Good evening (morning?) to all!
It's been a long time since I did any real modding around here, so I figured it was about time for me to do something. Also, having a worklog here will keep me on task, since people will (hopefully) be interested in seein the project progress and be completed! So here we go... Project: ZERO.
The Idea:
A complete media playback solution, small enough to fit behind a 15" LCD monitor, and cost $0; all parts/software must be things I already own, or barter for (no money), or be open source for software (or something I already have). Zero dollars spent.
The Donor:
A DV2000 laptop which had the screen removed in a rather unsafe manner (dropping it off a table onto the screen, which was open) was going to be scrapped, due to the cost of replacement on the screen. The unit was out of warranty, and owner decided to go new.
Here it is, in pieces, but running.
Specs:
AMD TL-60 cpu (2.0ghz)
1gb PC2-5300 Ram (soon to be 2gb.. just needs to be installed)
80gb SATA HDD (currently in my XPS)
The Screen:
15" NEC Multisync LCD 1545v(1024x768 resolution)
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So at the moment, the system is laid out across a table, and running diskless, with XBMC Live. Media playback has been tested from the SD card slot on the mobo, and works great.. I'm currently listening to some music on it while typing this on my desktop!
The optical drive that this is running from right now will have to go I'm afraid.. with the drive attached, the setup is too large to fit behind the monitor. I'll either installed XBMC Live onto the HDD (which is not currently attached) or I'll use Vista and run XBMC on there, or maybe use the Vista Media center, since this laptop has the cool little remote for it.
I'm also planning on using a set of speakers salvaged from a Toshiba Laptop. They are Harmon Kardons, and sound great! Here's a shot with the remote and a quarter for reference.. the speakers are actually pretty beefy, and are completely enclosed in their own sealed little enclosures. Output is huge, and the sound quality is awesome.
I'll be replacing the HP speakers (junk) with these HK's, and mounting them up the front of the LCD as well. I'll also be mounting the IR receiver from the laptop onto the front of the LCD, so that the remote will work.
The mobo has a built in ethernet port, an SD reader (as mentioned; not sure if it's SDHC compatible.. I'll check that out later), and a few other goodies. Obviously it has a mini pci connector for wifi, and it also has a bluetooth adaptor, and 3 usb ports. It's unlikely I'll use the wifi, but the bluetooth could be useful, as well as the usb ports for game pads (most likely will be Xbox controllers.. never know when the urge for some SNES will strike).
The power button for the unit is luckily on a remote pcb, connected with a short cable to a plug on the mobo. 3 wires (easily de/re-soldered) provide the switch, and a power LED (which *might* be moved to the LCD front also) means I can easily replace the button with a proper momentary power switch, which would be more easily operated.
The mobo power connector is on a short pigtail connector as well, which also works well for me to relocate it and mount where I want.
So there you have it, the start for my project. I'm still working up a drawing/sketch/whatever for the final project, but more details and changes will come along, I'm sure. When have I ever stuck to a plan 100%?