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Mini-ITX PC in an Atari 800
tgeller writes "As case mods go, this one's not the weirdest, But it has its own retro charm. Musician and geek Andy Hutson slipped a Mini-ITX motherboard into an Atari 800 case... and used an old cartridge as the mouse! Too bad the original keyboard's not functional." This almost makes me want to tear apart my old Apple //c and see what I can make. Almost.
If you even so much as touched a functioning PDP-11 with the intentions of harming it, I'm afraid I would have to come to your house and put the smack down on you.
People these days have no appreciation for old systems. Its like taking an antique grandfather clock and putting a digital display in it!
'Scuse my ignorance, but I'm curious as to just how incompatible the original keyboard was...
Would any of the people that know about hardware care to enlighten me on how hard a keyboard translater would be to build - something that would read the output of the Atari keyboard and spit out equivilent input that the Mini ITX's keyboard controller would understand?
There's a lot of really cool looking old gear out there (well, specifically, under the desk here) with built in keyboards that would make pretty nifty little machines for those of us who want to relive the days of sitting crosslegged on the loungeroom floor 3 inches from the TV screen tapping stuff into a machine like that, but with all mod cons...
You know they call 'em fingers but I've never seen 'em fing. Oh, there they go.
This is what I love to see. The hardware hackers. Sure it goes above the old Amiga hacks, but is great to see the creative mind put to use. Now all we nee is for someone to do a C=128D and use a bootable C=128 emulator like the Knoppix-thing. ;-)
This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
Even if you don't think the Atari 800 is a very pretty box, I think this conversion deserves full points for originality and style.
My only question is usability.
Did you happen to notice the Commodore PET ITX computer on the Mini-ITX site, where the original poster undoubtedly got this article? That's *almost* as retro as a PDP-11.
My journal has hot
Does anyone know of a source for 10" or smaller VGA input flatscreens at reasonable price? I want to convert a Mac SE/30 into a mini-ITX Linux server, with built-in display, but I can't find a source for the things.
Simply sticking a modern computer into an Atari 800 case is a little sad. Surely there are more fun mods to do... for example:
- mod a C64 disk drive to hold a full PC, with HDD, and talking IEE844 correctly to the C64.
- mod a C64 printer to become a network interface, allowing the vital print-to-slashdot function
- mod a game cartidge to hold a PC running Linux, then allow the original system to act as a console for the Linux box
Just modding hardware is skillfull, but modding software is true art.
Sig for sale or rent. One previous user. Inquire within.
This almost makes me want to tear apart my old Apple //c and see what I can make. Almost.
Why not just keep your old Apple IIc and spend the five bucks or whatever buying one on ebay? There are tons of "classic" computers on ebay that you can get for rediculously low prices (well, considering...) A while ago I almost got a lot of five sparc ipx's for $20. The winning bid was something like $25. Stuff like that is up there all the time.
Of course, I have some sort of weird ethical qualms with gutting old machines. Someone else usually has to throw them out. Why not try this mod on a nice toaster or even a cuisinart (double props if the thing still works without ruining the mobo)
just my two cents (adjusted for inflation)
This isn't funny, it's insightful. I had a break-in a few weeks ago, my housemates had jewellry stolen, money, laptops, the whole bit. My Mini-ITX computer is currently housed in a cardboard CD/RW box while i try to find a cool case for it, and even though the box was ripped apart, it wasn't stolen. There's a lot to be said for "stealthing" the belongings you own that are worth something. Laptops are highly prized amongst criminals - it's $500 no questions asked. Mini-ITX boards in a cardboard box are worth nothing in their eyes... and i ain't complaining.
I've been fooling around with a mini-itx board for a while, and tried to fit it into an Apple IIc. It will fit, if you forego a cd/dvd drive, full size hard drive, and use a laptop-style power supply with an external AC/DC adaptor.
My current plans are to put it into a wood box I purchased at a local artsy fartsy store, which will have plenty of room for a slot loading DVD drive, but will still need a laptop hard drive and the smaller power supply. DivX player, here I come!
-Ryan
Come on, honestly, how many of these old computers are still in use?
/. for their new killer apps anymore :)
The mod community can take the old and forgotten and breathe new life into it. Do you really think we would have the nostalgic pleasure of remembering old systems like the Atari 800 without mods like this?
They don't make the front page of
Well, if I had a IIc, I'd make a macpack and ditch my regular ol' backpack.
"A good conspiracy is an unprovable one." -Conspiracy Theory
as someone who has owned every production 8-bit Atari sold in the US (800,400,1200XL,800XL,600XL, 130XE, 65XE, XEGS... other models that are out there that I haven't owned include the 1400XL, 1450XL, 800XE...) this is just WRONG. WRONG, I tell you.
The 800 is one of the very best of the Atari 8-bit line. Funky seventies industrial design, lovely keyboard, great video and audio quality out of the box (Atari boogered the video and audio amplifiers on the XL and XE models)...
They're built like tanks, too. Remember, the MSRP for them in 1979 was something like $2000. In 1979 dollars. 1/4" and 1/8" aluminum shielding in there to pass the old FCC regs from before Apple paid off the FCC to get the Apple II series passed... We used to joke that the 800 could probably survive the EMP from the inevitable nuclear war that was going to happen in the eighties...
About the only "case mod" I could understand on an 800 is gluing the Star Raiders cartridge into the slot, and even then, I'd use a 400 for that...
Taking an old PC case and putting new hardware into it? Boring... been done before... and this one isn't even fully functional. It's little more than an attempt at something visually cool, and even then it has no visual appeal whatsoever.
Now the Telefunken 2003... a 45 year old radio upgraded to Internet Radio... that's a nice hack with unique artistic appeal!!
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