Bloom Laptop Designed For Easy Disassembly 151
Zothecula writes "It's a given that we will one day be discarding our present laptop computers. It's also a given that e-waste is currently a huge problem, that looks like it's only going to get worse. While most of the materials in a laptop can be recycled, all of those pieces of glass, metal, plastic and circuitry are stuck together pretty tight, and require a lot of time and effort to separate. What is needed are laptops that are designed to be taken apart, for easy recycling – that's why a group of graduate students from Stanford University made one."
Not really a new concept... (Score:3, Informative)
Back in the 1990s a Taiwanese manufacturer, Clevo, made "kit" laptops so that OEMs can pick and choose which parts they want for their laptops.
These laptops were incredibly easy to assemble and disassemble. As an OEM, you can choose what kind of screen and what resolution/size, what motherboard, what cpu, what kind of battery, choose between trackpad, mini trackball or trackpoint... It also made it somewhat easy for people to upgrade their laptop. Even a choice of docking station all the way up to sophisticated docking stations which can have PCI/ISA cards installed.
Computers just aren't as customizable nowadays.
Re:Easily swappable parts (Score:4, Informative)
Take a look at the Nohrtec Edubook, which is completely modular [youtube.com], mod'able, and which is often shipped to clients disassembled for them to assemble themselves. Mike Barnes intentionally created a netbook computer that can be torn down and repaired easily, targeted at developing countries. Very interesting model. Uses rechargeable AAs, too.
Re:Not really a new concept... (Score:3, Informative)
Several of Clevo's models are still like that, especially the larger ones. Shop outside the box and you can find lots more options in laptops.
Re:Powerbook G3 Pismo (Score:5, Informative)
The battery is attached with anti-tamper screws!
I have yet to find a screwdriver that will fit those damn screws. Maybe it's time to rob a Genius Bar?
Geeze dude hit a (real) hardware store before committing larceny. I believe you're describing a T6 variant, possibly a TS6 or TR6 but certainly a TX6 which looks like a TS with the pins shaped like a TR but it only has 5 pins. Somebody living a mac lifestyle can probably purchase some tools. It'll set you back about as much as a really good cheeseburger, and probably come in handy elsewhere in the future.
Either that or google will find you the exact answer.
Note by "real hardware store" I mean the neighborhood place staffed by crabby elderly semi-retired craftsmen, not a big box store with minimum wage morons whom barely know what a hammer is.