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‘mods’ Stories

Dell Mini 9 DIY netslate: most polished netbook tablet-conversion yet?

Chris Davies, Oct 13th 2009 Discuss [0]

Dell's Mini 9 netbook may be a little old in the tooth these days, but its angular casing makes it a great donor machine for a netslate project. That's just what MyDellMini forum member Rob did (to his Dell Vostro A90, the business-rebrand of the Mini 9), adding a touchscreen layer, flipping the display and relocating the power button. Read The Full Story

NES HTPC mod with NVIDIA Ion graphics [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 9th 2009 Discuss [0]

NES console mods are cool, HTPCs are pretty cool, and nettops with NVIDIA Ion graphics are darned cool too, so when you put all three elements together you've got a recipe for something with a whole lot of cool potential. Modder drumboog has been video documenting his work transforming a NES into an Atom 330 based Blu-ray HTPC with GeForce 9400M graphics, and while it's not quite complete yet, it's certainly 99-percent awesome. Video after the cut Read The Full Story

Sony VAIO P overclocked to 2.4GHz

Chris Davies, Oct 8th 2009 Discuss [0]

A page of CrystalMark benchmark results may not be the most interesting image to lead with, but when you're showing the overclock results of pushing Sony's VAIO P not-a-netbook from its stock 1.86GHz up to 2.3GHz, then we'll take notice. EeeUser Forum member Cerano was responsible for the modifications, and in fact got his VAIO P cranked up to 2.4GHz (though he didn't benchmark it at that speed). Read The Full Story

Basic TV hack cuts HDCP copy-protection out of HDMI signal

Chris Davies, Oct 2nd 2009 Discuss [0]

Opening up your brand new HDTV and soldering wires directly to its control board takes a certain type of devil-may-care attitude, but in doing so one new owner found he could bypass HDCP. HDCP is the often-frustrating copy-protection system that insists on a "digital handshake" between DVI/HDMI connected components; however, the InstaPort Fast HDMI Switching system in this "big brand" TV fails to re-encrypt with HDCP in-between the control board and the switcher. Read The Full Story

Nokia N900 hacks publicize Nokia PUSH mod contest

Chris Davies, Sep 15th 2009 Discuss [0]

Part of Nokia's challenge to cement the N900 and Maemo is in drawing developers to the open-source platform, and to do that they've kicked off PUSH N900, a "unique design, hacking and modding project". To mark the event - which will see winning proposals rewarded with an N900, funding and support to deliver on their idea - the Finns commissioned four sample projects, inspired by the '80s and using the N900 in distinctive ways. These ended up including a 3D ViewMaster camera, digital Rolodex, 80's radio tagger/Last.fm integration, and a Speak and Spell mashup. Read The Full Story

iMac hamster cage lands on eBay

Chris Davies, Sep 15th 2009 Discuss [0]

If, like me, you've always had a sneaking suspicion that computers are powered by tiny animals rather than the "electricity" government conspiracy, then this DIY iMac hamster cage might appeal. Up for sale on eBay - for a whopping $350 buy-it-now, no less - it's an original blue iMac with the guts removed and mesh walls inserted. Read The Full Story

Ben Heck Atari 800 laptop casemod mk3 is best yet [Video]

Chris Davies, Sep 14th 2009 Discuss [0]

Be still my beating retro heart. Ben Heck has been flexing his awesome mod-skills and produced this incredible Atari 800 laptop casemod, replete with hearing-aid-beige casing, authentic keyboard - which pops-up at an angle - and front-loading cartridge slot. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Android 2.0 Donut gets Eee PC netbook install hack [Video]

Chris Davies, Aug 26th 2009 Discuss [0]

The plans of many official Android-based netbooks and Smartbooks may be on hold as companies tentatively measure the market, but if you're desperate for a blast of Google's open-source OS on your budget ultraportable then there are certainly ways to do it yourself. The latest tutorial we've spotted comes courtesy of UMPC Fever, who have put the latest build of Android OS 2.0 Donut onto their Eee PC. Video demos after the cut Read The Full Story

Touch HD gets HTC Leo TouchFLO 2.6 and WM6.5 [Video]

Chris Davies, Aug 24th 2009 Discuss [0]

While it may be getting on for a year old now, we've still got a soft-spot for HTC's Touch HD, so it's nice to see the homebrew ROM community endevoring to bring the latest software to the smartphone. XDA Developers forum member Miri has put together a combination ROM of Windows Mobile 6.5 and the new TouchFLO 3D 2.6 build fresh from pre-production HTC Leo handsets, and you can see it demonstrated after the cut. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

ASUS 900HA 8.9-inch touchscreen slate mod

Chris Davies, Aug 24th 2009 Discuss [0]

We've a soft-spot for DIY netbook tablet PC conversions here at SlashGear, so it's always nice to see a user turn their budget notebook into something a whole lot more interesting. EeeUser forum member Maine_Coon turned his ASUS Eee PC 900HA into a finger-friendly 8.9-inch slate, flipping the display around and adding a touchscreen layer on top. Read The Full Story

Platinum iMac challenges wallet, taste, sanity

Chris Davies, Aug 24th 2009 Discuss [0]

The last we saw of custom finish experts Computer Choppers was their iPod shuffle 3G tweaks, turning Apple's sober little PMP into a riot of anodized hues. Splashing out on a custom iPod is one thing; how about spending big money on platinum plating your 24-inch Apple iMac? Read The Full Story

HP Mini 1000 gets touchscreen mod [Video]

Chris Davies, Aug 20th 2009 Discuss [0]

Touchscreen netbook mods aren't new, but until the Heath Robinson spirit they channel ceases to entertain us, we'll keep featuring them. Latest to get the finger-friendly fettling is HP's Mini 1000, with owner timm.mccoy of the MyHPMini forums slapping in a 10.2-inch resistive touchscreen panel to turn his Atom-based netbook into a dinky tablet PC. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story