I am new to the mod world and haven't done anything significant yet, but have an idea in mind and am looking for some help. My idea is that I'd like to create a clear plastic case with three sides each showing a different picture, and the back for all the ports and wires needed. I was thinking that I would use some old powerbooks, maybe something like a 540c, with active maxtrix and 1000's of colors(16bit) each running one of the three displays. My major hesistation here is that there would be a ton of wires running out the back, 3 power cords minimum plus any keyboards and ethernet wires. Any feedback is much appreciated. Is there anything that would run three displays each seperately? Thanks in advance.

Oooh...I think you will have to suffer mulitple cords. I hope someone has an idea, but I'm picturing a case with an LCD on each side. If you want it to show something different on each screen, while having your own display, you could mount a logic board from an older powerbook and split the connection from there. on the board, give it a small hdd and have a custom resolution to have whatever x whatever(3). So the mini mac inside the mac will have a long display, each lcd only showing part of it. I may be guessing wrong. Correct me if I am.

So, you are looking to put 3 powerbooks inside a custom built case. From there have each computer display a different image on each LCD. Is this like a picture studio? Are you trying to use these systems for tasks? I love the idea, I really can't wait to see some work done on it, There is a mod that uses two computers in one case in the mod guides and there is a mod that uses arcrylic to build a custom case as well. With these two mods, you should have a starting point. Can't wait to see it.

Ah yeah, was that the GadgetDon's?

Yes, the case idea came after seeing the "Apple iComponent- G3 Conversion" mod a few days ago. And I had been playing around with ways to display photographs, but the now hackneyed PB picture frame bored me, so I decided to modify the idea a bit. The purpose of it is just to display pictures, not trying to run any other programs; although depending on what room is left after everything I may turn it into an external firewire case or some network attached storage (just ideas as of this point). Can't wait to start on this project, although it may be a while. At the moment I am down two laptops to use, but hopefully I can find those soon. Any other input is much appreciated, thanks!

An older repair store in your location may have a few old laptops that are just shelved in the back. You would be supprised how many times I used a 3400 as a glorified coffee mug coaster. Yup, used the LCD face too (I was sick person then).

First computer is coming in in a few days (3400c), which I will use as the front lcd since its 12.1 inches, still looking around for some other ones to use, have a 540c laying around but want both sides to match so I need another.

Regarding using the 540c, correct me if I'm wrong but the only way to power on is to use the keyboard right? I know I can use an ADB keyboard, but thats a hassle to have to plug in and out etc. Anyone know of how to rig it so I can use just a straight up power button, maybe even a single power button rigged to boot all three?

Also I've already checked the one apple repair store around here for more laptops, but they didn't have any. Anyone have an old one or two I could buy on the cheap off of you? or where to get some? Thanks.

TJH wrote:


The ADB power button just connects two of the pins on the ADB connector. Connect Pin 2 (Power ON) and Pin 4 (Ground). Looking at the female port Pin 2 is bottom left, pin 4 is right above it. A SPST momentary on switch connected to these pins is simple and works perfectly fine, but getting it down to one switch would be harder, but doable.

For getting rid of multiple cables, maybe splice together the AC cables to they all use a single plug? Don't know how safe that would be but its simple to do. Depending on what powerbook combinations you end up with you might be able to find a power supply that provides all the voltages you need (and enough amperage) then make direct connections to the power boards in the laptops.

Wait, I got confused... so are you saying you want to just use the screens? or are you hooking up the entire laptops... is it rectangular or triangular... if your just useing the screens, and its a rectangle, how about building a custom case for an older moddle comp (g4, g3) and hooking up the screens for three sides of the box... then it could function as a computer or just sit and be 3 pictures... I really am not sure what you are thinking about here. But from what i can tell, its quite extravagent... good luck w/ it!

-Knife

actually knifelord might be onto something. For the price that you are going to spend on 3 laptops to do this mod, correct me if I am wrong, could be achieved with a powermac and an additional graphics card or two. You could then figure out a way to get an application that would play on each screen. It would be like having 3 screens hooked to a mac in an array. Even better, if you put the lcds, that you can buy for next to nothing now, mounted in the same case that you are building for the computer there are some cool options. Knifelord said something about the shape of the box and that got me thinking.

If you have a hexagonal shaped box with the 3 screens on the front and lined up really close to each other, you could get an application to take your pictures and slide them across the displays like a old piece of film. So that the picture is slowly sliding from the lcd on the far right to the one of the far left or vice-versa. Plus, this would keep the amount of wires down, since they would be inside the case. You would really only need one power button and one power cord if you rigged up a power source. You could even mount a really cheap power backup inside of the case and power it using that, or just a surge protector.

Anyway, just ideas to keep you thinking.