MacBook Modded With Second Monitor Inside Logo 153
An anonymous reader from the Macmod forum wrote in with this appealing hack: "This is one of the coolest mods I've seen all year. Mac Moder EdsJunk submitted this mod to our forums late Thursday night. By cracking open a MacBook he was able to put a second monitor inside of the screen. The end result is sweet. The second monitor can make the Apple logo have any kind of background, like the clown fish, or the flurry screen saver."
Sup dawg... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Sup dawg... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Perhaps, if he embedded a touch panel in there too.
Re:Sup dawg... (Score:4, Funny)
Anyway, I'm just glad to finally be posting here on ole Slashdot. It's a pretty neat website, and looks so modern and clean! I wish I knew how to design websites as well as this one, I'd be a hit at the next office party after I redesign our internal bbs. It'll be super
So, how's everybody doing this morning:) I'm great! Hope to hear back from you guys soon! Until then, ~Jason.
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And best of all on this, most special day, ~Freddy.
Re:Sup dawg... (Score:4, Funny)
There should be a moderation for "+1, Use of Meme" - I think that applies much better than "Funny" in this case... Then there could also be a matching "-1, Use of Meme"...
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Then there could also be a matching "-1, Misuse of Meme"...
Fixed
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Then there could also be a matching "-1, Misuse of Meme"...
Fixed
I see what you did there...
I think use or misuse of a meme generally amounts to the same thing, though. Memes are, by their very nature, overused jokes. I figure some people will want to add points for meme use, others will want to subtract points for meme use - personally I'd just like to filter the whole lot of them out. :)
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And yet you use one? Personally I feel that memes can be hilarious -- even old, over-used ones -- if used in a particularly clever way.
The sad thing is that a completely off-topic quote from an author like Adams or a snippet of Monty Python is usually modded Funny instead of off-topic, which is where things start to break down a bit. /offtopic
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oled (Score:1, Interesting)
i'm it must be an oled screen! they should be hired by mac (i'm sure that's what the stunt is for)
Re:oled (Score:4, Insightful)
The Mac cannot hire anyone, it's a brand of computers.
Maybe you meant Apple?
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Apple Inc.
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Actually, the backlight for the screen on the front shines through a glass Apple logo on the back of the factory MacBooks. This would probably be a LCD. You can buy a 320x240 one for $40.
Well, they got onto slashdot and created an Ebay auction for it (now up to $1,525 with 16 bids and over 7 days left), so I think that was probably what the stunt was for.
The obvious utility of this would be t
Wow (Score:4, Interesting)
argh (Score:4, Informative)
"From the MacMod forums..." ... "Sorry but the board is temporarily unavailable, please try again in a few minutes."
Seems like a relatively trivial hack, if you can get the video-out from the DisplayPort connector to work inside the machine somehow. Since the panel backlight is already exposed at the rear to light the Apple logo, the hardest part ought to be getting the backlight off of the LCD you want to cram in there.
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If this is something you consider commonplace or ordinary, I'd like to know what you'd actually consider impressive or of merit.
Re:argh (Score:5, Funny)
A life-size, fully operational Death Star. This is installing a very small monitor into a tight place. Kind of neat, but utterly useless.
Re:argh (Score:5, Funny)
A life-size, fully operational Death Star.
Pha, Saddam Hussain did even better than that, he made weapons of ms destruction that were totally invisible.
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>Pha, Saddam Hussain did even better than that, he made weapons of ms destruction that were totally invisible.
Even so, as if they'd do anything, his weapons only lasted for a ms.
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That's the best kind. The masses have been destroyed and we still haven't found the weapons.
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yeah, the kind of weapon that relies on "persuasion" over a stupid president on a powerful country to make a war based on null evidence of anything
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Pha, Saddam Hussain did even better than that, he made weapons of ms destruction that were totally invisible.
That's funny, I was pretty sure that those weapons were invented by the Bush administration.
Woosh?
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Woosh?
Yes, Woosh. You totally missed the joke, and fucked it all up. Nice going. Hint: The word invented has multiple meanings. Look it up sometime.
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1 archaic : find, discover
2: to devise by thinking : fabricate
3: to produce (as something useful) for the first time through the use of the imagination or of ingenious thinking and experiment
Or from Wiktionary [wiktionary.org]:
1. To design a new process or mechanism.
2. To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
Regardless of the definition you use, to me (and to others it would seem), it came across as more of a snide remark than an extension of the joke.
