[idykenano]

Finally a desk for me to be proud of, and I'm going to be further enhancing it soon.


A macbook with a 19inch monitor and a G4 sawtooth accessed via remote desktop. A a POS compaq that is only even still in my house because I haven't had money to put a bigger hard drive into my macbook and put fusion with windows on it. Sadly the only thing I NEED windows for is netflix watching online.



Oh yeah, Motorola L7 with itunes, an olympus m:robe I'm hacking into a better mp3 player, bose speakers for the nights I just want to sit in bed and watch stuff on my 19inch monitor. And my mouse for my macbook is an old school Macally 2 button with scroll wheel. I like it because its super light and doesn't eat batteries (just a USB port).

Lastly, a b&w laser printer (best investment for my college education) and a 200gb external harddrive for time machine.

[klb5090]

Originally Posted by kertong 

can we get a link to that desktop? looks awesome

[Sarc]

This thread is a sort of hommage to the machine I'm using while I wait for the new MBP.

A while back my father broke the LCD so the machine was sitting in a closet ever since. Anyway, some time ago I decided to sell my PowerBook G4 12in while I could still get a good price for it and have been using frankenstein for about a year now.

Since I operate the computer on "closed-lid" mode, I was having trouble keeping the LCD closed because it didn't allow the heat to dissipate, so the fans where running constantly ... I removed it.
After it was gone, the computer would still think that it had an LCD attached. After a lot of Googling, I found on this helpful page that a magnet-operated sensor manages the 'open' or 'closed' status of the lid. The magnet was inside the lid, so I removed it and now its under the masking tape shown on Pic. 1. It has to be placed on that precise spot on top of the trackpad.

It didn't have USB2 so it was a pain to sync iPods or capture pictures from the camera, so I bought a two port DLink DUB-C2 USB 2.0 PCMCIA card that works out of-the-box with OS X.

Since the internal HDD was small and slow I bought a larger 250GB drive, hooked it via FireWire to a miniStack v2 case that has the virtue of regulating the fan speed depending on the temperature, so it runs quiet most of the time (plus it has both FW and USB hubs).

As for the display, I use a Dell 2407WFP 24 inch LCD. Excellent btw. It comes with a powered 4-port USB 2.0 hub so I attached it to the PCMCIA card and got 4 "free" ports. It also has a Flash Card Reader, a nice plus for frankenstein.

The mouse is a RF Microsoft Wireless Notebook Laser 6000, the RF dongle is attached to one of the USB 1.1 ports on the back of the PB.
The keyboard is the BT version of Apple's keyboards that interacts with a noname USB BlueTooth dongle that worked out-of-the-box with OS X. The BT dongle has to be attached to the PCMCIA card though or it would turn off every once in a while when it was attached directly to the PB. BT also allows iSync to work with my phone. I regularly backup the address book and calendar, plus Salling Clicker works flawlessly.

On the software side, it runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, quite well actually.
Firefox 3's lower memory footprint was welcome as it made everyday use much more bearable. Web pages that rely heavily on flash are somewhat painful, YouTube works fine though. Safari seems to run Flash faster so if it is your browser of choice you won't have such a hard time.
Office 2004 runs very well.

Lastly, audio. It's hooked to a 1980's Technics receiver I found in the storage room a couple of years back that still has 2 working inputs and sounds quite nice actually! Speakers are Paradigm Titans.
The mike works even under the table (just tweak the input level on System Preferences > Audio > Input), I use Skype regularly for long distance telephony.

So that's it. It works just fine for general purpose use: word processing, mail, (non-HD) movies, itunes and web browsing (as long as the page doesn't use a lot of Flash objects).
I can even do some gaming on it (provided that the game is old enough, Max Payne, CnC Generals, Ghost Recon, etc, not that I game too much these days anyway). Leopard was helpful in this area since it has a faster OpenGL implementation than Tiger.
It can also handle the occasional Photoshop touch up or iMovie job (that is, if the project is not too long, say 20 minutes or is in fact longer but with only a few effects/transitions/etc).

Since the machine is ... modular, I placed it under the desk (with the help of some Home Depot items). I wired the power adapters so I could easily take out the HDD whenever I need to move something large from another computer via USB.

