I once turned a Mac Mini in to the world's least portable laptpo

[The_Prycer]

This was back in 2012 and I still think it was a great idea with terrible execution

 

Because I wanted a Macbook, but was a poor college student I devised a brilliant plan. Using my .edu email address I was able to get the mid range Quad core model for $500, which was almost my entire budget for a computer.

 

Went to Walmart and purchased a 15 inch TV with an atrocious refresh rate, but it was cheap, thin, and had an HDMI connection so I didn't care.

 

Wrapped Velcro strips around the bezels on the side and hooked the back of the TV in to my Pelican Case.

 

The Pelican case was super bulky, but just fit the tv and was the inspiration for this entire idea 

 

Hooked up a power strip to have both my Mini and TV powered by a single cable for the laptop aesthetic 

 

Plopped one of those cheap ass keyboards with the built in trackpads to it so I could have more USB ports open 

 

Grabbed some spare plywood and cut some extremely tight fitting boards out to section things out , but made sure they were only half the height of the bottom section to keep the screen safe during closing. Still glued foam from the craft store to the top of it for aesthetics.

 

Felt like a baller with my 20+lb Macbook that had screen flickering, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB HDD.

 

I still use that Mac Mini as my daily driver, but now it's hooked up to a 32" curved Samsung screen and I've upgraded the RAM to 16GB and plopped a 500GB SSD in (it was easier to clone the drive if it was the same size)

 

It might have been really stupid, but it was still the coolest thing I've ever done with a Mac

 

 

[Eumel2]

You know what this topic needs?

 

Pictures!

[The_Prycer]

Just now, Eumel2 said:

You know what this topic needs?

 

Pictures!

Unfortunately that Pelican case was stolen during a tour I was doing (needed a merch box), but I still have the tv and Mini so once I get back from work I guess I can take photos of those.

 

I still miss that case some times.