Nice! (Score:2)
Apparently if I make a comment about the Bush administration inventing false intelligence to justify an illegal attack on a foreign nation using Bush's name it's flamebait, but if I just allude to it by mentioning Saddam and the WMDs I can get a +5 comment. Way to abuse the moderation system, children. (Sure, it seems a lot like whining. But if we don't complain then obviously we enjoy the status quo.)
Re:argh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:argh (Score:5, Informative)
Compared to some of the mods that people are doing, this one is pretty easy. The backlight usually isn't even physically attached to the lcd, and the LCD itself is about 0.5-1mm thick (depending on brand/type). Buy an off-the-shelf 2" LCD, remove the backlight, and connect it to the motherboard through the appropriate connector. There's probably a little bowing just because of the space considerations, but other than that it's not a difficult mod at all. As GP said, the backlight from the main LCD is already exposed, and I'd think the hardest part of the mod would be putting some kind of polyvinyl or acrylate coating on the back LCD to prevent it from scratching.
Laptop LCD's are remarkably easy to open up and work with. You just need the right kind of screwdriver.
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Fixed
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If this is something you consider commonplace or ordinary, I'd like to know what you'd actually consider impressive or of merit.
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a fantastically sexy mod. I don't think it was especially difficult, but then, I haven't cracked one open to check, have I? My point was that the nature of the machine in question makes this mod easier. The kind of thing which actually impresses me, however, is more like the full-custom super-art cases (like the classic HL2 case that was posted and then later duped here, IIRC) which are mighty works of creativity, or modifications which substantially increase functionalit
Overrated mod is for Cowards (Score:1)
Why do we still have this particular rating? Do comments moderated "Overrated" still skip metamoderation, and if so, why is it still there? If a comment is overrated, isn't it overrated for a reason? I usually get modded down as "Troll" when someone disagrees with me, I guess iFanboys are slightly smarter than the average troll.
Talking to myself... (Score:2, Offtopic)
I usually get modded down as "Troll" when someone disagrees with me, I guess iFanboys are slightly smarter than the average troll.
Whooops! I guess I spoke too soon. Hey kids, if you believe what you're saying, you're not trolling. To suggest otherwise is to abuse the moderation system. Too bad the powers-that-be don't actually care - they took the suggestion to report abuse of moderation out of the FAQ. Slashdot is a video game (why else do you need a scoring system?) populated primarily by griefers. Too bad they seem to get a disproportionate share of those mod points that guarantee that the people most qualified to comment and vote
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I run OS X on a single-processor 1.25GHz G4 with 2GB of RAM and it runs just fine, assuming I keep the number of application I have open at any given time to a small number. Does your video card support CoreImage and CoreVideo? If not, that might be why it's dogging a bit. But really, OS X is a very responsive OS on old hardware. Hell, I had 10.3 loaded on a 266MHz G3 and it ran OK.
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I run OS X on a single-processor 1.25GHz G4 with 2GB of RAM and it runs just fine, assuming I keep the number of application I have open at any given time to a small number.
Is that because you're running out of memory, or some other reason?
Does your video card support CoreImage and CoreVideo?
Yes, it did. I don't work there any more. When I quit I left with the Core Duo T2600-based laptop running Windows XP, which was much more responsive.
But really, OS X is a very responsive OS on old hardware. Hell, I had 10.3 loaded on a 266MHz G3 and it ran OK.
I ran 10.1 through 10.3 on a 266 MHz G3, and it did not run OK. I'm quite serious that if you put that next to a NeXTStep-installed Turbo Slab, and run through some basic tasks (author an email, browse some network shares, for example) then you will see that OSX is a dog. Its ancestor is about t
Re:argh (Score:5, Informative)
Seems like a relatively trivial hack
Take it from someone who has actually replaced LCD panels in a MacBook Pro. This is NOT a relatively trivial hack.
And you cannot just "get the backlight off the LCD". The back portion of the panel proper is a reflective surface. Take that off, and your panel goes dark, except for two of the edges where the CCFL tubes or LED arrays are located.
On the MacBook Pro what this guy is doing would be nearly impossible. There is just no room between the panel and the shell. There's a bit more room in the regular MacBook.
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And, of course, I can't read. Sorry. My bad.
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well the macbook has an output for an external monitor so it should be a simple matter of picking off the signals from there. Connectors tend to be through hole and relatively wide pitch so picking off the signals shouldn't be too hard. Probablly much easier than the soldering involved in fitting some console modchips.
Cool... but limited (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Cool... but limited... only by your imagination (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe just a toy, but a very cool toy that could easily be very useful.
I really like the idea of an eye looking around and blinking. You could even have it follow your cursor on the screen that you see so you could have it look at people and follow them around the room. Wink on a click.
