7 replies to this topic

[Matt]

Ive always been a fan of home theatre pc's and also having things look as close to the factory standard as possible, so anyone with an untrained eye would believe its the real thing. The oem look if you like

Ive always had a passion for computers and modifying everyday objects to contain computers. Crazy as it sounds, a lot of people seem to get a kick this way!!



For more amazing feats of engineering skill - check out www.mini-itx.com and look at projects

Some of the projects are brilliant, especially the teddy computer..

Following the trend for years, i'm finally going to give it ago myself!!



Some of you guys may have heard of the brand marantz, some not. They make hifi seperates equipment, you' know like cd players, amplifiers and other stuff. Some of its cheap, some of its expensive! I got lucky and managed to get a whole set for 41 pound.. its been valued at 1500

I'm going to modify a bog standard cd player and turn it into a home theatre computer - i hope

My main objectives are;

• To maintain product identity
• To maintain initial product quality
• To have a fully fledged working computer
• Utilise some of the working bottons on the front
• Use a working graphic display
• Allow recording of live television, whilst surfing the internet wirelessly did someone just shout porn??
• Allow FTP access - allows remote access, so can listen to music from work, can also transfer music to htpc from work
• Potentially setup for cctv recording.

Ill also do custom fabrication for this sort of thing - pm me if required, computers into most things provided its feasible!

Edited by Matt, 15 July 2008 - 03:57 PM.

[Matt]

To keep within my main objectives theres something i need to work out.

• Utilising the front panel buttons
• Utilising the front panel graphical screen
• Maintaining factory standard look - paint finish and quality
• Adding in Dvd/rw in factory location.

I can see already the hardest part will be using the front buttons, discarding the ones i dont want to use and blanking them off whilst still keeping the cd players paint (coor thats a mouthful)

Firstly... can anyone answer me? does that look like paint? or some sort of other coating??

[Matt]

Right come to my first change in the plan...

decided that the cd player i had in mind would be too much of a shame to break.

So i hopped onto ebay. I bid on a broken amplifier.. which to my amazement i actually won!!

That will shortly be on its way to me!



less modifications in a way, and has the special edition badge at the bottom i believe (well as good as my eye sight will allow me to see!! )

• bigger casing
• better cooling as a result
• vented grill at the top - didnt have this with the cd player
• less modifications
• special edition badge
• possibly a smoother clean cut effect at the end of it?

First things first...
i now have no where for a cdrom drive to suddenly pop out of, neither do i have room for a vfd.. or do i?

going to use a slot load dvdrw, which means there will be no ugly tray to be seen, just a tidy slit in the front which will allow the cd to go in and out. This will make the unit functional and also very easy to make the cd slow look clean and professional

hurrah...

Anyone got an ideas for what features i should add??

Edited by Matt, 16 July 2008 - 04:22 PM.

[Matt]

After some discussions from people on msn.. we decided i should keep the original volume control.

did a bit of research and have found the coolest gadget...



PowerMate is the coolest volume knob your computer has ever seen - but it's so much more.

You can use it to edit home movies or scroll through long documents or create your next audio masterpiece. How can PowerMate be this cool? Because it's an assignable controller that you can program to do anything you want, in any application. Customize it to your needs and go wild!

PowerMate functions beautifully as a convenient volume knob and mute button for music listening on your PC or Mac. But that's just the beginning of PowerMate's possibilities. Edit movies just like the pros with PowerMate functioning as your very own Jog/Shuttle wheel. PowerMate makes editing anything from home movies to your next demo a breeze. It even comes preset to work with iMovie, FinalCut Pro and GarageBand right out of the box!

But the real power of PowerMate is its programmable driver. You can quickly and easily program it to execute any Key Command, in any application.


PowerMate Features
Pump Up The Volume
PowerMate is the coolest volume knob your desk has ever seen. Crank up your MP3s and CDs. Then with a push of its button, mute your music to answer the phone and handle the complaints.

Touch And Glow
Cool blue light glows underneath the PowerMate, showing you visual status of what you're controlling. Turn the volume up - the glow gets brighter. Push mute - the light turns off. Coolest of all, it pulses hypnotically while your computer sleeps.

Take It For A Scroll
PowerMate is the fastest way to scroll through long text documents, web pages and spreadsheets. With a flick of the wrist, you get to the "bottom" of the story in record time.

Spin Control
PowerMate is an assignable controller. That means you can program it to do anything* you want - in any application. Program the wheel to scroll your email, set the button to switch to your browser. Customize it to your needs and get wild.

Technical Specifications:

* Height: 1.3 in. (33.4 mm)
* Diameter: 2.1 in. (53.8 mm)
* Weight: .26 lb. (.11 kg)
* Cable Length: 22"
* USB Extension Cable Length: 40”

Think that might just do the trick!!

My other marantz amp volume control is 51mm

Edited by Matt, 16 July 2008 - 05:00 PM.

[Matt]

Hurrah... ordered new parts.

1x motherboard, cpu, and memory - 2.66 Dual Core 775 M/B + 2048mb memory.
1x graphics card - Leadtek 8600gt
1x sound card - Sound Blaster Platinum with breakout box.

Already had
1x Pioneer Slotload Cdrw + Dvd drive.
1x 200gb Western Digital Sata Hdd - to be replaced with 3x 500gb Sata drives in raid.
1x joypad to pull apart.

To be Ordered;

1x set of brass motherboard standoffs
1x griffin powermate (bidding on ebay)
1x vfd screen
1x microsoft remote
6x Micro switches (for power button and various buttons)
1x set of mecanno metal - use to make a structure inside to mount cdrom, and hdds safely.
1x patience.
1x heatsink & fan - silent if possible
4x sets of sound dampening washers

Still waiting on Amp though

[Matt]

thought id update this...


Aiming to get this effect from the slot load dvd;

Edited by Matt, 22 July 2008 - 03:12 PM.

[gibba]

Hey Matt,

Looks like you are actualy going to do it then! fair play to you, i will be watching to see how the project turns out!

Best of luck,

Aaron

[Matt]

Cheers dude,

this one seems quite a boring project to be honest and the next one will be more entertaining, thinking of fitting a computer inside a teddy bear or replica mini

have now purchased the following;

ATi Radeon HD 2400 Pro Low Profile 256MB
Marantz Integrated Stereo Amplifier PM44SE - cheque didnt turn up, so just paid paypal.
Lot of 50 3mm Blue LED 5000mcd Free Resistors - 5 volts
CYBERLINK MCE Remote control for Media centre
PIONEER SLOT LOADING, DVD DRIVE, DVD-105S
7x 200W PRT 1U Power Supply (PSU) - will need at least 2. With some clever trickery ill be able to turn them on together
Flex Ribbon PCI Riser Card for 1U/2U Rackmount Chassis
22 x Metres of Solid Core Equipment Wire 11 x COLOURS

so gotta wait for all of that lot to arrive.
I can then at least begin

anyone think ive missed anything?

Edited by Matt, 22 July 2008 - 03:14 PM.