Convert a PC Drive Bay to a Docking Station

Anonymous Coward writes "The Screen Savers are featuring a case mod worth looking at. This article describes how to create a docking station for your PDA out of a PC drive bay. The instructions are little hard to follow but looks feasible and the finished product is pretty slick."

Use that display

[philipsblows]

Why hide a perfectly good display on the PDA? Yes, this mod is slick, but I personally would like to see an attached display device show me info... much like LCD and other serial/parallel display case mods do now on the case itself.

Similar to this [massworks.com] product, a PDA attached to a desktop machine (and a charger) could and should extend the usefulness of both. Maybe a game controller like that linked product, maybe a desktop clock, maybe weather updates, stock tickers, an mp3 playlist interface, etc etc.

Like I said, a slick mod, but seems slightly counterproductive. Not that there are many satellite display apps that work with many PDAs available presently, but I'm hopeful. With bluetooth catching on, it might happen.

Re:I love the pictures they show.

[Gravital.net]

Dammit man! I dont' have time to be clicking on links. If the pictures aren't embedded in the article I'm not going to see them! =)

Re:Subtle Flaw

[CaptCosmic]

Not all of the Palms have this style cradle. The older palms had a simple drop in cradle which did nothing to lock them in. I know, I've knocked my Palm out of the cradle while it was syncing before.

The new palms (at least the m130 and m550) *do* lock into the cradle. They slide straight in and metal locking clips hook on to them. In order to get them out, you have to pull it forward to release the locking clips, then pull it out of the cradle.

Using this mod on one of the new Palms would be difficult, if not impossible.

a handy replacement for floppy drives

[Kusanagi]

Why not build this mod into the spot where the floppy drive used to be [slashdot.org]? I just tried it with my Cassiopeia E-125 (which is about the thickest PDA released in recent years) and it fits just fine. The cradle is a bit bulky but it hangs over niceley behind my hard drive, which is in the bay immediately below.