Hanging laptop digital painting
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Home Sign Up! Explore Community Submit Hanging Laptop Digital Painting by timatron on April 10, 2006 Table of Contents intro: Hanging Laptop Digital Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 step 1: Remove Hinges (free the display) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 step 2: Ditch the Battery, Fold it, Tape it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 step 3: Framing Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 step 4: Matting it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 step 5: Vent it, Set it, Hang it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 step 6: Software setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Customized Instructable T-shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ intro: Hanging Laptop Digital Painting Take your old laptop, matte it, frame it, and convert it into a hanging framed digital lcd screen to do with as you like. Image Notes 1. natural history museum in NYC step 1: Remove Hinges (free the display) Caution: The first thing to realize with this project is you can easily destroy your laptop. Weigh your options carefully. I actually made mine smoke and thought it was destroyed for a few hours, this was quite depressing. I used my first generation G4 powerbook for this project, which already had the hinges broken, so this was a bit easier for me than it will be for you. Although, you can easily break the hinges off by folding the monitor back. I also ripped off that little back flap before I began, but be WARNED a little piece of metal might fall into your laptop when you do this, ruining it. I would finally suggest doing all the work on a soft surface, I used a towel on my bed. To remove the hinges on this laptop take a torx-8 screw bit and remove the two screws in each hinge. (You can get these bits at radio shack if you dont have them.) Pull off the hinge caps, though you may need a small flat head screw drive. NOTE: always be careful of the cables that carry the data (little and green). They're actually very small coax cables and can easily be ruined. Now remove the inner metal hinges with the same screw bits. These should just come off after you unscrew them. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Image Notes 1. power cables Image Notes 1. these are actually really really small coax cables, dont mess with them or your display is shot! Image Notes 1. see my laptop was already jacked:( http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ step 2: Ditch the Battery, Fold it, Tape it Take out your battery, there is no need, this thing is going to be plugged in and removing your battery will give the laptop a bit of extra ventilation space, if you dont agree, dont do it. For me I had to tape the bottom of the display back in place with electrical tape. After that I went ahead and taped up all of the display wires with electrical tape. Finally I used some clear packing tape and blue painters tape to keep the thing together. Make sure you dont tape over the vents or fan openings. Use the tape sparingly, your gonna need as much air flow as you can get. step 3: Framing Challenges So before you can go any farther you need a wooden frame. I looked at a few options and realized that buying a semi-beatup "shadow-box" would be the best option. I went to a frame shop near my work and looked through a stack of semi-beatup frames. I found a nice deep maple frame that was a bit too tall for what I wanted. So for a couple bucks I had the owner cut the frame down to the size I wanted. I ended up going with about 5/8" matte around the screen and the frame. I thought this was enough to leave a nice border without getting ridiculous. As well, the matte holds the laptop in ever so slightly from the front, so i didnt want it to be too weak. I would suggest just taking your laptop to a framer and trying out some frames there. Then tell the owner what you want. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ step 4: Matting it So now that you have a frame, you need to cut a matte to size. I used number 4 black matte board, but you could use white or a number 8 matte if you wanted to. I had my friend cut it for me at work because he knows what he's doing with the matte cutter. If you don't know what your doing, measure out what you want and have a framer cut it out for you. After getting it cut out, I did a dry fit just to make sure everything looked right and fit, do this with the computer on! So that your looking at the actual displayed image. Upon doing the dry fit, I realized that the electrical tape I had used to mask the display would reflect light and slowly come up. So I sliced down the middle of the electrical tape that was masking the display, and removed the inner section. Using blue painters tape and a piece of paper mask the whole display as well as around all of the edges of the computer. Lay it down on some newspaper, and spray two coats of semi-flat black spray paint. This will give it a nice matte finish that wont reflect. Remove all the tape. Finally, epoxy on the whole matte with a thin bead of epoxy around the outer edge of the display DONT GET IT ON THE LCD! Make sure its all square before you leave it to dry. I used 5 minute epoxy which I love. