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iBook transparent case mod.

Carcenomy

New Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
Messages
218 (0.03/day)
Location
Invers, NZ
System Name Project T - the computer I've never finished!
Processor Intel Core2 Quad Q9550
Motherboard ASUS Striker Extreme
Cooling Zalman 9500AM2 with 9500AT fan on CPU, Zalman VF1000 on both GPUs
Memory 4GB Corsair XMS2 Pro DDR2-800
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTS250 OC'd 1GB w/ stock Zalman VF1050 x2 in SLI
Storage A-Data S592 64GB SSD and 2x 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA2 in RAID0
Display(s) ViewSonic VX2433wm
Case 1997 Macase SuperMid tower. Vertical hinge sides, custom mesh front, open air path, fan controller.
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Elite Pro PCI
Power Supply Silverstone Decathlon DA750
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Hasn't been benched.
Not really much of a mod to be honest, very straight forward and well worth the effort though.

I scored a 2000 vintage Apple iBook G3 Graphite for christmas. It's powered by an IBM PPC750 G3 @ 366MHz, has 320Mb RAM and a 6Gb hard drive. Not bad for a classic Mac, good enough for browsing.

But it was filthy. There was so much filth some had worked between the inside of the plastic case and the metal shields inside and looked terrible - especially since the plastic is transparent.

So I stripped it, and pulled the shields out to clean it... and then decided to leave them out. However, they also served as EMI shielding, and as heat shielding. Not keeping heat out, but keeping it in. As a result it keeps me toasty warm when I'm in bed surfing the 'net now.

I'll be taking it apart again soon to fit some ramsinks on the uncooled chipset components underneath though, it gets a little too hot for my liking.


The keyboard. Note the modem shielding at the top... I should have pulled it out, seeing as I never use the modem...


The underside - the bit I worry about. Note the memory modules and networking ICs lurking below - these are where it gets hot. Note also the strange marks - it's actually engraved with 'Collingwood Intermediate Principal'... it's an ex-school machine.


Back of the screen. I love the light flooding through the transparent plastic :)


Front of the screen. Ubuntu Edgy Eft 6.10... a big step up on MacOS 9.2.2. The screen frame is in full view now, makes it look a little bit gnarlier than stock.


So even though I'm not an Apple fan I think I'll be hanging onto the little notebook. It is fine for what I want it for, and it was free. The best bit is, it has the radical looks that it shares with all the Macintosh gear of the era. Like it or loath it, the clamshells were definitely one-of-a-kind notebooks.
 
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