Usually I don’t show works-in-progress, but THQ wanted me to keep people in the loop so here’s a quick look at the Darksiders laptop.
It’s similar in size to my previous Xbox 360 laptops but a little bigger.
- A little more room allows a lot more features as this one includes a slot to insert a full-sized Xbox 360 hard drive.
- Also both memory card slots are available, so taking your home profile “on the road” will be a piece of cake.
- The Xbox Live camera is included, as well as Wi-Fi.
- The 2 circles on either side will be the speakers. Also note all buttons are front-mounted, sync, eject and the remaining USB port.
Here is the unit when closed. The big difference you’ll see is the curved bevel edges, both top and bottom. The black slit in front is the DVD tray. Remember this unit is a blank matte white because it’s going to be painted with custom artwork (not by me) as part of the contest.
Some added pics:
Back of the unit open. Again, it’s a blank white so art can be applied.
Unit closed. It uses 2 friction hinges from McMaster-Carr, which is one of the best websites around. There isn’t an actual catch when it is closed, just the force of the hinges (kind of like a DS)
Unit opened with the hinges properly attached. The insides are quite flush and flat, including the eject, power and sync buttons. There is a well for the Xbox Live Vision camera to rest inside of when closed. Graphics and labeling on this unit is minimal. Also there are enough air holes in the design to make a Swiss cheese factory blush.
One thing I like about Xbox is you can plug a lot of the stuff into a laptop for quick testing. Here I an seeing if the camera mount position is good – appears to be!
This laptop is sweet. Is there a contest to win this laptop, if so sign me up. Im pretty new at modding and just looking at what work you can do is amazing. I have to slow down on the 360 because im out of money and i just messed up my last xbox. Any tips on how to work on 360’s will be greatly appreciated.
this is beautiful…
Egads, those rounded edges are making me all misty-eyed! Effing gorgeous. A little CNC magic?
What? You’re NOT doing the artwork? But that “possum” on the PS2 rocked! LOL 🙂
looks like a bar of soap.
cool…. i like the rounded edges and the removable hard drive, but im not a big fat of the holes where the keyboard used to be, just my opinion, the rest is F**KING AWESOME
i meant to say “fan” where “fat is
Please stop making these! It’s really getting old. Like a bad joke. Like “why did the chicken cross the road” bad. I’d be more than happy to have an intervention for you…
You can keep drinking, but please stop making Xbox’s portable
Cheez shut up….
that thing is beautiful, will you make another after the contest?
WOW rounded edges!!!!!!!!never thought i’d see this comming from you, Ben. It looks great!!! Is it just me thow or does this new portable kinda look like a macbook when its closed… 🙂
Hi i’m a Mac
And i’m an xbox 360
Cheez, the internet is big enough just to look elsewere if your not happy!!!!
Ben, keep up the great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
man your my hero how much would the price be on one of those
Cheez, what you’re asking sounds a lot more like you wanting people to stop making bikes because cars are so much cooler. It’s up to Ben on what he wants to do with these things, so stop being his mommy.
xbox 360- what do you do
mac- oh..i surf the net….im really good at finding and editing x-rated material.what do you do
xbox360- oh ican do the same with simple mods plus i play the latest hi-def games can u???
mac- um no i cant
xbox360-what a shame(snicker.snicker)
————————————————————————————————————-
anyways ben u rock man
1. I come to this site because I like Ben’s stuff. I actually prefer the movies and pod casts to the video games.
2. I’m not saying stop making bikes because cars are cooler. It’s more like how a car company makes cars. If you haven’t noticed, Chevy makes more cars than just the Cobalt. They don’t make the same thing over and over again. They bring out NEW models. Same goes here.
3. I still appreciate what Ben did here, don’t get me wrong.
4. I’m not being his mommy. I offered constructive criticism in a humorous manner.
Hey I would love to do other things than laptops. But it’s what people want, and it pays the bills.
Much like how musicians probably wish people would listen to their new albums, when everybody just wants the old.
Still, I can do podcasts and movies as a fun diversion for myself, even if I don’t get paid to do it.
-Ben
Cheez, there was nothing constructive or humorous about your so called criticism. “Critics” like you are as useless as “Analysis” and “Experts”…Nobody asked for your opinions yet you go around acting like someone wanted it. Go pull your head out.
First of all, when did I say was a critic? Or that anybody asked? If I’m not mistaken, I said I OFFERED constructive criticism. And you know what? I’m not going to pull my head out, ’cause it’s warm in there. Would you like to join me?
