Making a digital picture frame

[DaJe]

So, someone interrupted me in the middle of my building a case from scratch to propose to me the idea of buying my grandfather one of those digital picture frams for his birthday. You kno,w the thing where you can load pictures onto it and it's an LCD screen and it looks like a regular picture frame. So I was like "Pft, I could just build one!" And that's where I need you guys. I need you guys to help me out just a little on this. Help me come up with like a list of materials, and where to find them, and try to find ways to keep it not too pricey. I'm going to go look up details on the one they were looking at, to see what I have to compete against.

[xRyokenx]

It was probably a touch screen with a little bit of flash memory in a frame made to look like a regular picture frame. That's pretty much what they are.

[DaJe]

It seems to have a remote, has a little bit of built in memory, and can also use a card. Maybe I should look into a touch screen to use for this though. I could also use some help in coming up with ideas on how to put it all together.

[Computer-Geek]

Just incase you dont want to build it yourself anymore :D link (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204890724&adid=17070&dcaid=17070) it seems like the sale is over though. Also good luck on this !

[elbarto241]

umm i saw a article a while back, some guy just gutted a laptop, framed the LCD and had the mobo and everything else bolted on the back of frame. it had a wireless card so the pictures could be uploaded wirelessly. it looked really nice, this is would be the cheapest option for you if you have a old laptop to sacrifice.

[DaJe]

I actually might, if my brother still has his.

[elbarto241]

HERE (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/a4a95adebbf6a010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html?s_pr op18=how2) is the one made from an old laptop.

HERE (http://www.instructables.com/id/EUDAPM2RU7EP287IJP/) is one made from a PSone screen and digital photo viewer. [might make this one in the future, already have the screen].

HERE (http://www.flickr.com/photos/greg-o-ree/sets/72157594234830660/) is another laptop one.

hope those links give you some ideas

[DaJe]

Turns out he dos still have his laptop. He stopped using it because he had problems with it working. I could probably fix it, but instead I'll convince him to let me harvest it. It's not old really, it's a Dell Inspiron. He would have no use for it anyway, if I did fix it. He has a better computer now.



Here are some pictures, of course


http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/DSC_0407.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/DSC_0408.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/DSC_0412.JPG

[elbarto241]

wow thats a really nice laptop, it will make a hell of a digital pic frame. good luck with it. what was wrong with the laptop in the first place?

[DaJe]

Someone spilled Kool-Aid on it. I'm not sure exactly what problems he's had with operating it, but it doesn't seem to be anything major that would interfere with me modding it into a picture frame.

[xRyokenx]

It'll be a nice big frame too, not a crap little one, lol.

[DaJe]

I just noticed something perfect about this laptop that I never saw on it before, it has a built it SD card reader. It's like it was made for me to tear apart.

[elbarto241]

lmao. go for it and post pics :D

we loooove pictures around here

[xRyokenx]

:pics:

Had to do it. :p

[elbarto241]

well technically he gave us pics of the lappy, so there are pics :D.

had to spoil it for ya there Ryoken :D

[DaJe]

Well, right now when I turn on the laptop, it says "Bad PBR" (partition boot record), and won't boot. So the problem is the hard drive. I might try to see if I can find someone with an old laptop instead, so I don't have to rip apart this one, because it's still a good laptop. It'd be great if I could afford a solid state drive to use for this too.

[xRyokenx]

well technically he gave us pics of the lappy, so there are pics :D.

had to spoil it for ya there Ryoken :D

There's me and my excellent memory for ya. Wait a sec... what's this thread about anyway? :p

[elbarto241]

this thread started because he wanted to know how to build a digital photo frame. i suggested using an old laptop and now were here.

@Daje, does the size of the screen matter? im willing to sell my PSone screen for cheap to you and all you need is a scandisc photo view to view the pics. built a metal or wooden frame for it all and it will look nice. only down side to it is the size of the screen, 5inches.

if not try craigs list, ebay, or a computer repair shop in your area for a cheap old lappy. just keep in mind you dont need something that can play doom3 on. an old p4 or IMB laptop should do the trick. maybe you can get one for under $50. oh and a wireless card would be a nice feature so you can upload pics remotely.

[xRyokenx]

I know, I was kidding, lol. But yeah, this is an interesting project.

[DaJe]

Well I'd like the screen to be at least 7 inches, since that's the size of the pre-made one. I know someone that might have an old laptop I could use, just because he's the kind of guy that would have something like that laying around.

[elbarto241]

lol, sorry sarcasm is kind hard to capture over a forum :D

no but none the less this is a project anyone can sink their teeth into .