![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
computer in a briefcase?
- Thread starter snyper238
- Start date
I helped a guy I knew do this about a year ago. I don't have any pictures 
, but I can describe it to you.
He had an old Compaq P2 laptop that was huge, basically twice the size of a laptop today. (It was a Compaq Armada, so he called it the Admiral. He later bought a P3 module for it, which made it 600MHz.) He bought a cheap briefcase at Sam's club; some metal plates, brackets, and fasteners from a hardware store; and we used my tools to cut these up so that it would all fit inside.
The first metal plate went into the "bottom" of the briefcase. We drilled holes into the plate for bolts to go through, then glued the plate into the briefcase. At the ends of the bolts, we fastened another metal plate, which was there to protect the guts of the laptop which went in between.
He wanted to do something fancy with the screen, so we cut a square hole in the top of the briefcase, and the LCD panel faced outward. We got a sheet of plexiglass to sandwich in between the brackets holding the screen and the panel, to protect from scratches.
On the sides, we cut out panels, and attached metal plates with cutouts for the ports. We bought all manner of little extension cables, and ran them from what was once the back of the laptop to the ports on the sides, and epoxied them into place.
The final step was to purchase a miniature USB keyboard, which was small and thin enough to fit inside, in one of the pouches that hung off the top of the briefcase. He could carry it around all self-contained, then open it up, take out a keyboard, mouse, and power cable, close it back up, and have a working computer. (Of course, he had to have the briefcase sitting upright with the screen facing him.) All in all, it was very novel, and pretty clean looking on the outside. Less practical than having the laptop itself, of course (or the briefcase by itself for that matter! ), but practicality isn't the reason for doing these things, is it?
, but I can describe it to you.He had an old Compaq P2 laptop that was huge, basically twice the size of a laptop today. (It was a Compaq Armada, so he called it the Admiral. He later bought a P3 module for it, which made it 600MHz.) He bought a cheap briefcase at Sam's club; some metal plates, brackets, and fasteners from a hardware store; and we used my tools to cut these up so that it would all fit inside.
The first metal plate went into the "bottom" of the briefcase. We drilled holes into the plate for bolts to go through, then glued the plate into the briefcase. At the ends of the bolts, we fastened another metal plate, which was there to protect the guts of the laptop which went in between.
He wanted to do something fancy with the screen, so we cut a square hole in the top of the briefcase, and the LCD panel faced outward. We got a sheet of plexiglass to sandwich in between the brackets holding the screen and the panel, to protect from scratches.
On the sides, we cut out panels, and attached metal plates with cutouts for the ports. We bought all manner of little extension cables, and ran them from what was once the back of the laptop to the ports on the sides, and epoxied them into place.
The final step was to purchase a miniature USB keyboard, which was small and thin enough to fit inside, in one of the pouches that hung off the top of the briefcase. He could carry it around all self-contained, then open it up, take out a keyboard, mouse, and power cable, close it back up, and have a working computer. (Of course, he had to have the briefcase sitting upright with the screen facing him.) All in all, it was very novel, and pretty clean looking on the outside. Less practical than having the laptop itself, of course (or the briefcase by itself for that matter!
), but practicality isn't the reason for doing these things, is it? DeadlyAura
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 4,870
I think the PC in a briefcase idea is dumb because we now have tiny laptops. However, my friend and I are building a portable game cube over the summer and were looking for ideas on what to put it in. This could be great. With the GC in there and a battery pack, there may even be room for extra controllers for multiplayer portable Game Cube action.
Thanks man for that idea, this could be great. I was looking at micro ATX cases, but they were all so expensive and would require some heavy modding. The cheapo briefcase might just work.
Thanks man for that idea, this could be great. I was looking at micro ATX cases, but they were all so expensive and would require some heavy modding. The cheapo briefcase might just work.
synaps3 said:It's been done several times. Really, there is no point to it since you can get really nice SFF cases that are smaller
Perhaps, but I've never seen a stealth brief"case" done. They all had fanholes, CDRom faces, or sockets sticking out the side. The stealthiest I've seen had a IEC socket and a network socket, but I've never seen one that didn't appear in the slightest to contain anything other than paper.
That could be cool. Hard to keep cool physically, but cool in appearance.
yea i think i would have to have fan holes, at least one or two
I still may try it with a old athlon xp i have laying around
the reason i thought of doing this is because a laptop is so much more expensive this way you could upgrade easily and cheaply
I still may try it with a old athlon xp i have laying around
the reason i thought of doing this is because a laptop is so much more expensive this way you could upgrade easily and cheaply
I just did an aluminum attache case with a touch screen in it as a sort of jolly green giants ipod it is complete with speakers and touchtone jukebox software, It has over 17,000 songs on it. Kind of a portable party! used an old matx board and powersupply
There was a mod linked on the mainpage of the [H] a couple years ago that did it in one of those aluminum briefcases, and it looked good. I am not sure if it was a local thing or a link to a third party site, but you could check the search and see what comes up.
velusip
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Messages
- 1,579
I've considered embedding a tiny computer into a briefcase so that it's still a very usable briefcase. With mini ITX, a low power lcd, and some fancy upholstering it might be integrated quite nicely.
Hinokagutsuchi
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2003
- Messages
- 371
Most briefcase mods look somewhat decent, but the best one I have ever seen was a computer modded into a pelican case. The entire thing was self contained and waterproof. It opened up and the screen, speakers, and keyboard were all built into the bottom.
Randolphjo
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
- Messages
- 73
I'm going to do a computer in a briefcase mod very soon. The reason I'm going to do the project is so I can use my USB GPS setup in my vehicle (without having to do any modding to my vehicle).
My plan is to make a stealth case with some small openings cut in the back hinge area of the breifcase to connect my USB GPS receiver as well as a trackball mouse. I plan to have the case lid open when using the GPS and be able to store all of the gack inside the case when not in use - and have it look like a stock briefcase otherwise. I will build a platform inside the case to secure the laptop and to aid cooling.
My plan is to make a stealth case with some small openings cut in the back hinge area of the breifcase to connect my USB GPS receiver as well as a trackball mouse. I plan to have the case lid open when using the GPS and be able to store all of the gack inside the case when not in use - and have it look like a stock briefcase otherwise. I will build a platform inside the case to secure the laptop and to aid cooling.