Cheez, you just proved yourself wrong.
“They bring out NEW models. Same goes here.”
Isn’t this a new model, with new features?
I bet car companies use the same engine for some cars, but make it look better and add some extras.
Same goes here. 😉
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Acritic :
From the Greek for ‘one who discerns’. A professional or amateur who offers observations, analysis, judegement (both subjective and reasoned) and interpretation of the work of others. The responses and reviews of critics are usually published.
‘Kay, thanks, bye.
On-topic: Looks good so far. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critic
Constructive criticism is a compassionate attitude towards the person qualified for criticism.
Destructive criticism is intended to harm someone, derogate and destroy someone’s creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem on whatever level it might be.
Cheez’z first comment would sway to the Destructive criticism for most people reading it (especially if reading it not knowing it was intended humourously, as I did first time)
So I’d say Rob is partly right, there isn’t much constructive-ness in Cheez’s comment, but I do see the parts of humour in his comment aswell.
And since everyone wants to know my opinion on it I thought i’d post my findings 😛
So paul, cheez, and rob… lets not stray from the topic at hand… Its just another 360 laptop mod, your supposed to say your opinion… i personally dont give a sh$t if someone likes it or not, thats there opinion… stop getting mad just because cheez doesnt see what you do… I think Paul and Rob fail more than cheez
Wow, the interwebses sure are serious business.
Since when were people not allowed to have opinions? For example, some people out there might consider me to be mentally handicapped for pointing out show silly some of you are being; and that is fine with me… Oh wells, I’ve had enough fun with the transcriber on ny new (old) pda for one night X-D
I think most of these posts have more to do with attacking somebody’s poorly worded post than the new xbox 360 laptop.
Anyway, I have a question regarding the psu’s of these laptops, this may have already been answered in the DIY forums, but i’d like to know how power is drawn for the LCD, and also whether you plan to make a lithium-ion battery powered version of a PS3 or xbox360 laptop.
I ask this because it would be freaking awesome if your machines could become 100% portable.
To Gee: this isn’t a new model, it’s still an Xbox 360 laptop. This is just like the 2008 as opposes to the ’07 or whatever.
I’ve grown weary of this nonsense. Just go back to agreeing with each other about how awesome this is.
Cheez:
This IS a new model. It has more features, different design concept, and its just as cool as all of the others. When Chevy rolls out the 2009 Corvette, It will most likely have new features, new design concept, and it will be just as cool as the other Corvettes. People don’t walk up to their GM dealer and say “Hey were F**KING tired of all the F**KING Corvettes! Stop making F**KING Corvettes and F**KING make new cars to F**KING replace them!” Even if they said that I doubt Chevy would stop. This is what people want, and evidence is that people buy them, just like people buy his laptops (in this case THQ is buying it). If its what people want, they will make it. It doesn’t matter if whiny boys want something else, then why don’t you make it. I am perfectly happy with what Ben does for us, and I don’t think any of us have a place to complain. Ben will ultimately do what he feels like doing.
How do you register for this competition?
A Corvette is a Corvette, be it a ’53, a ’76, or an ’09. And the ’09 has newer features than the rest, that’s for sure. But, hey, you know what? Chevy makes a whole variety of cars, from the Aveo, to the Malibu, to the Impala, to the Silverado and so on and so forth. (Yes, I am a car guy in addition to being a “critic”)
Last time I checked, an Xbox 360 was still an Xbox 360. It still plays the same games. And at it’s core that’s all a video game system is basically for. So, I don’t care what nonsense comes neatly packaged inside, THIS IS STILL AN XBOX.
Whiny boys, huh? You know what happened to GM when they stopped listening to the “whiny boys”? They slipped to the No. 2 automaker position. Their sole purpose is to satisfy the consumer. I love ’em to death, but GM wouldn’t listen to what people wanted. They just kept on building trucks and SUV’s and cars of shoddy quality. But I digress…
That paragraph had nothing to do with this argument, by the way. That was my own opinion of GM.
