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Project: Lil´pirate (laptop mod) - Project down! :(

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by HeZ, 7 Nov 2006.

  1. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Project: Lil´pirate

    Due to an broken soundcard and ltp port the project is now down untill i can find a replacement laptop! :(

    Goal:
    Ultraportable laptop to be used as an downloading/internet browsing machine for a reasonable sum of money. :)

    Specs:
    Compaq armada m300
    P3 600mhz
    320Mb of ram
    11gig harddrive
    1.30 mins of battery (now down to about 20mins)
    11inch 1024x768 lcd
    weight about 1.5kg
    (my main laptop is an Asus A6T that has an 15.4inch screen and a weight of about 3kg.)

    Things to do:
    Add small grafical display from cellular phone.
    Add larger harddrive. 100Gb bought and ready for install!
    Add Wifi card. Wifi-card bought, 108mbit with x-jack
    Paint it. (not sure on color or/if any motive yet) Yellow paint + black/white pirate logo!
    Refurbish battery with new Li-ion cells.
    Fix the broken keyboard. Bought a broken laptop with intact keyboard for next to nothing = done!
    Maybe change the cooling. (will probably skip this, not sure yet) Will skip this part! Silent enough!
    Add yellow led stereo VU-meter in the front.

    Other info:
    Im from sweden so my english is probably just understandable at best! :p
    This is my firs laptop based projekt so i will take it slow not to damage anything.

    What i´ve done this far:
    Taken it appart and started to prepare for painting. (sanding etc)
    Soldered the lcd screen. (still need some components to interface with the computer)
    Made a hole for the lcd screen. (needs some more work.)
    Bought a cheep Wifi card and 100gb Harddrive.
    Painted the first yellow layers.
    Ordered parts for VU-meter.

    Will be posting pictures in a sec, just downloaded them from my camera. :)
     
    Last edited: 2 Apr 2007
  2. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    [​IMG]
    Taking it apart. :)
    [​IMG]
    Screen was simple to remove. edit: the keyboard marks in the screen was easy to polish away with a piece of cloth and a ->small<- amount of water.
    [​IMG]
    Removed backplate of screen, its made of some kind om metal! :D
    [​IMG]
    Just to show you how scratched etc it is.
    [​IMG]
    Removed the logo.
    [​IMG]
    Didnt like this "line" so ill use putty here.
    [​IMG]
    Second layer of putty, one more go with the sanding, then some primer.
    [​IMG]
    Nokia 3310 lcd next to a similar phone.
    [​IMG]
    Haaaard to solder this! So close to each other.
    [​IMG]
    It took a while but now its solderd, still need som more komponents for it.
    [​IMG]
    Made a hole in the chassi for the lcd, only place it would fit.
    [​IMG]
    My new Wifi card! :D 108mbit for about 35dollars. (350sek).

    Next update end of this week!
     
    Last edited: 8 Nov 2006
  3. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    Hey, I have one of those...

    How is that LCD going to connect to the PC? Does it need a controller board? What kind of software controls it?
     
  4. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Hi!

    http://www.forum.lcdinfo.com/viewtopic.php?t=474&highlight=3310+schematic

    Here you can find more info about how to connect it! :)

    Edit: Oh, and i dont know how to connect displays from other cellular phones but the forum i linked to has allot of info about that subjekt.

    Edit2: Dont want to bump just for one picture, but i have primed it now... still needs abit more sanding thou... :(

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 8 Nov 2006
  5. LuitvD

    LuitvD What's a Dremel?

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    it looks soooo nice... what colour will it be? :D
     
  6. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Hehe thnx, i dont know what color ill use yet. Any suggestions? It would be fun to do with the theme "pirate copying" as we have had allot of media attention on that subjekt resently here in sweden. But a pirate flag logo maybe looks abit to childish?

    Edit: Black, silver, grey, white(mac) and red(ferarri laptops) are colors id like to awoid so it wont blend in to much with the regular laptops.
     
    Last edited: 8 Nov 2006
  7. Lazlow

    Lazlow I have a dremel.

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    Looking very good! I'll be following this, as I've got an old AMD K6 laptop lying around, which could do with this sort of treatment - keep us posted!!!
     
  8. Jipa

    Jipa Avoiding the "I guess.." since 2004

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    I have an old laptop lying around too, waiting to see how this one turns out.. I already was to cut a hole to the display-plastic as the backlight didn't work but then it suddenly started shining again o_O
     
  9. GuardianStorm

    GuardianStorm Minimodder

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    Candy Yellow would look good with a Black Skull and Cross bones maybe?
     
  10. widmod

    widmod Minimodder

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    nice project
    when i first saw it i quickly run to the cellar and grabbed our armada 7000 to see what i can do with it :idea:
     
  11. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Thnx for all the replys, hope i see allot of laptops getting modded soon then! :)

    The sanding/painting is a slow progress due to the drying progress but ill try to post atleast 1pic a day of that part. I have ordered the components for the small lcd so i should get them friday/monday and will post pics as soon as i get it to work! (or... if i get it to work :p)

    Yellow with black skull would look cool, ill keep an eye out for a good picture to use as a template. But i think ill go with a cartoonish look of the skull in that case. (not 100% sure about color/skull yet thou)

    Have sanded down the primer i used, it was a thick/putty like primer and didnt work very well on metall, but the surface became wery smooth after the sanding. Im gonna try to buy another primer tomorow!

    [​IMG]
    Just another layer of primer follow by some lite sanding and then ill color it! :D
     
  12. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Hmm, would something like this look oki? Honest opinions plz! :D

    [​IMG]
     
  13. toyomatt84

    toyomatt84 What's a Dremel?

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    I think it'd look quite nice. I'd say a color other than yellow for a background, though. Something like a dark red or maroon would make it look a little less blinding.
     
  14. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah it might be abit to blinding and maybe "stand out" abit to much with yellow.. :/ But i really dont want to use red as it is associated with the ferarri laptops. Maybe a darker shade of blue? Or is that to boring? Hmm, ill se if i can find a darker shade of yellow when i go primer shopping.. But the logo is oki atleast? :)

    Ill wait to buy any color untill im 100% sure about the colors.
     
  15. airchie

    airchie What's a Dremel?

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    How about this icon? :)

    [​IMG].
     
  16. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    lol, that one was nice! :D Gah, now you made my choise so much harder!
    Ill prime it up and work some more on the lcd before i decide. :)
     
  17. -equilerex-

    -equilerex- What's a Dremel?

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    the scull is very nice, reminds me a movie called "hackers" for some reason.
    yellow and red would be a bit too flashy imo, i wouldnt want to carry a laptop like that around. maybe only if they were really dark shade.
    anyway, first scull is awesome, second doesnt look that good.
     
    Last edited: 9 Nov 2006
  18. HeZ

    HeZ What's a Dremel?

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    Hmm, then its settled: first skull but with a darkish background.

    [​IMG]
    Perfekt? :)
     
  19. Lazlow

    Lazlow I have a dremel.

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    Blue works for me, though I was liking the yellow. Tough choice!
     
  20. hellas91

    hellas91 What's a Dremel?

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    yellow is better,imho ;)
     

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