New uses of old Surface devices

[ITDawg]

Hi all,

 

Hope all is well.

 

We have a load of old but still functional Surface 3/4 devices that we no longer have any use for due to the restrictive requirements of Windows 11.

I was wondering if anyone had any new use ideas for old Surfaces or is actively using Surfaces with alternative software/OSs. I was considering using them as dedicated signage devices, but any other recommendations are welcome.

 

Thanks.

[3s-gtech]

I used a Surface 3 as our visitor signing-in device, until the battery went spicy. Now using an old Surface Pro 2. That could run Windows 10 LTSC to give it plenty of life, but it’s just a web interface so any OS will do.

 

Another one we have is a tablet showing our room booking system outside the meeting room.

[dmj]

https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Installation-and-Setup

[dhicks]

I was wondering if anyone had any new use ideas for old Surfaces or is actively using Surfaces with alternative software/OSs.

 

I find ChromeOS Flex installs and works nicely on most hardware, including some 10-year-old laptops:

 

https://chromeenterprise.google/intl/en_uk/os/chromeosflex/

 

For use as a dedicated kiosk / signage device you'd need to have a Google Workspace setup and pay for a management account (currently £30-ish, I think?) per device, which might be a bit too much trouble to go to if you don't already have that set up.

 

I find the Raspberry Pi version of Debian for Intel quite easy to to work with to customise and configure as a kiosk - I have a script that might come in handy:

 

https://github.com/dhicks6345789/device-config

[BenQ_Chris]

Hi @ITDawg, you could install and run BenQ X-Sign on the surface devices (non-touch). If you'd like to know more and what else you can do, drop me a DM.