Here comes the Macminitosh!

[superpantoufle]

Hi there!

May I introduce you to my new and already beloved Macminitosh? This project is nearly finished, and I thought I'd share some pics before writing a longer blog post or article (in french, though).

Basically, I got the idea last year when I saw what those guys had done with a Mini and a SE/30 case. I instantly knew I had to get myself something similar as a media center and home server.

At the time I had two SE in my collection, one of which had a broken CRT. So I made some heavy component switching between them, in order to have one nearly perfect SE (in a slightly bad looking case), and one nearly perfect case (with some spare parts…  ).

I then bought a second hand 8.4'' LCD monitor from eBay, a second hand CoreDuo Mac mini, some Dremel tools and here it is!

Please note that my goal was to keep the outside of the case as much as possible intact. I only cut one hole in the front for the DVD drive, one hole in the back for the power switch, and a big hideous hole in the top which I thought would become the coolest iPod Nano dock in the world, until I bought myself an iPhone 3G which wouldn't fit.

It reads CD, DVD and floppies (no luck with 400k and 800k, though), can use both USB and ADB peripherals thanks to a Griffin iMate, has dual screen thanks to a Kensington USB adapter and will soon serve me as a gorgeous vintage looking media center plugged to my TV. I'm still not happy with the DVI-HDMI and optical audio cables that go through the once-SCSI port, but I think the rest is pretty good-looking!

Here are the pics! - on flickr

Here are the pics as a local gallery.

 

[slomacuser]

looks great! I like it congrats

 

[Bunsen]

Very neat work there. I wouldn't be concerned about the cables coming out the SCSI port - it looks a fine job to me.

 

[JDW]

I love how you kept the keyboard and mouse stock. I also love the non-yellowed case too! And I think it's outstanding that you kept compatibility with floppy disks!

The only suggestion I have is that you please shoot another photo for us, showing the LCD screen close up.

 

[superpantoufle]

Sure! Front or rear?

 

[JDW]

Front of LCD, straight-on. A shot similar to what I have taken here. (You can see a little of the plastic housing, but the jist of the shot is focused on the screen. You can then see how well centered the content is on the screen, as well as how much "black border" there is.

Thanks.

 

[Mac128]

This is the gold standard to which you should aspire. The case was not modified at all. Perhaps this will be helpful in concealing your wires:

http://dclausen.net/projects/tfam/

Also, while I prefer the LCD, it doesn't quite fit properly in the CRT bezel opening. For any such project this is serious consideration, especially now that we have a report it can be done relatively easily:

http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/782.html

Here are some other good Mini conversions:

http://www.destruc.tv/minitosh.php

One based on a Colour Classic with good custom manufactured parts. (text only - images lost - B.)

You might also consider this conversion to go with your iPode media center on a pair of "beyond-repair" compacts:

http://www.arawak.com.au/hifiplus/hifiplus.html

 

[Bunsen]

The dual G4 SE/30 (text only - images lost - B.) is pretty sweet too - and has less stickers

In fact there's a number of cool projects on that site.

 

[superpantoufle]

There's a lot of cool project going on, a lot of whom inspired me. The one that got me started at first is that one:

http://apptree.net/macsex.htm

It's pretty cool, but I didn't like the cutting of the CRT bezel. I clearly wanted to preserve the typical "curved" look as much as possible, and avoid modifying the case. I also saw Mac128's link, but my poor skills wouldn't allow me to diamond-cut the CRT...

So I went with the easiest solution, at least from my point of view and skills: I built a simple metal frame from a bar (is that the right word in english?) around the lcd panel, which I screwd to the case using the original SE's screws. The frame is covered with a black foam sheet which helped filling the gap caused by the curved bezel. There still is a 4-5 milimeters gap in the middle of the bezel, but it can't be seen unless being extra close. And it looks great, I think.

The panel is sadly a tiny little bit closer to the bottom of the bezel than the top. In fact, it does perfectly simulate a bad height setting of the CRT!

A picture is coming as soon as I get to it. It may not be perfect, but I'm largely satisfied with it!

And by the way, I apologize for my numerous mistakes. English is a foreign language for me, and I miss a lot of vocabulary and grammar. Sorry, hopefully you understood what I tried to write!

