Ben Heck Mods PS3 For Use in Afghanistan
Famed modder Benjamin Heckendorn (aka Ben Heck) has crammed Sony's PlayStation 3 console into a rugged Storm iM2600 case at the request of a soldier stationed in Afghanistan.
In a recent episode of Ben Heck's show, the soldier and his wife wanted something portable and rugged as they transfer the Sony console from station to station. In addition to the console, they also wanted to incorporate a Samsung B2230HD 21.5-inch widescreen LCD monitor which was eventually dismantled and mounted into the lid, allowing the soldier to simply open the case and play.
As seen in the show, the bottom half of the case held a dismantled PlayStation 3 Slim console, a power strip, a Netgear network switch, and the console's power supply plugged into the strip. The network Ethernet switch was actually installed for other soldiers with PlayStation 3 consoles so that they could plug right in and play together.
Naturally everything wasn't just dumped into the belly of the case-- Ben Heck fed a schematic into a CNC router to cut aluminum frames for both the bottom portion and the lid. The bottom itself comprised of three components: the base frame (where the Netgear switch and power switch resided), the PlayStation 3 mounting frame which held the exposed console components, and the main plate which held the power switch, filters, Ethernet ports and USB ports. It also featured a sliding door so that the soldier could insert a disk into the console's Blu-ray player underneath.
As for the top half, the dismantled LCD screen was mounted directly to the lid and covered with an aluminum frame which also held its extracted speakers and touch controls. The monitor also plugged into the power strip, requiring the user to turn on the PlayStation 3 on the "dash" and turn on the display separately via its touch control pad.
Ultimately the resulting Storm iM2600 PlayStation 3 mod weighed almost 30 lbs. To see how Ben Heck put the mod together, watch the show right here. Additional images from Ben Heck's blog can be accessed here.
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wow!
LAN Party Delux! O.O
this is pretty great actually... *thumbs up*
And it will still have sand everywhere in 6 months. There's no stopping that sand.
Nice mod.
Great build, would like to have one of those myself. But...
Good luck explaining it to the TSA just what kind of a "custom made electronic gadget" you are trying to bring onboard the plane. I'm sure it would be fun to watch !
But seriously, I can think of so many incredibly boring places with electric outlets where this PS3 would be so great ! I just had to go to one of those insane doctor appointments 2 months ago. They made me wait for 3(!) hours before I got seen! I wish I had this PS3 down there with me...
I think it's a great idea.
Wow, that is fantastic. I love it!
Can THG just block any post with a .us URL in it? The spam is rediculous.
Really, really awesome. But why the hell did he make it AQUA GREEN!!!??? WTF?
Nice to know that a gaming console is being used for the warfront.Know all we gotta to do is hope that they dont get pulled from the store shelves and priced increased and anyone using one isnt labelled a terrorist for use of a ps3 since they are being used for the actually warfront. Think the airforce has bunch of these too. Shouldnt matter of course given that, i think they are contract serviced but still. Who knows.
Those soldiers will be playin C.O.D. on the field?? The irony...
Wow badass mod bro.
Common Tom's ban these annoying folks who are spamming the site with this crap...
Very slick, nice for our boys overseas to have something to relax with.
he made it aqua cus he really wanted a 360.
@ K-zon2 what planet do you live on? This is going to a United States soldier to give him something cool to.do while he fights overseas. This is not a weaponized PS3 used for combat. ROFL ROFL ROFL where did you come up with that? Why would they charge more for a PS3, because a case modder made it easier for a soldier to play his console in Afghanistan. K-son2 can't brain today he has the dumb.
Oh no, don't tell Sony! They'll release an update to brick everyone's console so they don't make this mod.