Thin HTPC case + LCD = Big Powerful "laptop"

[Sc1C]

Is there a way to make my macintosh NOT sleep when I put down the screen?! That would solve so many of my problems hehe

I think you can wake it up again while closed by 'wiggling' a bluetooth mouse - not sure what other peripherals work tbh... My worry is that on the MBPro (new one anyway) the air outlets open as you open the screen, so a closed processing MBPro could get pretty hot?

[metaverse]

Meta,

Before I go throwing out outlandish ideas what kind of specs, options and upgradeable parts are you looking at? mobo/ram/cpu/video card(?)/hdd

you could go for a 1u half-depth rack and mount a used laptop screen to it. Depending on screen size and resolution you can ebay a used screen, or look around at local PC shops, sometimes they'll gut broken laptops and keep the usable parts including the monitors. If you snag the model # off the screens you can usually find adapters for the screen to go to USB, or some other port.

Sorry about taking so long to respond but I had thought this thread was going to die out and no one was going to respond - thank god I was wrong

After doing a bunch of research on using Laptop screens for this project it turns out that It takes a shit load of work and extra money in order to convert a laptop screen into VGA or DVI for use with a desktop motherboard.

Also - I ended up aquiring a 19" samsung LCD for a good price so i'm thinking about using that now. Possibly modifying the external shell and what not to mount it to the thin desktop case [HTPC cases are looking like the best options at this point]

I know NOTHING about rack mounts other than what they look like ... Also after searching this site quickly the prices are making me sick:

http://www.rackmountmart.com/

:::

As far as specs go ... I'm looking , as always, for the best bang for my buck.

I want it so that this setup can power Traktor Scratch Pro without ANY hiccups , latency, analyzing, ect ... and Also the ability to run a VST(i) and effects as well hooked up to a 2nd midi keyboard. I want to use my 1st midi keyboard the Novation 25 SL as my main controller for traktor with a single turntable hooked up on the side, mainly for scratching.

With that in mind i'm guessing either a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad - however my knowledge is such that I dont really know exactly what I need because i've yet to do little more than run the Demo for a little while on my desktop without any midi controllers.

I will build around my needs and it seems that my needs right now will be focused around the Case + Monitor and the CPU.

well, another idea is if you run everything in the same box just put a power strip in there, and once again, you have one cable, and surge protection at the same time

Also, you can look into rackmounted machines, that way you can just get a little rackmount travel setup (with handle and everything) and set it up however you want, shelves and all.

Not really good on the whole hardware modification stuff, but I'm sure there are things you can do.

Did you have anything in particular in mind - again , I'm sorry but I dont know anything about travel rack systems.

My rackmountable amp for my home studio just sits on a piece of wood LOL

[metaverse]

c'mon

[metaverse]

Friday night and everybodies partyin' ... except me

AAAAHHHH

Ok ... just needed to get that out of my system.

I also found some interesting info about Deckadance being able to be a VST host as well as Hosted within ableton itself as a VST.

Things are looking like I may lean towards that program for my needs instead of Traktor.

[Archies'bald]

As a newbie here feel free to shoot me down, but wouldn't an old aluminium technics 1210 flight case make a fantastic htpc case? It's earthed, big enough and if you have an old PC case you can remove all the parts from there and fit them more or less directly in to the flight case. It would also have the physical protection it needs. Weight is the only obvious disadvantage, if you sort out the cooling.

Cutting the inputs and outputs would pose a problem, but there are many rotary tools out there that will cut aluminium efficiently. I've built a few PC's from scratch and it's really easy if you do the research.


In fact I think I might give it a go.