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ step 5: Vent it, Set it, Hang it Sit your laptop/matte combo into the frame and mark where your power cord connects to the laptop. Drill a hole! For this powerbook I needed a 1/2" bit. I like these bits instead of regular drill bits because they leave a nice clean edge. Next drill holes for ventilation purposes. I did little holes where the vents for the laptop are, and a 1/2" hole on the bottom in the middle where the fan is. Next I used small pieces of foam board to secure the laptop into place. At first I was scared about this but then realized that unless there was an earthquake, these wedges wouldn't come out. It also leaves a lot of room for ventilation in the back which is very important. Finally I screwed in two eye-screws and ran some picture frame wire. Using two hooks on the wall so that the nail wouldn't hit the track pad. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ step 6: Software setup Currently I am using the screensaver as the picture display software, but there are so many options, from videos, to flash things, to art, to whatever, it is limitless. I would suggest using the energy saving features in mac os x that allow you to set when the computer turns on and off, this was a great feature because the display is in my office at work. I set the laptop up on a wireless network with my desktop and I have access to it, so i can upload pictures into the screensaver folder whenever I want, and I don't have to take the frame down. I hope you have fun building your own, its a great project, and a great thing to do with your old laptop! Go to town! http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Image Notes 1. natural history museum in NYC Related Instructables Digital Picture Frame from a PowerBook 3400c by vivacharlietuna YET! Another Digital Picture Frame by pcapelo Digital Picture Frames (guide) by noahw Homemade Digital Picture Frame by JonG Dell Laptop into Digital Photo Frame by vorin Digital Picture Frame by micahdear DIY Digital Picture Frame (the easy-lazy way) by mikekruger Digital Picture Frame Numero Dos! by joedog86 http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Advertisements Customized Instructable T-shirts Comments 34 comments Add Comment ewilhelm says: Dec 31, 2007. 1:29 PM REPLY Digital picture frames are a really popular gift project here on Instructables, and lots of people are searching for digital picture frame how-to's. So, in addition to this great project, check out this guide to some of the best digital picture frames we have: Instructables Digital Picture Frame How-to Building Guide ATImaster005 says: Nov 24, 2008. 6:38 PM REPLY I bought an iBook G3 Clamshell that I'm doing this with right now. This guide is helping me out so much! zimmemic25 says: Dec 17, 2008. 7:58 AM REPLY i did something like this with an ibm thinkpad T30, u dont need a 3G, just use a notebook you have laying around (so u dont need to buy it) ATImaster005 says: Dec 17, 2008. 9:55 AM REPLY I know, but I got it for $20, it works perfectly, and I already have a MacBook, so it doesn really matter if I use it. puffyfluff says: Aug 13, 2008. 9:10 AM REPLY Nice. Looks great. crestind says: Oct 13, 2007. 7:53 PM REPLY Yours looks very nice, but where is the power brick? The problem with the laptop I'm planning to use is that the power brick is less than a foot away from where it plugs into the laptop, so hanging it on a wall seems impossible for mine :( puffyfluff says: Aug 13, 2008. 9:10 AM REPLY You could always extend the power cord. crestind says: Oct 13, 2007. 8:01 PM REPLY And if you wanted to change the images and such, this would require removal from case to attach mice and such? cotton says: Feb 27, 2008. 12:39 PM REPLY your laptop smoked because theres is bad ventilation they holes need to be bigger Invisible Kid says: Dec 15, 2007. 1:56 AM REPLY I have an idea Why don't you make this digital painting, a complete media center, by adding a connection to your LAN, and using ssh you could control the frame remotely and also play some videos or music on the frame. =) Invisible Kid says: Dec 15, 2007. 2:02 AM REPLY or you could upload and download some files using SFTP http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ nonbrewer says: Dec 12, 2007. 8:16 AM REPLY wireless keyboard and mouse usb adapter and you can still use it as a computer. jane23 says: Nov 12, 2007. 11:05 AM REPLY now there is lots of different versions of this thing they come in all sizes, and way more cheaper than what they used to be . download videosdownload videos mawalien says: Sep 4, 2007. 2:20 AM REPLY Great idea there. I'm working on one of these for my in-laws. Do you know of a Live-CD (Any 'Nix flavour, really) that could be set up to boot up the laptop, and slideshow pics that are burnt on the CD? That way, all they need to do is get an "Update" cd from me with new pics, pop it into the fram, and press power button. Cheers! BluePlanet says: Jul 2, 2007. 