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Party-Box...Countertop cab w/ laptop & flat screen
theCoder:
My cab lives downstairs and gets so much play by the kids during parties that the parents (mostly me) don't get a chance to play. I want to build a small lightweight cab that we can pull out and set on the kitchen counter or that we can throw in the trunk and take to special occasions. This is my second cab project and first built from scratch. I plan on formally documenting it at: http://home.comcast.net/~larmead/partybox but am looking forward to sharing the experience and discussing the progress in this forum.
Below is my original concept sketch (well, it's actually the 5th rev.) I
theCoder:
PartyBox - Laptop Hack
This post describes the steps I went through to prepare the laptop computer for the PartyBox project. This laptop is a Compaq 610 with a broken hinge. The hinge is no problem because I want to use a larger LCD on this project anyway.
Top Cover Plate
Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it, but the first step was to pry off the top cover plate near the top. I had to hunt around, looking for something loose. I found that if I pushed in from the sides, the center bulged a little. With a little more effort, it popped off. I was careful (up to a point) in this project to keep from destroying parts & pieces in case I wanted to use this thing again as a laptop.
Display Cables
There were two cables connecting the display to the main CPU. This connector was very snug, but it came off with a little wiggling. I took the cables off first (while the hinges were still attached) to minimize the chances of them getting damaged.
The right cable had a ground clip screwed to the frame. After unscrewing it, the connector came off (very stubbornly) as well. Both this and the other connector had to be pulled horizontally.
Hinges
The hinges were covered by a small plastic cap. One was broken off, and the other came off with a little persuasion. There were two small screws holding each hinge to the base unit.
Separated at last !
Power Button
The last challenge was to hack the power on/off switch. Once complete with this step I knew there was no turning back. I suspected that power switch was probably plastic pressing a surface mounted switch. I was sort of right. It was plastic sliding horizontally pressing against a vertically mounted piece of plastic with a 45 degree mating surface. This piece in turn pressed against the surface mounted switch. I could look into the modem port (right side) and see there was nothing "critical" in the area, so I started to cut. I used a Dremel tool with a side cutting bit. I carefully cut out the plastic casing around the switch. The switch came off, but I couldn't get the 45 degree plastic piece off (white I beam looking piece). I was afraid of breaking something on the board so I decided to get to the back side of the board, under the switch.
I could tell that I only had about 1/8" gap between the case and the PCB. The power switch was directly behind the keyboard port. I needed both so I was very careful at this step. The plastic came off easily and exposed the backside of the PCB. I consulted a PC repair friend of mine regarding what to do next. I suspected that all that was needed was to short out the two leads, but I was afraid I'd kill the box. He told me that "most" modern laptops use a normally open switch and that shorting the two leads should do the trick. He also assured me that based on my description of the other leads in the neighborhood; I probably wouldn't fry anything by poking around (perform at your own risk, your mileage may vary). There were two very distinct solder joints directly below the switch. I was pleasantly surprised when the unit powered up the first time, by shorting the two joints together with a paper clip, and again when it powered off by doing it again. All that remains is to solder a few wires and I'm good to go. I will probably epoxy the wires to the case to keep them from vibrating loose or getting pulled off during construction.
In retrospect, I did not need to hack up the top switch at all. I just needed to get to the two switch leads on the PCB from the bottom. Oh, well. Lesson learned and hopefully useful information for someone else.
Weight Considerations
To save weight, I took the battery out. This saved me about 1.5 pounds. I could also take out the dvd drive and keyboard. Doing so will save me more weight and would allow me to hack off about 1/3 of the overall frame. I decided against that because I'd probably misplace the drive and not be able to find it when I need to load something on the box. Also, I'm still holding on the pipe dream that the unit may still be reassembled and used as a laptop again. Yea right.
Finished Unit
Next project
babydickonboard:
i'm excited to see where this goes. i have an old laptop and planned to do something similier w/ it. perfect cab to bring to parties. keep the posts a coming. ;)
arcadefever:
serious hacking going on here :o
theCoder:
Hacking the LCD Monitor
This post describes the LCD display size and weight surgery. A friend of mine recently bought a PC that included and a 15" LCD display. He is not a 15" monitor kind of guy, so he graciously donated it to the cause. It is a ViewSonic VG500. It's just a little bigger than the one built into the laptop computer, but has better resolution and generally looks better when running games.
I'm shooting for minimal weight and minimal size on this project. I knew the stand had to go. It weights 4 pounds and just wouldn't work in the box. Taking it off was easy, all screws were visible and accessible.
With the base off, I thought I was done. The thing was still heavier than I thought it should be, so I explored some more. As with the laptop, I searched around for clues on how to get it apart. There were no obvious screws, latches etc. In the bottom portion of the monitor were buttons and what appeared to be speaker grids. This looked like a great place to start. I could tell it was a separate plastic piece. I was less careful dismantling the LCD than I was with the laptop. I knew I would never use it for anything else, so
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