Comments on: Digital Picture Frame from an Old Laptop

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:31:15 +0000

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.

By: Hunter

Hunter — Mon, 28 May 2007 02:07:22 +0000

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 11×14″ 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?

By: google

google — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:14:15 +0000

Nice site. Thanks.

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:57:33 +0000

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 http://www.jphphotography.ca

James

By: James

James — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 23:27:18 +0000

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.

By: James

James — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 05:16:33 +0000

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 1280×960, the highest mine goes is 1024×768 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.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:26:48 +0000

I also resize all photos to 1280×960 since that is the native resolution of the IBM Thinkpad 600. You’ll be able to fit tons on any sized hard drive.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:21:37 +0000

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.

By: James

James — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:38:23 +0000

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

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 03:05:40 +0000

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?