My Powerbook 1400 Photo Frame
Inspired by various online articles - and other geeks who couldn't just leave something well enough alone - I finally got around to transforming my old Powerbook 1400 into a digital photo frame.
First, I updated the Powerbook to Mac OS 8.6, added a Orinoco WaveLan Silver wireless network card, and connected it to my wireless network. After copying over my favorite digital pictures, I installed Jpegview to handle the slideshows and VNC Server so I could control it remotely. It took me a while to remember how to navigate my way around Mac OS 8, but I got the two apps to autostart and run the slideshow.
Once I was sure it was working, it was time to take it apart. Using the Powerbook 1400 technical guide that I found here, I took the laptop apart and discarded all the case pieces.
Next came the frame. Most people suggest buying a Shadow Box Frame - but I couldn't find a 9"x12" Shadow Box frame anywhere locally. Online, they were going for $50 - so forget that. I bought a 9"x12" frame, and then some balsa wood from Michael's to build a 1.5" deep shadow box.
I had a picture mat cut, glued it to the LCD screen, put it in the 9"x12" frame, and glued the motherboard to the back of the LCD screen. There weren't exactly a lot of contact points to glue a motherboard down, so I ended up using a ton of duct tape to supplement the structure. Then I cut a few holes in the frame - one for the power cord, one for the wireless card, and a couple at the top for cooling.
It doesn't look pretty inside. Fortunately, it looks good on the outside.
The 11.3" active matrix screen looks terrific - even though it only supports 65,000 colors, so there's a little bit of dithering in the photos that's barely noticeable. It took a while to find the old OS 8.6 drivers to get it on the wireless network, but the work was worth it - now copying over new pictures to it is a snap. And the environmentalist tree-hugging hippie in me likes that I've rescued an old laptop and given it a nice new life hanging on my wall above the piano.
I'm geeked about how it turned out. If you have an old laptop sitting around, I totally recommend you try it. It was super easy and the results look great. This page helped me out a lot - Laptop to Digital Picture Frame : Homemade Hack Resources
My next project? To complete that nuclear doomsday toaster that I've... oops, I said too much.
First, I updated the Powerbook to Mac OS 8.6, added a Orinoco WaveLan Silver wireless network card, and connected it to my wireless network. After copying over my favorite digital pictures, I installed Jpegview to handle the slideshows and VNC Server so I could control it remotely. It took me a while to remember how to navigate my way around Mac OS 8, but I got the two apps to autostart and run the slideshow.
Once I was sure it was working, it was time to take it apart. Using the Powerbook 1400 technical guide that I found here, I took the laptop apart and discarded all the case pieces.
Next came the frame. Most people suggest buying a Shadow Box Frame - but I couldn't find a 9"x12" Shadow Box frame anywhere locally. Online, they were going for $50 - so forget that. I bought a 9"x12" frame, and then some balsa wood from Michael's to build a 1.5" deep shadow box.
I had a picture mat cut, glued it to the LCD screen, put it in the 9"x12" frame, and glued the motherboard to the back of the LCD screen. There weren't exactly a lot of contact points to glue a motherboard down, so I ended up using a ton of duct tape to supplement the structure. Then I cut a few holes in the frame - one for the power cord, one for the wireless card, and a couple at the top for cooling.
It doesn't look pretty inside. Fortunately, it looks good on the outside.
The 11.3" active matrix screen looks terrific - even though it only supports 65,000 colors, so there's a little bit of dithering in the photos that's barely noticeable. It took a while to find the old OS 8.6 drivers to get it on the wireless network, but the work was worth it - now copying over new pictures to it is a snap. And the environmentalist tree-hugging hippie in me likes that I've rescued an old laptop and given it a nice new life hanging on my wall above the piano.
I'm geeked about how it turned out. If you have an old laptop sitting around, I totally recommend you try it. It was super easy and the results look great. This page helped me out a lot - Laptop to Digital Picture Frame : Homemade Hack Resources
My next project? To complete that nuclear doomsday toaster that I've... oops, I said too much.
posted by Eugene at 7:58 PM
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