I always seem to be in the middle of some sort of project. Well this time, I took apart an old laptop for the purposes of creating a digital picture frame that would randomly display pictures throughout the day. And, of course, I took pictures of the progress. Before any project I work on, I always do research on the internet and chances are likely that someone else has done and documented exactly what I want to do. Thanks internet!
The laptop is an IBM Thinkpad 600 with a 20GB hard drive, a WiFi card, one USB port, and then other features that I won’t be using. I will be able to remote desktop into the laptop and control it from my main computer in the house. Any pictures that I put in a certain folder on the hard drive will be in the rotation of pictures that the screensaver will cycle through. I’m going to have the laptop turn it self on and off at certain times in the day. The possibilities are endless. I can imagine a weather forecast in the morning, or maybe a caller ID text display…
I removed the CD-ROM drive, and the battery since I wasn’t going to use them and I wanted to make it lighter. I removed 29 screws in order to snap open the plastic frame surrounding the LCD screen, and to look underneath the keyboard. After removing as much as possible, including the rubber feet, I mounted the LCD screen to the back of the laptop.
I took the laptop to Darretta Custom Framing & Gallery today to have it framed in a sweet looking wooden frame, and I can’t wait to get it back.
Hopefully any information I provide here might help out some one else down the road. Let me know what you think.
Category: Projects
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March 18th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
My mom was given a store-bought version similar to what you’re describing, but it was a much smaller desk-top “photo frame” (and in this case by desk-top I mean something on top of her desk).
The cool thing about hers is that we can send her photos over the web and they’d show up on her desk amongst the regular photos that it cycles through. I guess you could do something similar to that, if you were so inclined, by setting it to cycle through a directory on your main computer to which people could upload photos from the web. Dunno if it’s possible to give people access to a folder in your computer via the web, or if that’s a smart idea, but it’s an idea.
March 18th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Very Interesting! What a great idea! How clever you are!
Have fun with it!
March 20th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Hey, looks great. Can’t wait to see the framed version.
Where do I send the pictures of me?
March 20th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
I can’t wait to steal that from you.
April 24th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
yo wanna hook me up with one of them for my dorm?
June 3rd, 2006 at 11:58 pm
hey i like what you done. r u interestedin selling or building me one. if so email me back. thanks
July 24th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Hi there,
I’m interested in what software you are using. I’ve got the same laptop. What image viewer software are you using? Ultimately I’d like to have the same setup as yours in that you use wireless to upload/update the photos.
I’ve seen different versions with and without the keyboard. Do you have your keyboard still connected or not?
Thanks for your help,
Darren.
July 24th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
I am using the Picture Slideshow Screensaver that comes with Windows XP. In my startup folder is a shortcut which starts the current screensaver.
My keyboard is still connected. It really doesn’t save too much room to remove it and it’s handy to have, especially with the red tip mouse pointer in the middle.
Any other questions?
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I too have a Thinkpad 600 that I’ve been trying to put to good use and I’m about to start the same project however I want to take care of all of the software stuff before I start tearing the laptop down. What I’m wondering is this, how well does XP run on this laptop? I’m running windows 2000 on it right now but if I want to use the slickr screensaver to view my flickr gallery over my wifi I have to install xp. How much ram does yours have and what is your HD size? Also, how is it for the fades between shots is it really slow? One last question, how is it for heat dissipation? I wouldn’t want my wall catching fire if I left it unattended.
Thanks
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Windows XP runs great on the IBM Thinkpad 600. It has 512 MB RAM, and a 20GB hard drive. The fades are fine, but I would recommend a quick transition to look more like a picture frame. The laptop protrudes out the back of my frame about 1/2 inch with the frame being 1 inch away from the wall. The heat doesn’t seem to be a problem.
I wasn’t able to figure it out but if you’re able to suspend your laptop and then wake it up at preset times then you’ll never have to touch it. To suspend yours, create a .bat file with the following command:
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState
Practice this before you take it apart. You might need to update your BIOS and you need a battery connected in order to update.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I also resize all photos to 1280x960 since that is the native resolution of the IBM Thinkpad 600. You’ll be able to fit tons on any sized hard drive.
January 5th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Thanks for the quick answers, my Thinkpad can only support 288MB (Thinkpad 600 type 2645) of ram according to Crucial’s website and I think I only have 96MB in there right now. You may have a Thinkpad 600X if you’re able to do 512MB. I found out that it is possible to run slickr on Win2k but I’ve been having trouble with it hanging on the 2nd slide for some reason. Also, I’m not sure about yours but my Thinkpad can’t do 1280x960, the highest mine goes is 1024x768 but I hear what you’re saying. Here’s a site with thinkpad specs http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/thinkpadspecs.html
Hopefully I’ll really get the project started tomorrow and hopefully finish it this weekend. If so I’ll post some pictures on flickr and submit the links here.
Thanks again for sharing your project, it makes starting my own a little less daunting.
January 6th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Well I’m knee deep in it now, I just spent the last 2 hours getting the laptop disassembled and I’m about to glue the lcd to the back of the laptop. I found as good as your pictures were I still had some problems getting the laptop apart so here are some links to more pictures of the disassembly http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_ibm.html if you happen to got to the German one click on the “Thinkpad Zerlegen” link on the left hand side, it will take you to the pictures.
Also, I installed Slickr and have it running great now. I also installed ultra vnc so I can control the laptop remotely. I will post the link to some of my pictures once I have it done.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:57 am
I did end up finishing the project that day and I now have the frame hanging on my wall (although I still need an extension cord so the power supply cord will hang straight down). Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me when I was doing the project over at my Dad’s place and by the time I realized I could use his most of the work was already done. Here is a link to what pictures I do have as well as some with the frame in action on the wall.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jphphotography/353640130/
Feel free to check out the rest of my Flickr photos or my website www.jphphotography.ca
James
March 15th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Nice site. Thanks.
May 27th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Hey dude, thanks for the DPF description. I have an IBM 600 and am doing the same thing as you did. THat’s how I found this site!
FYI, mine will be sitting in a display box I got from Hobby Lobby ($12) with an 11x14″ black matte frame ($1.99) that I glued in. It’s 14″x11″x2.5″ (external dimensions). It’s 9.5″ tall internally which means the 600 fits PERFECTLY inside with just enough room for the LCD cable to come around the edge. The internal width leaves 7/16″ on either side of the 600. I cut off the plastic hinge covers which are, luckily, 7/16″ wide. I just popped them in to keep the laptop from sliding around horizontally inside. I’m going to use a couple sheets of thin packing foam to fill the void between the keyboard and the wooden cover on the back of the frame (it has those little metal clips that slide into a groove to keep the back cover secured). The internal depth is 1 11/16″. The thickness of the laptop with the screen fixed on the backside is 1 1/2″. So it’s a pretty awesome fit!
You said you have no issue with overheating. Is there a back cover on yours or is this how the back side looks http://www.flickr.com/photos/jphphotography/353639300/in/set-72157594242786281/?
It looks like I’ll have a nicely sealed DPF. I may need to cut some vent holes. What do you think?
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
No problem Hunter.
My laptop back is exposed like yours, and there is a small gap between the keyboard and the wall because of the mounting bracket. I think you’ll be fine without cutting venting holes, it shouldn’t overheat.