Very fun! The guy is clever!
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
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If you just installed a second screen in a laptop lid, I doubt that's going to phase you...
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Not true. If another display is attached, they can go into clamshell mode. Or you can just install InsomniaX [versiontracker.com]
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On my MPB, if it's plugged in, I just have to attach or remove a USB device to wake the computer up, even while the lid is closed. It does get a little warm but it's not bad. The important thing is to leave the back unobstructed.
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If only there was some kind of forum to discuss and learn how to do that... :-)
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(ftr, I am typing this on a MacBook, as my ThinkPad charges next to me).
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It might save on battery life when you don't have to look at the full screen. That's assuming that the smaller screen draws less power.
Much harder mod though.
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If by useful you mean useless, then yes I agree.
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I always wanted to have laptop's back lid logo something like alienware's alien head. But this one would be slightly bigger and with eyes connected to the inverse HDD activity. Just imagine how distracting that would that be.
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an animated eye looking around and winking, etc.
That begs the question, can you wink with one eye?
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I would say so. Blinking mostly involves the eyelids where a wink also includes movement of the face below the eye and optionally head movement.
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This post [slashdot.org] has the "personal computer" thing right. It's not a whole lot different than the purely cool-looking window effects that
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Who cares, its a personal computer. If you installed a webcam on a server or are dual screening on your print server its stupid. If its your own personal laptop you can, you know, have fun with it. That's why people have things like games, or music, or movies, or spinning 3d cube desktops, etc... on their computers.
The comment a little further down [slashdot.org] has a youtube link, and the cool factor on this is through the roof (IMnsHO). I can't wait till OLED screens get commercially viable so manufacturers can throw i
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I'd run xeyes on it...
I'm surprised. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm surprised. (Score:5, Informative)
If somebody managed to put a screen behind the logo, that means that there was some extra space in the original design. That seems very un-maclike. Apple has, repeatedly, shown a willingness to make considerable design sacrifices in order to shave off a few millimeters.
That is not "extra" space. That space is there to allow you to push on the case without breaking your LCD. This guy has just squandered that and the first time he sets something heavy on his laptop by accident he's going to break his panel, because he's now going to push directly in the center of it. If Apple meant for there to be zero clearance there, they would have made it so. I've had (and expressed) lots of problems with Apple hardware in the past, but case design isn't one of them - albeit, Apple has gone substantially backwards in many regards. Ever take apart, say, a Mac IIci? It's actually kind of a joyful experience. Now, ever try to disassemble a classic iMac to make some upgrades? Egads! Even fucking around with the blue-handled Xcelite MacCaseCracker on a classic doorstop Mac is pleasant by comparison. I haven't taken apart a Mini, but the instruction photos leave me shaking my head.
Re:I'm surprised. (Score:4, Insightful)
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I have taken a Mini apart (a couple of times actually). Opening the case can be a little tricky the first time, but it isn't that big a deal. Once the case is off, the rest is laid out nicely and comes apart very easily.
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Actually, I do have a problem with the case design of the old-style Aluminum Macbook Pros. The cases are weak. They dent or bend WAY too easily. I have stripped more than one of them down just to pound out the dents and bend the case back into shape.
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I used to be a Mac Genius, and the iMacs we sold at the time were the "half volley ball" based ones with the screen on a metal arm. Taking one of those apart to get to the monitor arm made me want to kill myself. Huge pain.
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Oh, you mean the iLamps.
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I've had (and expressed) lots of problems with Apple hardware in the past, but case design isn't one of them - albeit, Apple has gone substantially backwards in many regards. Ever take apart, say, a Mac IIci? It's actually kind of a joyful experience. Now, ever try to disassemble a classic iMac to make some upgrades? Egads! Even fucking around with the blue-handled Xcelite MacCaseCracker on a classic doorstop Mac is pleasant by comparison. I haven't taken apart a Mini, but the instruction photos leave me shaking my head.
I build my own PCs, but every so often I do get to pull apart a Mac of various vintages - most recently, a Mac Pro to put a Broadcom 802.11n module into it (the most IIci of their current line), and a base Mac Mini to bump it to 4 GB and a 500 GB drive (interior design reminiscent of a Cube).
It's actually a very satisfying experience being in amongst the Apple hardware: there's a certain artistry to getting the most use out of the diminished space of their designs, and the feeling is more of being a delic
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Service-friendliness has not been a priority at Apple since even the very first Macintosh built.
