What can I do with older computers and parts?

[Execute]

Hey all, got a critical thinking problem for you. Over the last few years, I have recycled/collected/retired more than a few computers. Now, as I look at them just laying around, I find myself asking "what is something cool I can do with this stuff?" Now it is not nice, new stuff, but it isn't old windows 95 stuff either. Slightly outdated to moderately outdated lol. But like I said, I want to do something with it. It could be useful, fun, or both! I use my windows 7 Dell Inspiron as my main and this is what I have laying around. Feel free to take a look and share your suggestions. My guidelines are fairly simple, yet somewhat limiting too. I cannot put much money into it(I can buy small things such as cables or whatever), and tho I have just started a Computer Science Major, I do not yet have much knowledge. I know my way around a computer very well, and know the basics when it comes to the technical side, but definitely no code monkey. I would love to expand my knowledge, but don't want to start out with something extremely difficult! Anyway, here is what I have to work with:

1 older gateway laptop with windows XP. Ruff shape, but boots and runs solidly.
1 HP Tower with Vista. Well taken care of but started running loud! Not hot, but still noisy fan.
2 Matching eMachines Standard "Lunker" Monitors.
2 DVD Drives pulled from old towers(not the one above).
1 Internal Hard Drive pulled from a tower(Data can be wiped)
Spare Keyboard & Mouse
4 USB Webcams
Power Supply pulled from old tower
Old 7 port USB hub that is as big as a book
12 year old never used Iomega Zip Drive
Old Qwest DSL Modem
2 Netgear Wireless Routers in great shape and fully functional
Several 7' CAT-6 cable
Several other various USB, Ethernet, and various cables.
Couple year old JVC Camcorder, harldy used and in great shape.(No cable to connect to pc atm)

What I run in my room now is my Dell Inspiron laptop(wirelessly) and a old HP Photosmart all-in-one printer/scanner/copier. I also have an external 320GB Hard Drive and several flash drives, as well as my Android-Powered HTC Incredible. Out in the living room is where the my router/modem sit at a desktop that I do not ever use, but have access to. Running wirelessly in my room, but also have a jack in here for hardwiring.

I was kicking around a few useful ideas that may or may not work, such as: Using the tower as an FTP Server for my laptop, Using old laptop and/or tower as storage, putting Ubuntu or another GNU/Linux distribution on one(I don't have any experience with GNU/Linux, but really want to get into it). I could set up a crude surveillance system, but not much action going on around here. However, it would be fun to check out what is going on when I am away! I would also be interested in remotely streaming video to one to be saved. I think the most interesting to me would be to set up an FTP Server, and/or use one as a GNU/Linux machine! I am in computer science, and very interested in the subject, so anything that would give me good "experience" is a plus! I would love to learn how to use the Command Line, Linux, ABD, stuff like that.

But, I was hoping people could throw out some ideas? What would you do, if anything? What would you like to do if you had the same crap laying in a pile? Anything especially fun,cool, and/or useful you can think of? Again, feel free to share your ideas! I'm open to anything!

 

[JFetch]

To be honest, you can't really do much with most of it. I used to scavenge my old pcs when I built new ones. I've learned that apart from RAM and dvd drives, not much else is useful. Internal hard drives can be used if you have the same kind, and it fits the case you want to use it in. Hold onto the keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals, as they are really useful when yours breaks.

One thing you can do is use it to build an arcade cabinet, with the computer running MAME. Here is an example. I thought about doing this, but I realized I'm just too lazy.

 

[Execute]

Yea I kinda figured that lol. I don't keep them because I'm frugal or expect to reuse them for 20 years, I just don't like throwing them away! And like you said with the peripherals, something may come of some use somday. Never know when you could use a spare power supply or dvd drive, the old RAM(unlikely, but nice when you can add to another old machine to speed it up), or whatever.

The laptop is pretty old and not in the best shape at all. I threw a GNU/Linux Distro on there just to mess around with. However I was thinking of putting it on the much newer desktop, and finally junking this laptop. The 2 main ideas I had, which I think will work, is to put a GNU/Linux distro on, and also to set one up as a server that I can access when away from home(basically at school). Well the GNU/Linux thing is so prob, obviously.

As for the Server, I'm not to sure how I'll go about it,or if it is even possible? I'm assuming it is. I'd ideally like to set up[ a Filezilla Server on the desktop as I have some experience with Filezilla and I also use it for school to receive and turn in assignments. I've already set up client/server and other remote access systems between my main laptop and my HTC Incredible, and ideally I would like to have access to all of my files from anywhere on any of those devices. IDK it may not even be worth is lol. I put all my schoolwork/important docs in Dropbox, laptop, as well as an external HD, all of which I usually have with me lol. Guess we will see. Hate having that desktop sitting around. It is a few years old, but I took really good care of it over the years, and the hardware isn't completely obsolete.

Anyway, thanks for your advice. Like I mentioned in my OP, whatever I do doesn't have to be extremely useful or efficient, but rather I just want to do it to gain some experience. I just started a Computer Science Degree, and wouldn't mind getting a jump on things. Whether it be by experimenting with server/client relationships, familiarizing myself with GNU/Linux, or even by taking them apart to get a better understanding of the internal workings.

Again, thanks for the response