Digital Picture Frame
What do you do with an old laptop?
Tear it apart and turn it
into a digital picture frame of course!
Required parts: Laptop with working lcd display and picture frame.
Since I started this I seen several variations of this project on the
net, some cool some not so cool. I hope this one will be a cool
one. Only time will tell. My wife actually liked the idea
behind this project. I got her a digital camera a while back and we
never know what to do with the pictures. They usually end up in
the digital equivalent of a "junk drawer", a dated folder in
the digitalpic directory on our hard drive. With digital pictures
you can't hand grandma the big stack of
pictures and let her thumb through them like you can with the pictures
from the Wal-mart photo lab. Also the display on the camera is too small
to see very well, especially for grandma. I wanted to create a
digital picture frame that can be wall mounted or carried around (using
laptop battery) and update remotely while connected to my LAN while not
completely destroying the laptop. I just might want to put it back
together someday.
I had also recently been given a 10" Craftsman Table saw for my
wedding anniversary and had bought a cheap-o brad nailer from Harbor
Freight. I was in the picture frame making business, boys...
 |
The first thing I did was to measure the display, it was 7 7/8 x 10
1/2. I was going to build the frame to match the exact size of the
LCD. Most of the other Digital Picture frames on the net used
store-bought frames with mats. I guess to make it look bigger? or
more decorative? I don't know. I wanted mine as small as
possible to make it as portable as possible (to take to
grandma's).
I used 4x1 pine for the frame (scrap from the Settee). Ripped it to 2
1/2", cut to size, glued, nailed, sanded, stained and finished. |
|
I then dismantled the laptop display. That was fun, lots of
very tiny screws. removed the LCD from the case and marked it's position
on the back of the frame. |
 |
Then I used my router to clear out a 3/8 in grove in the frame where
the display will mount flush. |
 |
I wanted to unfold the laptop and actually use the keyboard. To
do this screwed and glued a 1x1 piece of pine to the bottom of the
frame. Then used the original hinges to mount the laptop to the
frame. It worked pretty good, except... the ribbon cable that
connected the laptop the display was too short. If I tried to open
the laptop more than an inch it would unplug.
To fix this I had to cut the metal frame that holds the LCD in
place. Instead of the ribbon cable coming from the bottom it could
now come from the middle. This gave me just enough play to
completely open the laptop. |
 |
The next problem I ran into was the power supply. The plug for
the power supply was a straight plug right under the laptop hinge. It
wouldn't fit. I ended up cutting away at the insulation until I could
bend it into a "L" shape which I covered with heat shrink. |
|
Next steps:
1. Figure out how to enclose the back of the frame.
2. install the software: VNC & screen saver slide show.
3. Have fun.
|
