Making an xbox 360 laptop part 1

In this intructable I will show you how to make an xbox 360 laptop. I don't know how much this will cost once you add all of the prices together but I have only spent like $15.00 so far. In part 1 I will be showing you how to get all of the materials and we will attach the monitor to the xbox to make a nice display. I haven't finished yet since I have sort of been pressed for time. So lets get started!

Also you may want to check out Ben Heckendorns xbox 360 laptop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnmMNrB_y54&list=SL

Step 1: Gathering the tools and materials

Tools:
Soldering iron
Solder
Wire
Electrical tape
Duct tape
Assorted screwdrivers

Materials:
xbox 360 (Mine had the red rings)
LCD computer monitor (My dad got a broken one from work and I fixed it)
Speakers
Velcro

Now in case you don't have the money to buy a new xbox and monitor see if you can find an xbox with the red rings and a monitor that wont turn on. I fixed my monitor for about $5.00 and it works great (the problem was two bad capacitors).

Comments

[dgraham9]

what case did you house the monitor in, and what size was the monitor? cool project btw

[abadfart]

i would love to see the end result... my friend gave me his red ringed 360 to pull parts from to fix the shell on the one i have and i think i might re flow his and turn it in to a laptop for portable gaming and media viewing

[jbaker22]

be really careful with the x clamps!! I would put duct tape around the clamps and untape when you are done. I ruined 2 scratching the board.

[monkeyjo]

If it has the red rings you should try and fix it..... But since this xbox was really old it stopped working and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.... But I may buy a pre owned xbox from gamestop and try building it the way I want it.

[jbaker22]

What happens if you put a ps3 emulater for linux on your xbox 360?

[monkeyjo]

I'm not really good at doing stuff with software.... Mostly hardware.

[No0neLeftBehind]

Might want to elaborate on the last step. My computer teacher in High School stressed the point not to play with monitors unless you fully know what you are doing because they retain power and one wrong move could stop your heart. Other than that Great Instructable 5/5

[monkeyjo]

If the monitor has not been on in a while your safe but if you just turned it off and start taking it apart you will have more of a chance of getting electrocuted.

[mitanin]

Your Computer instructor might be old school. In the older CRT monitors, this was true as the capacitors stored a similar amount of electricity as the flash on a disposable camera (stun gun). I'm fairly certain that a newer LCD does not have the same kick.

[abadfart]

lcd monitors are safe as can bee assuming you unplug it first i mean not every body thinks that far ahead

[zack247]

very nice!
could the "cold spots" on the inverter cause it to not work at all? if so, how can i tell and do you mean just resolder the inverter's solder points?

[monkeyjo]

It could turn on for about thirty seconds or so and then it would shut off. I thought that was the problem with my monitor so I just resoldered the whole board and it worked for about twenty minutes but then it stopped working. So if your monitor is not turning on at all it is probably the capacitors or you blew a fuse on the inverter.

You can tell by looking at the inverter at the solder points and if it looks all dry and it would look kind of like this.

If your monitor is not turning on at all it is probably capacitors so I would look for bulges on the top of them. Like this one.

[zack247]

i already replaced the capacitors, but my screen runs 4 backlight bulbs, so it uses 2 inverters, im going to try resoldering them and see if it works, i had already replaced the puffy capacitors and as far as i can tell (without a backlight) the LCD works flawlessly.

[monkeyjo]

Ok

[zack247]

erk!
replying to a older post..

i just got this 17" monitor, and it will work fine just displaying basic stuff but once i start to play portal a random number of minutes in the screen will dim the bulbs and then turn them off. the monitor has no bad capacitors and the inverters have no cold spots, and it has done this with every computer except my laptop.
what do you suppose is wrong with it?

[monkeyjo]

Have you tried plugging it into a different outlet? Sometimes they can be getting bad power but I doubt that's the problem.

I found this link that might help you but I'm not totally sure what the problem is so I can't really explain how to fix it. I will do some research for you and let you know if I find anything else. Anyway here is the link,

http://www.inventgeek.com/projects/shorts/lcdfix.aspx

I would try googling what the problem is and see if you can find any ideas on how to fix it.

[monkeyjo]

And yeah I forgot to say just resolder the cold spots. I would look at the capacitors and fuse though. If your monitor is not turning on at all it could very well be the fuse and if you want to replace it make sure you have the same amperage fuse. If you can't find one that is the same voltage you want to use a higher voltage. And if you can find the same mf capacitors but not the same voltage you need to use a higher voltage.

[digiman1946]

Great job Jordan!

[teenylou]

Jordan you are soooo incredibly AWESOME!!!! I love this!

[Sgt. Cookie]

How much of an Xbox do I need? The console is obvious as is the hard drive and controller. But what I want to know is if I need all the cables and the like.

[monkeyjo]

You need the motherboard the disc drive and the power supply. You don't need to add the switch because all that does is allow you to switch between component video and VGA if you just want to be able to use it on the monitor just connect pin 20 to a ground using a piece of wire.

[monkeydino]

YEAH JORDAN!!!! THIS IS AWESOME!

[monkeyjo]

Haha thanks!!!