Xbox Laptop - The Case (Pt.3)

The motherboard stand-off's.

This is going to be pretty simple and extremely basic...
-I used 1 clear Bic pen, cut it into 4, 5/8" pieces.
-Then I took 4 of the best stand-off's that I removed previously and sanded them to where they'd fit into one end.
-I super-glued the black piece into one end, then filled the rest with hot glue.
-I screwed all 4 NEW stand-off's into all 4 corners of the motherboard.
-While up-side-down (right-side-up) I quickly dabbed all 4 stand-off's, flipped it and placed it.
-I held all 4 corners down with my fingers as tightly as I could until I felt that they were set enough for me to back out the screws.
-Once the screws were backed out and the mother board was removed I gobbed all 4 new posts with a generous amount of hot glue.
-I cracked open a beer, drank it and let the glue set before I attempted to set the motherboard back down.



Continued in part 4...

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Xbox Laptop - The Case (Pt.2)

Next up was to cut the vent hole.

My first idea was to make it oval shaped. I used the original case jewel as a guide, connected the lines on the top and bottom. I used a dremel to make a series of small holes around the perimeter and then drug the bit from hole to hole to make the final cut.


The hole didn't look right when the motherboard was in place so I decided on a squared hole. It looked better and fit like a glove.


Next was the mesh. I bought a damaged mesh something of another from my work for a buck. I used regular scissors to make the cuts, ruining them forever. (my girlfriend is going to kill me)


I tacked the mesh in 2 corners with hot glue (not pictured) and used the ball end of a few different screw drivers to recess the mesh. That way, when it's in place and flipped, it will be flush with the bottom of the case.


To hold the mesh in place I tacked all 4 corners with hot glue with decent sized gobs. Before the gobs had completely hardened, I mashed them in place. Then I slowly, and deliberately, hot glued the perimeter with a semi-generous amount of hot glue. If you ask me, this sucker isnt going anywhere. (where you goin'... No where.. thats right!)


This next shot is with the motherboard in place.


So there you have it... The vent hole :)

Continued in Part 3...

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Xbox Laptop - The Case (Pt.1)

First I started with a naked lower case. I used a hacksaw blade, wrapped at one end with electrical tape, to saw off the stand-off's at their base.


I saved the stand-off's and set them aside. I'll be using them later to re-build stand off's for the motherboard.


Next I used the hack saw blade and I started to cut the back plate of the case off flush with the bottom of the case. The trick here was to go SLOW and deliberate. I started at the fan "alcove". It was "raised" high enough to make slits on each side to get the hacksaw blade in. Once both slits were cut I slowly made my way to either end.


Here you can see the gap between the back plate and the bottom of the case.


I used a dremel on both sides of the rear face of the case to make slits. Then I used the hacksaw blade to make the final cuts.


I cut off a good sized (un-measured) chunk of the top off. I did this so I didn't have a whole lot to cut in the next step. I saved that piece because you never know...


Time to make the vertical cuts. This will release the back plate.


This is a mock up of how I wanted it to sit against the motherboard. Remember that the motherboard will be mounted up-side-down in the case. The tallest point of the mobo is 5/8. If you have seen teaser pictures you will notice that A LOT is yet to be cut off.


continued in Part 2...

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Xbox Laptop - The Motherboard... DONE!

Ta Daaaa!

Here she is, as slim as I can get her. Less than 1 inch tall... Man-oh-man..


Now that this BS is done, I can get on with what I love the most... Case Modding. The next few post's will be ALL about building the case, fabricating pieces, the keyboard, the power button, the LCD etc... Please, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,
Josh

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Xbox Laptop - The Motherboard (Pt. 4)

The 5 silver caps.

I'm not going to get into cap for cap detail on how I did these things. I used a combination of methods. In a nut shell.. I removed them all. Laid one where it stood, wrapped and soldered leads to the rest and relocated them in the general vicinity.
See the images below:


Finished in Part 5...

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Xbox Laptop - The Motherboard (Pt. 3)

Fan Headers!!!!

Once upon a time, I read that the second, GPU, fan header was live... there was just nothing there. I was right.


I de-soldered a fan header from my handy dandy donor / dead PC motherboard.


I soldered in pins, top and bottom to get a better connection.


I used an old IDE cable to make a "pigtail" with the fan header at one end. I soldered the other end to the very bottom of the corresponding pins.. as close as I could get it to the motherboard and clipped off the excess.


Now.. rather than cutting, re-soldering and wasting heat shrink I made a loop on the Iceberq cable and held it together with a small piece of heat shrink. Why did I do this? Because what if, someday.. God forbid.. this project goes south. Then I could take them off and use them is something else and have their original cable length intact.

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The CPU Fan Header... when the fan is plugged in it is exactly 5/8 of an inch tall (not including the wires). I'm trying to go slim here guys... I laid it down (same as the caps) and did a similar cable management technique:


Continued in Part 4...

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