You can find Android running on unusual gadgets, and because of its open-source nature, hackers love to port it different devices. What this means is that you can often give old gadgets a new life by simply installing the latest flavour of Google's operating system.

But it's not a blanket rule and you still need to know which devices have been widely tested and reported to be working well with Android, as well as the easiest and most reliable methods for installation. After all, you don't want to brick your device. Here are five devices that you may easily install Android on.

HP TouchPad

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When HP decided to slash the price of its WebOS-running TouchPad tablet, everyone jumped on it and pretty soon, the Internet had a way to install Android on it. Over time, the process has been refined to become stable enough to have no issues with the device, and the folks at CyanogenMod are constantly updating it with new versions. There are still bugs with the KitKat build, so we'd advise going with the Jelly Bean for now.

Acer Iconia W700 (And Any Windows 8 Tablet)

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You can get a better app ecosystem on your Windows 8 tablet by dual-booting Android on it, and this is perhaps the easiest of all the Android installation processes in this article. Be warned that you'll need to be running an Intel chipset like the Acer Iconia W700 that Christian used in his guide or the Microsoft Surface —- it won't work on an ARM chip like the Microsoft Surface RT. Also, be sure to Google for installing Android your particular model before you start.

Any Netbook

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Image credit: xmacex

The Android-x86 project to run the operating system on older Intel-powered devices can give your netbook new life, especially if it's one with a touchscreen like the HP Pavilion 10. Justin's guide makes this complicated process a lot easier, plus you get support for all the apps on the Google Play Store. There's no downside here!

HTC HD2 (And Other Windows Mobile Phones)

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Android does not work smoothly on any Windows Phone 7 device like the Nokia Lumia series, but older Windows Mobile phones can be turned into Android handsets. And the HTC HD2 is a great example of this. The smartphone is over 4 years old now but its unofficial development is still going strong with developers even releasing a version of Android 4.4 KitKat for it, albeit with Wi-Fi and 3G bugs. However, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean are stable (JB still has Wi-Fi and radio issues on some models, so check yours before you install it). Also, this isn't just restricted to the HTC HD2 and can be replicated on several HTC Windows Mobile phones.

Raspberry Pi

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There are seven cool operating systems you can run on the Raspberry Pi, and Google Android is one of them. Unfortunately, the Pi's hardware limitations mean that you have to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread on it. So you won't get the latest Android experience, but hey, it's Android on a $40 mini-computer!

Chromebooks & More

There are a few other devices that developers are directing their energy towards running Android on, like Chromebooks. If it was me, I'd love to be able to run Android on one of Nokia's Lumia phones. Which gadget would you want to run Android on?

Image credit: Elezeta