 

[Bunsen]

Pas mal, pas mal du tôut - certainment, c'est meilleur que ma français!

 

[superpantoufle]

Pas mal, pas mal du tôut - certainment, c'est meilleur que ma français!

« pas mal du tout; mon français »

I'll give you a 18/20 on that one, and you'll have to copy it 100 times for next week!

Still no pics, sorry. I haven't touched the Macminitosh since last week, since I also have some serious job to do, sadly…

 

[superpantoufle]

Hi all,

I thought I'd update this thread, since I've made some heavy modifications to my Macminitosh project, that I considered rebranding under the name "Macintosh SE/x", as said in that thread.

Actally Mac128 got me started in his post above, when he told us about diamond cutting the front of a CRT in order to keep its look. Then JDW asked for a front picture of the screen (by the way, sorry it took so long for me to answer!). It looked OK for me, but I knew it was far from perfect.

Then came once again the old discussion regarding CRT vs LCD in the other thread, My opinion is that all the point of such project is to put modern hardware in an old case, retaining as much as possible of the old computer's look and feel. And CRT screen certainly can't be called "modern hardware", even if they are color CRT. LCD was definitely the way to go. So I went to see a "glas seller" (how do you call in english those who cut glas for windows?), and asked him about cutting the screen for me. He looked at it and said his tools would break it, and that I'd be better off with a Dremel.

So I had a deep breathe and I went to buy a diamond saw for my Dremel, and I started to cut my CRT. Believe it or not, I haven't broken it!!! 8-o

It took me a while, though. And I managed to fit it between the bezel and the frame I built around the LCD, only using longer screws to keep the frame in place. It looks great! I have to thank you guys for putting higher standards in making those compact Macs look better and better!

Here are a couple of pics of the Macintosh SE/x:



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

 

[Mac128]

That's great! Thanks so much for doing this. Could you provide a few more details, like what you used to clean the phosphor from inside of the CRT? Is there any distortion of the LCD or issues with brightness or clarity behind the CRT glass? About how long did it take you? 10 minutes? 30?

 

[motion]

great job, i guess i need to buy a dremel too for my lightning mac project....

i'm interested too on how to clean phosphor, i've tried some acid chimical i had on my garage, but it didn't work

 

[superpantoufle]

Well, I didn't know that stuff inside of the CRT was phosphor, actually. Sh*t, hopefully I didn't pollute too much!

Believe it or not, it all went off easily with hot water, and I finished the job by putting the screen in the dishwasher.

No distortion at all, but still a few issues: the main thing is clarity/luminosity. It's a dark grey glas, which retains a lot of light. Then even at full luminosity, the LCD appears not very bright. The second issue I noticed is that the glass seems to be polarised or something, so the viewing angle is very short. You have to be straight in front of the screen to be able to see and read well enough. But maybe this is because my LCD's frame was a bit wider than the screen, so there is about eight milimeters of free space between the glas and the LCD at the center of screen, and much less in the borders. Try and find an 8.4'' LCD with the thinnest possible border, that could fit really "inside" the CRT glas.

As for the time it took, don't be in a hurry! It actually took me several hours…  :'(

At first I had no idea how thick the glas was inside and I never had cut glas before, so I took no risk and cut far from the front, as you can see in my first pic. Then I had to start over the nearest I could from the front. So I've the job twice, and it took me about an hour and a half each time, with a standard Dremel diamond tool, and I had to stop often in the middle, because the glas got too hot and melted in some places, and I was afraid it would break. Now, it was the first time, and maybe next time, I would dare to apply more pressure and do it quicker!

 

[sambapati87]

Where did you get your LCD? I'm having a hard time sourcing a used one, and they are pretty expensive new (at least the one's I've found).

 

[superpantoufle]

I found it on eBay Germany for about €100. The brand was Hami. But right now I can't find any on eBay, sadly.

 

[tmtomh]

Yeah, I have the exact same Hami model. I got it off eBay about three or four years ago, for about $150US shipped form Hong Kong. It's an 8.4" diagonal panel, which fits the Compact Macs perfectly.

 

[Masterjedi73]

How are you able to get the LCD connected to the mini???