damn, sorry to hear that dude, oh well, another lappy means you can learn from your mistakes, and it will come out better in the end
Dude, that sucks. Maybe with a new laptop you could just buy a custom PolyGFX laptop skin, that way you won't have chipping paint on the corners? Sure, its not as fun as painting, but its all about the end result, no?
I'm sure I'm just terribly thick, but I had no idea how cheap you could get a VERY decent (for this type of mod) laptop on eBay. If you set your laptop requirements (HD size, RAM, processor speed, etc...) then look at a maximum price of $3 and sort by time ending soonest, you can grab steals from anywhere from 50 down to 15 or 20 bucks. I'm going to wait till I can get something for no more than 30, which by looking at the completed listings, should not be difficult. Just thought I'd let ya'll know, in case you're looking for a victim.
Slick work man! Stupid question on the LPT port, but did you check the BIOS to make sure it's enabled? I know that on all my lappys, I disable it because it takes resources to recognize it, and I don't use it. Check that before splurging some cash on it. As to the painting, if it's a Dell (and maybe some others), it might be a magnesium alloy! I don't know how well this stuff paints, but I'm guessing not well. These are common on a lot of laptop models for strength. Just a consideration.
HeZ - or anyone with similar hobbies. A quick question: What got you started into doing stuff like this? Did you go to school for it? I'm interested in doing similar stuff with electronics but I have no idea where to start. I'm an undeclared major in school so I'm in a good position to explore any courses a college might offer to get me off in the right foot. Where's a good place to start? Sincerely, bazookalucca
Are you referring to electronics or to modding? Modding requires little more than some tools, a victim (computer) and a crazy idea. Electronic and electronic engineering requires a broader knowledge base, if you are interested check out any electronic engineering or computer engineering programs at your college to see if they fit your bill.
I just meant the modding thing actually - and whether or not an eletrical engineering is a common background in your average "modder?"
Seems to me that a junior high school degree is more common than an electrical engineering one. Thats certainly not meant to be a flame, but an encouragement that anyone with an imagination and a working knowledge of a search engine can do it
In reply to bazookalucca: I have some education in Basic Elektronics (veeeery basic, learned to read a ordinary schematic and solder some) and some in CNC, metalworks and some welding (is that the right word?). I would rekomend anyone that wants to start modd stuff to take atleast a basic course in elektronics, just knowing how to solder and how the basic stuff works will help allot! Then you can just grab schematics from anywhere and modify them to your needs. The rest as cutting with a dremmel or painting a case is easy to learn. Trial and error! Lil Pirate v2.0 is comming at the end of the summer, this time i will be more thouroly when buying the laptop. Untill then, let this thread fall deep down so i can forgett my failings with this first attempt!
The laptop might of failed, but it was still an impressive project! You have my kudos! Did you ever think of using thepiratebay logo? The skull and cross bones with a tape for a skull. It would fit both the piracy and pirate theme!
heZ and Upriverpaddler are right; its not a degree you need (I hope thats obvious) but some basic knowledge you can build on in the event you want to do something. For example, if you know some basic stuff like soldering and LEDs, etc. but you want to make a blinking light circuit, it will now be easier for you to branch off into a more advanced segment of electronics just enough to fill your needs. The basic information is critical to allow you to learn more advanced stuff as you need it. Do you understand what I mean?