All this leaves me with a very clean desk and an extremely silent computer that uses much less power than an average desktop PC (I'm affraid the LCD compensates for it though ).

Hope this inspires someone to give new use to 'old' Apple hardware that's still quite capable.


cheers

Pic. 1 - The Guts
Pic. 2 - Under The Desk
Pic. 3 - The End Result

[Hg2491]

Nicely done. Really like your creativity.

[@pplejaxkz]

Pretty sweet setup!

[Cottonsworth]

Very nice indeed. Kudos to you.

[xsphat]

Wow, I have a MacBook and two screens and I am envious of your franken-setup. I like it's simplicity, and that it is far from simple at the same time.

[Lionsblade]

Recent Mac convert, longtime Mac fan.
Here's my new setup:



The MBP is a 15in, 2.4 GHz with the 7200RPM, 200GB HD and 4GB RAM.
The HD to the right of it is an iOmega 7200RPM, 750GB, partitioned for backup and scratch disk.
And, of course, the customary 16GB iPod Touch, 30GB 5G iPod, and Wacom Tablet. :-P.
If you look closely, you can spot an old school SketchBook(tm) with Pencil input underneath the headphones.
Also, an iDog.

[hokie17]

You know the problem with that, right?

No, not the messy cables... It's the Notre Dame sticker! BOOOO! j/k

I've recently redone my setup with a new L-desk that allows me a work area with my MBP and a separate area to set up my flight sim gear (specifically for Falcon 4). I have zip-tied most of the cables under the desk to the metal desk frame not only to secure them, but mainly to make it look neat, especially since you can see through the glass desk. And, if anyone's wondering from the lamp, I went to NC State but was born a Hokie.

Here's the full-on view:



Here are the MBP, Klipsch speakers, 16GB iPhone, BT Mighty Mouse, two 1TB MyBooks hooked up by FW800 (one for movies and downloads, the other for Time Machine), and a trash can I bought at Staples because it looks like the one in my dock. Right of the trash can are a few cases to hold my DVD library. To the upper right is my HP OfficeJet 6210, cable modem, Airport Extreme fast ethernet 802.11n, and a USB hub. Hidden behind the printer are a BT Logitech MX1000 and a teardrop AEBS 802.11g (which I have bridged to the other AEBS so my iPhone, Mac Mini G4, and MB elsewhere in the house can run at g-speeds).



Here's the flight sim gear side of things. I don't always hook up the monitor while I'm in OS X. There's a TrackIR 4 atop the monitor, and below are a CH FighterStick, Throttle Quadrant, Pro Throttle, Pro Pedals, an X-Keys 20 velcroed to the printer (to serve as various cockpit keys), Aimsworth F-16 MFDs and ICP, and an Apple aluminum keyboard and wired Mighty Mouse. Hidden is a Nostromo SpeedPad N52 that I use in FPS games.

[cube-dude]

[jakbrud]

[ctt1wbw]

CudeDude, that's a nice feeling, huh? I love mine and you'll love yours. You'll have to change your name, though. Maybe something like AirDude.

[drnkn_stylz]

Originally Posted by irockdabari 

Where did you get that desktop picture?

Hey sorry for the late reply. I do not remember exactly where the desktop came from in my screenshot, but it is most likely from www.interfacelift.com or www.deviantart.com.

Cheers and nice shots everyone!

[driven]

Originally Posted by xsphat 

Wow, I have a MacBook and two screens and I am envious of your franken-setup. I like it's simplicity, and that it is far from simple at the same time.

Agreed. I am very impressed.

[berkIeestudent84]

in the middle of an iTunes library re-build. The CD stacks are two deep.



*not using an IS. Sorry for blurriness.
** This is only 1/4 of my CD collection. Lots of work ahead of me.

[Ted L. Nancy]

Originally Posted by berkIeestudent84 

in the middle of an iTunes library re-build. The CD stacks are two deep.



*not using an IS. Sorry for blurriness.
** This is only 1/4 of my CD collection. Lots of work ahead of me.

UGH. I pity you. Had to do that about 3 years ago and took forever. I too have an especially extensive CD collection.

[Yagami Raito]

here is mine

new to the forum btw !!
sup all =)




-Raito

[slpdLoad]

Nice shot.

[brassplayersrock²]

Very nice shot. Very, very nice.