I've been into two different doorstop macintoshes, the ONLY special tool you need for ANY maintenance inside of one (other than perhaps adjusting CRT with a fiberglass screwdriver) is the case cracker. Getting in there only requires removing a few screws and once you're in there, it's quite easy to work on. The idea was to stop your kids from taking apart your computer, not to prevent the user from ever opening the case. If that was the goal they'd have put a lock on it, and kept the keys.
The unibody MacBooks/MacBook Pros are the cleanest, most service-friendly laptops Apple has ever built. Except for replacing the keyboard.
There's always an
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You needed a long hexagonal screwdriver or allen wrench, which is an obscure enough tool that Mac vendors made a killing selling them.
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I've been into two different doorstop macintoshes, the ONLY special tool you need for ANY maintenance inside of one (other than perhaps adjusting CRT with a fiberglass screwdriver) is the case cracker.
You needed a long hexagonal screwdriver or allen wrench, which is an obscure enough tool that Mac vendors made a killing selling them.
That's what I just said. Various vendors used to sell it as a "MacCaseCracker" but apparently that usage has fallen out of favor. However, it was the only wacky tool you needed, and they were NOT that expensive.
I misread the summary.... (Score:2)
Given the amount of effort required just to install a tiny screen that faces away from you while you use the MacBook, I think my interpretation might be more accurate!
Legos! (Score:1)
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Anyone else think that said "MacBook Modded With Second Monitor Inside Lego" at first?
Sure did! I'm glad you pointed it out to me so I can stop waiting for macmod.com to load, logos aren't as impressive.
Youtube Vid of this (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5GZNHPfo0 [youtube.com]
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If you aren't using Firefox, you can get it here [getfirefox.com]
If you aren't using Firefox and don't want to get it, you should go here [shibumi.org]
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this was an article specific to Apple Mac and although I understand that the
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And the coralized link,
http://www.macmod.com.nyud.net/featured-mods/1933-apple-logo-converted-to-second-monitor [nyud.net]
However, many corporate firewalls block this as "proxy avoidance".
cool hack (Score:3, Interesting)
video (Score:1)
the video is very impressive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5GZNHPfo0 [youtube.com]
Not quite perfect (Score:2)
You can see the screen glowing through the black plastic slightly. He should have painted the inside of the lid in that area to prevent the bleed-through.
Not sure how useful or if it's even an improvement, but based on the bleed-through, he's not quite finished yet.
Sheldon
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You might even be able to create some neat effects with it(i.e. ring the logo with light shining through the body).
Sounds perfect for... (Score:1, Funny)
Windows sideshow!
Uhh... (Score:2)
Wouldn't it have made more sense to cut out a portion of the lid and make the whole screen usable? I'm thinking presentations in environments that have no beamer handy. Say a meeting consisting of four people or so...
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Get a room.... (Score:2, Funny)
If only... (Score:2, Funny)
Cool. So now... (Score:1, Flamebait)
slashdotted! (Score:1)
Let's see if I'm psychic. (Score:1)
I haven't read any other comments yet, but I'm using my psychic powers to predict that they will be full of people who cheer when someone spends months on a Windows or Linux casemod, calling this stupid because it's on a Mac.
Let's go check, shall we?
And the survey says... (Score:1)
So how long until Apple does this themselves? (Score:2)
Its a silly (but very impressive) hack, but its a lot of fun. It strikes me that Apple ought to consider building a tiny screen into the logo themselves in the next generation.
It catches the attention of anyone looking at the laptop, its a way to show off or distinguish your laptop from any others nearby, and the entire time you are looking at whats happening *you are looking at an Apple logo*, surely thats got to be a marketing dweeb's wetdream. All they need to do is include it in the system without it us
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Second monitor in the screen? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Yo dawg I herd u liek monitors so i put a monitor in yo monitor so you can display while you display!
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To people who tagged it as ''why'' (Score:4, Informative)
Cray did even a more weird thing, on a multi million supercomputer which at most 4-5 super security cleared technicians would see in physical form.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray_T3D [wikipedia.org]
(from Wiki)
'The Cray T3D MC cabinet had an Apple Macintosh PowerBook laptop built into its front. Its only purpose was to display animated Cray Research and T3D logos on its color LCD screen.'
And it was 5th on Top 500 back in 1998.
Extra server? (Score:2, Funny)
LCD Mod Website (Score:2, Informative)
Hey guys.. im the one that did the mod.. I have put up a small website to keep you guys updated with tutorials, and even this very macbook on ebay here soon! Check it out! http://www.edsjunk.net
See through screen (Score:2, Insightful)
Photoshop (Score:2)