse stuff), geocaching. Any other suggestions? Wasn't intending to put a SIM card in it.
Bike computer / GPS?
I keep meaning to reappropriate my old phone as a route tracker / MP3 player when out running, rather than using my big daft modern one.
Wireless security camera? There's apps in the Play store that let you view what the camera sees through a web browser.
You could always put a Three 3.2.1 PAYG SIM in.
MP3 player?
As Cougar, clear it of guff and install backcountry navigator with Multimap OS Explorer 1:25k for £6.99 and use it as a GPS, one which you won't care if it gets scratched, dropped, wet, lost etc.
Dark phone. Pick up a free sim from somewhere, buy a credit voucher in cash and start dealing etc.
Perks up at the thought of cheap gps :
As Cougar, clear it of guff and install backcountry navigator with Multimap OS Explorer 1:25k for £6.99 and use it as a GPS
Have you actually done this?
What is battery life like?
How does it get its GPS signals - is it via the telephone signal, or does it have a GPS receiver built in?
I'd probably root it to remove all the crap that vodafone et al bundled onto it, but not update to a later version of Android...it will probably slow the phone down as newer versions are designed for faster phones.
I had best results on my old HTC Desire installaling a stripped out bare bones version of Android, improved performance, battery life and reduced overheating (I was still using it as my main phone so same apps before and after)
GPS is via gps chip though if it has a data connection it also used mast positions and wifi to get a faster, approximate fix.
Lots in using a mobile for gps here
www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/home-made-gps-with-mapping-and-tracking/page/3
Two suggestions, first for the kid thing use the kid mode app which is free and means you can prevent kids doing things you don't want them to
Second is to use it as a music player. I have an old one playing music off our main computer (install plex dlna) with a set of computer speakers plugged in our you could use some bluetooth ones.