One last thing. Didn’t Ben just say he would like to build other things, but this is what brings in the cash-money? I think he did.
cheez ur right about som things. have u seen da 09 corvette is the same as the 1 that appeared on 2005. xbox 360 core-no hard drive, no hdmi, no good
xbox 360 pro-60 gb hard, hdmi, good
xbox 360 elite-120gb hard drive, hdmi, awesome
xbox 360 laptop-20, 60, 120 hard drive u put whateva u want, u can take it to school (4 people that go 2 school), it has vision incorporated and wi-fi(thing that others dont have) its not beautiful(4 now) but i bet it will be. wouldnt u like a hi-def console portable so u can go to a bar 2 play, if u sleep 2 ur friends house which dont hav xbox an so u take ur portable instead of taking off cables from plug and tv u just put in ur bag an go 2 u friends house. if u have 360 my gamertag is UnbornXBOSS
“THIS IS STILL AN XBOX.”
Yep, you’re right, it IS still an Xbox360 inside… Methinks maybe this is the source of your hatred, rather than the new design? Or perhaps you hate the new modular hard drive, or the integrated camera that mounts flush and closes into the shell? Or the nice flush-mounted buttons, so it all closes up prettily? Personally I think these are all wonderful design improvements/changes. Yes, it is still a 360, but what’s wrong with that? THQ wanted it to be.
Perhaps you’d be more happy if it were a Wii or PS3? (Then again the only systems I ever made portable were a Sega Master System and a SNES, and they were both ugly as sin, as well as heavy/clunky, as my sculpting is not the best. Yay for partial wood construction. (Not kidding.) As always, I am in awe of Ben’s designs.
Nice XBox 360 man, all id do is make it thinner with a somewhat normal keyboard aswell, and maybe put in an extractable tray? in the side to put the xboxes HDD….
but stil good work =D
if they end up coming out for sale, ill buy one…. but make sure they stay white when they come out for sale, so i can paint it =D
The beveled edges are getting me excited for the next Ben Heckendorn portable. This is like a new erra in Ben’s design. I can’t wait to see how he integrates these new design ideas in future portables!
OMG how did you make those rly nice rounded edges, i intend on doing a mod, i know how to do everything but the case, and what i do know about case making i would only have a curve in one direction eg side to side not top to side to otherside.
it actualy looks like a xbox in disguise as a mac book, microsofts next attempt at world domination will involve this laptop.
This xbox lap-top looks sick. I would cry if I won this. Prolly cuz I would actually be able to play Darksiders as well as any other awesome xbox game. This system can only be described as purely EPIC. Keep up the good work. Can’t wait to see what you make next.
was not sure if this was answered but, will there be external ports? i.e. hdmi, usb?
You know your insignificant bickering needs to stop. Just love it for what it is if your for it. And as far as cheezes arguments go thats his opinion and you all have to accept it because his creations must have critics for any improvements to be made without Ben sitting at home mind boggling his own mind to death trying to think of what to add on next. He had his own thoughts of improvement like hide away vision cam now hes using routed edges on the case for design and comfortability. However Ben i applaud all your work you have done so far but on top of all the things you have created Im pretty sure the Ultimate 360 mod in my mind would come down to the 360 able to Alt+ Tab or be able to run Mac parrallels , or switch Operating systems or running applications to a running lap top computer which would be sweet with that Hp Tx 2500 u have at home with an hdmi port, for complete mobility, an hdmi port for perfect resolution and if it was based off the design of the tx 2500 u could move the screen many different ways, not to mention touch screen abilities. Oh by the way the only 2 companies that have Hdmi ports in laptops are firstly Hp and then Alienware specifically the Mx15. Also the Mx 15 design implementation might help because u can remove the disk drive for an added 500 gb hard drive hot swappable bay. Ben if u create and implement those things into this u will forever be known as the genius that changed xbox 360 portability. Although i dont know ben whats better the Desktop or Laptop Hard Drive or Using the xbox 360 hard drive that snaps in. I view a desktop hard drive as better seeing as u can go anywhere from 1.5 Tb to 1.0 tb to 500 gb to 320 gb to 250 gb to 120gb to 80 gb choosing what storage space u want with a wide variety versus 360s Hd which are 60 80 and 120, now i dont know about the rest of you but i need lots of space and ram and all that for media editing burning and music and storage is all needed if u work with computers alot.
An Xbox360 can not run”Homebrew” through an emulator because the RSA private vaults have not been cracked and yes the RSA Vaults are encrypted, We’ve(modders) have cracked the Public vaults but since the Product RSA is encrypted we need the private keys.
is it possible to buy one of these? I travel for a living two weeks out of the month, and cannot carry my xbox with me like i did on my previous job.
u r ausome! is it possibe to build the laptop without taking it apart?
cual es el precio?
se puede personalizar a mi gusto?
haces envios a Mexico?
puedes agregar una salida para que puedas conectarlo a una TV?