MacBook/iMac Rack Hack

Step 4 Insert Laptop: Enjoy!

Here's the finished product: desktop functionality when you're at home and easy portability when you need to go.

Revisions:
I angled the foam to pitch the laptop forward, however, I've since found that this isn't ideal for dissipating heat. If you lean the macbook all the way back but leave an inch or so clearance between it and the wall, it runs cooler than sitting on the desk.

Again, if I had it to do again I would leave the frame on the port side and trim out the mesh. Also the optical drive isn't accessible under this configuration without lifting the macbook up slightly. However, this happens so rarely that it's not been work developing a better design.

Enjoy I'd love to hear/see how you implement/modify this idea.

[e-mail]
http://mattlumpkin.blogspot.com

Comments

[kurt.haines]

 Are you able to provide a profile photo of the your revised laptop position in the stand?

Going to be doing this myself to watch TV in my room using a USB TV Tuner and external speakers and just want to make sure I get the orientation right as the TV Tuner can sometimes make the fans run a bit.

[mattlumpkin]

 It's basically what you see, only I position it so the bottom leans back agains the steel mesh for maximal heat dissipation.

That said, two years into this setup my fan started to get loud.  I still insist it doesn't run any more than normal, but I did decide to replace the fan with one from ifixit.  No problems since and I'm still using it daily.  Just know your mileage may vary.  Good luck on the TV setup.  I like it.

[kurt.haines]

 Awesome.  Thanks for the iFixit idea.  Going to open up the Macbook and checkout the fan situation and give it a clean.  Might as well clean the whole laptop out, I think it needs it!

Will let you know how it goes.

[limpport]

 Nice bookshelf!

[Yerboogieman]

Shelf? All I see is Books!

[limpport]

www.instructables.com/id/Invisible-Book-Shelf/

[Yerboogieman]

I know, I was kidding.

[Genetastic]

I'm not sure where vents are located on an iBook, but when the laptop lid is closed, is heat an issue when running the machine? 

[sypage]

Clever idea, but just one suggestion: Why couldn't you rotate the laptop 180 degrees in the stand so you could access the optical drive from the top? Seems like that would work with my MacBook Pro, as there are no ports on the rear edge. I'm not sure about the MacBook's port configuration, as I don't have one.

[mattlumpkin]

Yeah, the ports are all on the left side as pictured, vent on the top, optical drive on the right. I don't use my optical drive much (once a week or so?) so it's not a problem to pull it up. Also, it would be possible to build the rack in such a way as to leave both sides open. But it hasn't been enough of an issue to spur me on to such action.

[limpport]

 I was thinking about what sypage said.  If you cut out in the bottom of the basket just enough to access the ports, the optical drive could stick upwards.  This also means that both sides of the rack can stay on, keeping it stronger.

And if your keyboard has quick keys you can set, just make one of them the eject button.   Apple keyboards are basically the exact same as the ones on their laptops, so they have the eject/volume/brightness/etc.

[VanTurenhout]

Nice, but how about switching the laptop on? I don't know how it works with an iBook, but with my Lenovo I have to open the lid to switch it on. So I have to take it out, swtich it on and put it back...hmmm

[mynameinc]

If you were using Linux (or any *nix) you could, theoretically, go 180 days without shutting down or rebooting. If you want Windows (for what reason, I'll never know), you could take a coat hanger, and bend it properly so a shift of it would depress the power button.

[apmc5d]

How do you get the lap top not to go to sleep when you close it.... even when it is hooked to the VGA cable i can not get my mac to not go into sleep mode?

[mattlumpkin]

Simply plug in a usb cable, wiggle a usb mouse, or hit a key on a usb keyboard and it wakes up the external display but not the macbook display. I like the idea of cutting a slit in the mesh on the optical drive side but I use it so little that I haven't done it. Re the power on problem, on commentor on the lifehacker post mentioned that you can power on and off with the remote. I can't find mine to test it but it sounds like the solution I've been looking for.

[mattlumpkin]

However, you do make a good point, that each laptop you did this for would have unique port issues and you would have to design or modify the rack accordingly. I do like that I can swap out other laptops and use them just as easily with the setup like I use the macbook. I have an old dell laptop I occasionally use for gaming, for example and it fits right in with no problem.