Behold! The iMac tablet computer that never was, courtesy of Rusty
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, History, Mods, iMacs, iPad
Remember all those rumors a couple years ago about Apple working on an iMac where you could remove the screen and use it as a tablet, then come home at night and dock it? Well, apparently faithful Macenstein reader Rusty does. Check out his extremely sweet iPad/iMac lovechild.
The 40 gig hard drive took a dive, and there was no way I would find a cheap replacement. And the 700 MHz PPC was not going to run hulu, youtube, or facebook. The innards are in a grocery bag in my office. I can’t bring myself to just throw them away. I took the speakers out of a dead iHome dock, and ran a headphone jack and cable through the arm. They are passive, and may be too quiet for everything, but it’s good for now. We’ll call this revision 1.
Rusty~
I doubt Apple could have done better themselves.
Meet Frank
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Hacks, design, iMacs
Above: “Frank” even has two giant bolts sticking out of his head, just like the real thing!
Faithful Macenstein reader Julian writes:
Hi Doc!
A few months ago, my brother came to me and asked for a computer which can run some games, runs Mac Os X, looks cool, and costs below 500€ (including monitor, keyboard and all), because he spends most of his money on amps and guitars.
So we had almost no options. A real Mac was way to expensive, and just buying a cheap computer and installing a hacked Os X didn’t fulfill the coolness-factor.A friend of mine and I came up with the idea of the Frankenmac, in short “Frank”.
We took our old iMac (G3 / 333 Mhz / 192 MB Ram) and converted it.
I love stuff like this. It’s probably a good thing I never learned to solder or I would have a whole bunch of oddly configured electronics throughout my house posing a number of fire risks. Of course, as with all hackintosh jobs, you sort of wonder why they didn’t just get a Mac mini… but hey, in things like this, the journey is sometimes as important as the destination. (detailed pics after the jump for those of you into such things). Read more
That’s a lovely iMac… FOR ME TO POOP ON!
Ewww… what, were you raised in a barn? Oh… sorry…Macs have a well-deserved reputation for not only being some of the fastest computers on the planet, but some of the most beautiful as well. Unfortunately, like all works of art, Macs do have their critics. iMac owner Jacob Batt recently found this out the hard way, and learned that having a computer as beautiful as a sculpture also means having to deal with the same enemies as sculptures – namely, birds.
“You have got to be shitting me. *no pun intended* I come back from dinner and I find this. I guess that’s what I get for having my computer in a barn. If you haven’t noticed there is a huge streak of bird shit right across the face of my computer.”
Hey don’t worry Jacob, I’ve always heard that that’s actually good luck (although I have always had a theory that that rumor was started by someone who found themselves getting shit on a lot).
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader John for the tip!
[via twitpic]
LEGO My iMac!
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Photos, iMacs
If there’s one thing I love more than Apple gear, it’s LEGOs. Well, OK, there’s nothing I love more than Apple gear, but LEGOs are a close second. Maybe third, after chocolate. That’s why I particularly love this LEGO G4 iMac made by Bjarne Tveskov out of a 7-inch digital picture frame.
“There is no Apple hardware inside (for now),” writes Bjarne, “but the screen can display videos, images and TV (there’s a digital TV tuner built in). I almost managed to get a motorized CD-tray in there, but most of the space in the bottom was needed for weight-elements. The screen is rather heavy so there is a lot of stress on the swivelling arm, but it worked out quite well.”
Above: Bjarne even managed to to create a little homage to Pixar’s Luxo Jr short. Nice.
Review: Focal XS 2.1-Channel Multimedia + iPod System
Filed under: Product Reviews, iMacs, iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch
Guess what? Your current iPod speakers suck. No, I don’t need to know what you’re using, because I know what you’re NOT using, and that’s the problem. What you should be using are the Focal XS speaker (that is, assuming you have $600 burning a hole in your pocket).
“$600 for iPod speakers!” you say? Yup. Focal, makers of high end studio speakers are breaking into the high-end iPod/computer speaker market with the very nice Focal XS, and for well-to-do audiophiles, they come temptingly close to justifying their $600 price tag.
