The glue has now dried, and it looks great! So I am running the now extended wires for the inverter board under the display and over to the other side where there is now space. I have also attached all my cardboard stands. It all fits into the frame great.

I will drill a hole in the side for the microphone which is on the inverter board. but the brightness and contrast controls are are also on this same board, so I cut up some more cardboard and put them between the buttons to prop it up off the inside of the frame so that the buttons will not be pressed. I then taped it onto the inside of the frame after the hole was drilled for the microphone.

The hole was then drilled in the bottom for the power cable Three holes were also drilled in the top for ventilation, but it really doesn't generate that much heat now that I've observed it for a few days. Also a hole was drilled in the bottom so that I could stick something in and hit the reset button to power it up since the keyboard it tucked away inside. Click for the full size image, which I enhanced so you can actually see the reset button in the hole.

Styrofoam blocks were added to make the base not move around and to add support inside. Now I put the back panel with a stand on the frame, and put on the Apple logo and the name plates on the back with more epoxy glue. Later on I will also add the sticker that was on the bottom of the laptop, but I think I'll need some double side tape for that. Some holes were also cut in the back of the stand panel for ventilation and for a finger hold in case I even need to get inside again.

Now for final placement in my apartment and boot up! It works great! I have since dropped in several more images over file sharing, all wireless of course. Right now, the cardboard stand on the back is was too weak to support 6+ pounds, so I plan to modify that later so I can angle it, but for now it just stands up on the bottom of the frame.

So, how much did it cost me to make this? Powerbook and wireless card from eBay: $199.40 Frame: $17.00 Back with stand: $2.29 Paint: $2.56 Wires: $2.00 Matte and laser cutting: $12.00 Total cost: $232.69 How much time did I spend on this? About 3 or 4 days of actual work, but the time between when I bought the laptop and when I finished, was about a month. This was mostly due to me moving from North Carolina to Florida for school. My dad also helped me out a lot and gave me a a lot of ideas, so thanks dad! A bit more than what I originally planned, but I was moving down to Orlando for school, and I needed the powerbook soon, so I bid on an auction with a laptop and a wireless card together. So to assure that they worked together and to make it easier on me with one auction, I bought them together. A slight downside to this project, there is one pixel dead center of the screen that is stuck on green. I was assured that there weren't any, but there was. Luckily green is a lighter color than blue or red, so it isn't very noticeable unless you get close. Also, the screen only display 65,000 colors, and I was hoping for the full 16.7 million that we have today. You can see some weird dithering where there should be some of the millions of colors, again not noticeable unless you get close. Overall, my roommate and I are very pleased with this frame, it really does look great!

Introduction

Step #1 - Software

Step #2 - Parts

Step #3 - Disassembly

Step #4 - Mounting