Changing the laptop case to relocate the LCD

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

> We are wondering how diffult it is to take out the LCD panel in a
> laptop and move it to the back side of the laptop.

It's not terribly difficult. Several people (www.artpix.com for one - I
used to work for a competitor) have tried to make a product out of
exactly this.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

short answer is it depends on the laptop. you'll have zero luck
extending the video cables as they're all proprietary and the chances
of you being able to microsolder all the connections on a plastic
ribbon cable are pretty slim, but if it's for a permanent installation
you can probably hack the laptop apart and fold the display back on
itself - as if you'd opened it up past the normal angle and continued
folding it back until it laid flat on the base of the laptop.

i've just done exactly this to make a pictureframe PC out of an old
dell CPi laptop - removed the LCD surround and disconnected from
hinges, mounted to picture frame surround card, and folded it back on
the laptop bones. the laptop itself was screwed to a wooden panel
behind the picture frame's glass.

it worked great - there's enough slack on the video cable to do this.

in practice, you're going to have to hack a laptop apart to try this -
but if you don't mind experimenting, it's not that hard to do.

you can do without keyboard access etc if you install VNC and control
it over the network - my picture frame PCs got a wireless card in it so
i can upload pics for display over the wifi network, and control the
desktop from any other PC via a webbrowser VNC connection. end result
is a box running xp and the "my pictures" slideshow screensaver that
mounts on the wall and surprises the hell out of guests...!

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thank you for responding!
Those are quite cool. Althought we need to go with something for video.
The whole unit needs to be somewhat thin.
It is good to know that is is "not terribly diffucult" to do.

Thanks Agian!

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Ric,

Thank you for responding.
Your set up sounds most cool!
I think we are just going to take it slow
and take one of these laptops apart and see what the cables look like.
It is good to know that is is not that hard to do.
We just need the screen to be functioning, it does not need to look
pretty.
We can put the whole thing in a box.

Thank again for reponding!
Every one has been very helpful and we appriciate it!

Best,
Dereck

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

into.theblue@verizon.net wrote:

> We are wondering how diffult it is to take out the LCD panel in a
> laptop and move it to the back side of the laptop.
> (Kind of like a tablet, but less $)
> We are doing this in a museum like setting so we can play back video
> all in a small box.
> I guess we would like to know if it is possible to extend the cables
> for about a 6 inches. If anybody that works alot with this stuff might
> be able to let us know what they think, that would be a great help. We
> do alot of computer and electronic work, but not so much with laptops.
> I would be most greatful if any
> one can share some ideas.

It's going to depend on the machine. As an alternative though, have you
considered a small-form-factor machine mounted to the back of an LCD
monitor? You can get a variety of them from the major manufacturers (look
in the "large business" sections) or build one using mini-ITX components
<http://www.mini-itx.com> is a good starting point, if you froogle
"mini-ITX" or specific model numbers then you'll find much better pricing
on much of it.

As another alternative, you might have more luck pulling _all_ the guts out
of the laptop and mounting them in your own box.

> Thank you!
> Dereck

--
--John
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