Design
Much like the “Apple Tax”, a not insignificant portion of the money spent on the XS’s goes towards the design. And while a glass martini chair like the one pictured above in not required, it is implied that these speakers are being marketed more towards the design conscious than Joe iMac. From the moment you attempt to lift the 20-something-pound box, you know you’re getting something special. Opening the box reveals Read more
The iMac Shuffle
Introducing the new iMac shuffle. It’s the desktop that had everything. Now, there’s less. We’ve taken out that pesky glass screen and carved the entire computer out of aluminum, for extra sturdiness. Why no screen? Well, we wanted to make the iMac shuffle even more lightweight than its predecessors, and make sure that there was nothing to distract you from the Apple logo. For inspiration, we looked to our newest, most brilliant product… the new iPod shuffle.
Amazingly Uncomplicated
Taking out the screen allowed us to make the iMac even thinner. Seriously, if we turned it to the side, you nearly wouldn’t be able to see it. We’ve also built in our latest technology – VoiceOver. We liked moving the iPod controls out of the iPod shuffle so much that we decided to replace the keyboard and mouse with the same elegant input device…our inline remote.
Click here to read the full description of this truly drool-worthy machine. Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Douglas for the link!
[via iMacShuffle.com]
DIY iMac
When faithful Macenstein reader Joven wanted to buy a new iMac but found himself coming up short on funds, he did what any good Mac Geek would do – he built his own!
Joven already had an LCD monitor he was happy with, but loves the “Where’s the computer” design of the iMac. So he purchased a Mac mini, drew up some brackets in SketchUp, and headed to the garage for some good old fashioned aluminum bending!
“You can bend aluminum strips by hand. What I did was, first measure everything according to my design ( I posted the plan here: http://www.protodojo.com/downloads/ProtoDojo_BIGMac_final.pdf ). I drilled the holes using my drill press and cut the raw strips down to size with a hacksaw. Then placed the strip in a vise and bent it by hand. You also could use a rubber mallet instead. After that, it just screws in to the standard VESA mount holes on the back of the LCD.”
Joven says he wanted to avoid the $50 cost of commercially available VESA mounts, but I know for me, once I factor in the cost of buying a Drill Press, hacksaw, and a new LCD after I somehow ruin the first one, odds are I could have afforded 2 iMacs. Still, if you are handy, and not a total spaz like me, feel free to download Joven’s blue prints and have at it.
Behold the Lanix AIO22 – Mexico’s 22,644 Peso Black iMac clone
Looks like those of you jonesing for a black iMac are in luck, assuming you don’t mind it really being a PC and having to take a trip down Mexico way… Faithful Mexican Macenstein reader Christian writes:
Doc
This is a scan of a brochure that telmex (phone land carrier and owner of telcel) send me in order to convince to buy a clone of my iMac.the brand is Lanix model AIO22, it is a totally black iMac and it costs 36 pays of 629 pesos (13 pesos per dollar do the math)
Wow. By our calculations that comes out to roughly $3 million. Must be a pretty sweet machine.
Hmmm… “Bogner Vision” looks suspiciously like a 24-inch iMac…
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Hacks, Mods, Photos, iMacs
The famous German fashion company Bogner, best known for their ski fashions, has apparently begun branching out into the world of consumer electronics. Behold “Bogner Vision”.
Actually, that’s just a 24-inch iMac that Bogner decided to modify with their logo to run their store displays. I guess one way to subliminally let your customers know you overcharge for your clothes is to spend three times the cost of a regular 24-inch LCD TV and use an iMac instead.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Andy for the link!
Redefining “refurbished”
Overstock.com is selling what they call an Apple iMAC G5 Laptop (Refurbished). Not sure whether they refurbished an iMac into a laptop, or a laptop into an iMac, but either way, they went above and beyond what we normally expect when we hear “refurbished”.
The description reads: “Take your technology anywhere with this G5 desktop computer”. Anywhere, eh? Like the chiropractor? They list it at 18.5 lbs.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Kyle for the tip!
