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12" K'nex PowerBook G4 stand

Submitted by CoolFox on October 7, 2004 - 3:28am. Creation

So, I was rather ticked off about how hot Apple's 12 PBG4 [1.33 GHz] when doing calculations for Folding@Home, or playing a 3D game...

As by chance, while laying in bed, I was remided of the box of K'nex I had in my closet from my younger days. Then it hit me... MAKE A STAND OUT OF K'NEX!!!! It would allow significantly more airflow under the chasis of the 'book thus allowing it to cool, and as a bonus, it would also raise the sucker to the correct typing height... no more of my Mom complaing how I slouch when using my PowerBook at my desk...

So incredibly silly! Yet so incredibly functional! How could I blow off such a "simple" project at 11:30 PM? So, dressed in my bathrobe, I got to work

Simple was NOT a good descriptor word for this project; it took quite a bit of intuition to make it all fit so well, and make it nice and sturdy... all in all, it took about 45 min to do this, 3 times the amount of time I thought that it would take to make the stand....

Anyway, using the freeware program "Temperature Monitor", I found that indeed, the stand does what I intended for it to do, and VERY well at that... there is a 20 degree (Celsius) drop for the CPU and GPU! I'd say that this was a VERY productive 45 min, abliet a VERY LATE hour 45 min project, being able to catch Late Night with Conan O'Brian right after finishing up...

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tmtomh's picture

Nice!

Submitted by tmtomh on October 8, 2004 - 11:13pm.

Very cool (no pun intended Sticking out tongue ).

A couple of questions:

(1) It looks like the front retainer part of the assembly stands slightly higher than the Powerbook's wristwrest. Does this cause any discomfort while typing at the keyboard?

(2) Have you considered making a variation that is lower in the front and higher in the back -- either to make the keyboard angle more ergonomic, or to make the PB work better on a desk with an external KB and mouse?

Matt

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Yes, it did cause a little di

Submitted by CoolFox on October 9, 2004 - 4:31am.

Yes, it did cause a little discomfort...

I made a few modifications after I posted this article, one of which changed the retention bar to just the corners, I'll put a pic up somtime... and I'm currently making annother stand that will allow me to put Apple's extended keyboard under the 'book when stowed.

As for angling the stand, that thought had not touched my mind... I'll have to consider that!

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westieg3's picture

pure genius

Submitted by westieg3 on October 11, 2004 - 2:34am.

i love it. now i have a use for all the old knex in my basement and i dont have to worry about my wallstreet overheating at home ever again.

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Brilliant! All I have to do i

Submitted by truly_cuboid on October 12, 2004 - 6:30pm.

Brilliant! All I have to do is just figure out how to make it (i'm rubbish with building and designing stuff. Programming is my strength). Could you put plans up (ie "you need 15yellow, 25blue, etc" and where you put the bits?

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sure...

Submitted by CoolFox on October 14, 2004 - 2:31am.

man, you really want a stand like this one for a diferent PowerBook? And you want me to pre-make a schemtatic? Wow, I did not realize that people would like this so much...

Ok, well, give me detailed measurements of the computer, and also take into account the ports and stuff on the sides and back of the machine... A picture is ALWAYS helpful.

Also, if any of you want, I'll post my new improved stand... you can look at it in my picture gallery on this website.

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If my parents give me enough,

Submitted by truly_cuboid on October 14, 2004 - 7:15am.

If my parents give me enough, the same 1.33 AL PBG4 12". It's a use for the vast amounts of k'nex hidden under my bed, and I won't have to spend £35 on the proper stand. I might possibly get a bookendz for it, but they cost a lot, so probs not.

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Good idea. I should make some

Submitted by ravuya on October 14, 2004 - 5:14pm.

Good idea. I should make something like this for my desk. I hate having to slouch to reach my 12" 1.33 Powerbook.

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Kurenai's picture

Nice, very nice. ive neve

Submitted by Kurenai on November 22, 2004 - 10:08am.

Nice, very nice.

ive never seen a design for anything out of KNEX that looked that sturdy, i made a much simpler version of that to jack up my router(they get HOT after running a few days..)

still a good idea though..

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I have a 15" and I set it on

Submitted by RogueDragon on December 9, 2004 - 11:59pm.

I have a 15" and I set it on the top of an external FW CD-ROM drive enclosure.
That enclosure currently houses the 80GB seagate i pulled from my last desktop machine after I migrated to this powerbook.
took me about 5 minutes to swap out that old 16-8-24 CD burner.
maybe it was 16-10-40
and i rememeber when those were really impressive numbers

i remember when there were no X's on CD drives
it was just
CD drive
1x, but there was no comparison, so it didnt matter that it was 1x
man
the memories....

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