Clam-tron & Duo-to-G4 Conversion
Submitted by elenchus on July 28, 2006 - 3:16pm.
Hardware Hacks
(This is why some people should never own a dremel.)
Hey All:
Two things.
(1) I've been reading over some old posts on 'fritter . . . specifically interested in finding out more about the old clamshell plastics.
I have a Graphite SE sitting in a box in a gazillion parts. My 12-year-old niece was visiting a couple of weeks ago and really fell for it. So, I figured that I'd reassemble it for her rather than (my initial plan) making a case for the guts, and adding the items I want in a laptop--e.g., built in track ball and tablet.
Now, the last time I ripped apart the clam, I (stupidly) tore the trackpad cable. Had to buy the entire palmrest molding to replace it. This is where it gets interesting: the palmrest I found is a transparent tangerine. I mean it's easily 65-70% transparent, i.e., verging on "clear." The seller insists that some clamshells were manufactured that way, which I've never heard of (not that that means anything). His story is consistent with talk on the street, namely, that the color cannot be stripped from a clamshell.
Now the SE that I’ve got has opaque plastics, and I’ve not looked at an older iBook in forever. I’m wondering if the first few batches of clamshells had translucent plastics and the later ones (the SEs? The FW?) didn’t? Some of the pics I see of older iBooks seem to have slightly more translucent palmrests than mine does. Could it be that removing the shielding from such a machine would create that transparent effect occasionally touted as a mod?
(2) WARNING: What follows is not intended as a cost-saving measure; I know that there are cheaper and faster ways to get a G4 powerbook. That’s not what this is about . . . I want to see if I can get a fairly powerful machine in an old-world mac box.
I’d like to take an older powerbook (say one of the duos . . . maybe a 2300) and convert it into a G4 powerbook. The dimensions of the case are almost exactly the same, if I’m not mistaken. Yes, I realize that I’ll have to alter (radically) the ports and will have to get replacement cables, since the guts will have to be rearranged in some instances. I’ll probably have to custom build the 2300 battery . . . but, I might be able to modify the frame to accommodate a G4 battery. The real worry is the LCD. I’d have to cut away so much of the original case in order to accommodate the G4 LCD, that virtually all of the old-world flavor would be lost. I would be perfectly happy to install a 9.1-ish screen (one drivable by the G4), but have no idea where I might get such an animal.
Also, I LOVE—really can’t emphasize this enough—the built-in trackball of some of the duos and would love to keep that but have deep reservations about being able to get the G4 mobo/OS to drive that.
Anyone have any suggestions regarding the LCD (the trackball)?
Cheers