3:08 PM REPLY Great Idea for recycling those old laptops! However if you want to make it slimmer ( and you are REALLY good with computers ) you can remove all of the unnessesary hardware and the case from the laptop. When I did this I took out the keyboard, CD drive, and ALL of the casing from the monitor and the computer, oh and and the fans. I then heatshrinked the area where the monitor back would be touching the exposed parts of the circut board. I hand built the frame for it with stereo speakers so I could play sound clips and movie files over my wireless network. I vented the back and sides of my frame and mounted a whisper fan with a heat sensor over the CPU as well as a flat heatsink. I also made holes in the bottom of the frame so I could plug in USB keyboards and etc. So far The fan seems to be keeping the thing cool, and it seems to work, BUT Whatever you do DONT let anything touch what it shouldn't touch, and if you cant find a heat sensitive fan, DONT remove the original fans because they change speed depending on the temperature of the CPU. benster3332 says: Jun 16, 2006. 9:39 PM REPLY Hey, I was wondering, all I have is an old Dell laptop screen (without any wires). I dont want to turn it into a wall mounted screen because I dont have the computer to go with it. I want to turn it into a desktop monitor. Any ideas of what I could do? moopet says: Jun 10, 2007. 5:48 AM REPLY You can't. It's driven by a raw signal, and nothing bar the graphics interface inside a laptop or the beefy circuit inside an lcd monitor will drive it. You can't adapt it to vga, svideo, anything like that. BamfBacon187 says: Apr 8, 2007. 9:33 AM REPLY Is there to do this if you only have a screen? Could i hook up a digital camera and display it on the screen? GunBlade says: Aug 8, 2006. 2:25 AM REPLY This is by far the best idea I ever got for my very very old Pentium 133mhz IBM laptop. Thank you! erazar says: Jun 2, 2006. 2:14 PM REPLY Is it possible to cut the wires that goes from the base to the monitor, and make them a bit longer? or would this weaken the signal to much?. would like to "hide" the base in a cabinet and make a slim frame hanging at the wall. taylorlightfoot says: Jul 2, 2006. 4:43 AM REPLY It is not a good idea to cut the wires since each of the small wires are really coaxial wires, meaning each wire is really 2 wires (consisting of two concentric conductors separated by an insulator.) benster3332 says: Jun 16, 2006. 9:41 PM REPLY If you need pictures, i can sent some to you. I just don't know if it is possible. vivacharlietuna says: Jun 9, 2006. 4:09 PM REPLY Very cool! These look really beautiful. I've made a similar one, but with a much older laptop. Yours are much slimmer. I've added this page to my digital picture frame resource site. I think it will really help people out. http://likelysoft.com/hacks/pictureframes.shtml [...]... thinkgeek? ;) (april fools day product) parsniplee says: Here's my version, thanks for the idea, my old g4 was no longer portable, and was just gathering dust http://www.instructables.com/id /Hanging- Laptop- Digital- Painting/ Apr 14, 2006 5:22 PM REPLY parsniplee says: Apr 14, 2006 10:59 AM REPLY One thing left out here (probably because the hinges were already broken), the hinges have a second set of... screwdriver under the white piece youre trying to separate and with some care, get it off Hope thats somewhat clear, let me know if anyone need clarification http://www.instructables.com/id /Hanging- Laptop- Digital- Painting/ ... suggest using a WiFi card to transfer pictures This project can definatelly save you a lot of money a digital picture frame like this could go for as much as $800! drware says: Apr 24, 2006 4:12 PM REPLY Well you got me inspired to do my own write up I now have two digital picture frames made from old fujitsu laptops Main difference with my set up is that the frames sync with a central Linux server running... machines you can have pram issues without it I'll try to post pretty soon phatatude says: Apr 14, 2006 12:27 AM REPLY Pletty Cool, I designed a high end enclosure for mine that I may adapt for other style laptops and sell them I may post my frame made with an 800 tibook I have NO cords running from mine Its wireless and alos runs on bluetooth key/mouse timatron says: Apr 16, 2006 12:39 AM REPLY Did you . http://www.instructables.com/id /Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Home Sign Up! Explore Community Submit Hanging Laptop Digital Painting by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 http://www.instructables.com/id /Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ intro: Hanging Laptop Digital Painting Take your old laptop, matte. screw bits. These should just come off after you unscrew them. http://www.instructables.com/id /Hanging-Laptop-Digital-Painting/ Image Notes 1. power cables Image Notes 1. these are actually really