Every so often a mod comes along that's so intricate, so amazing, so over the top, that words simply don't do it justice (but we'll try anyway).
Ben Heckendorn's Xbox 360 laptop is one such mod. Having garnered no small amount of fame from previous portable projects like the
nPod,
PPS2, and
N64p, Ben was commissioned by a generous benefactor to somehow make a 360 "good to go" a la the Crunchwrap Supreme -- and since this is the great Mr. Heckendorn we're talking about,
slapping a hinged LCD onto an out-of-the-box console simply wouldn't do. Instead, Ben spent three months designing and building the so-called Xbox 360p, machining a custom aluminum laptop enclosure by hand into which he stuffed a keyboard, 1,280 x 720 Westinghouse LCD, and get this -- even a custom-built water cooling system to replace the 360's stock, bulky heat sinks. The end result is a polished, professional looking (albeit heavy -- this machine weighs in at about 14 pounds) laptop complete with WiFi, USB ports, obligatory glowing green ring, and converged power supply so that the monitor and gaming system only require a single cable snaking out the back. Well done, Ben, well done; but as you yourself note, there's no such thing as resting on one's laurels, so we can't wait to see what you have in store for the PS3 and, most especially, the swing-your-arms-like-a-maniac Nintendo Wii. Hit the jump to check out the 360p's guts, and then head over the Ben's site for a
ton of photos and one of the more thorough build walkthroughs that we've come across...
[Thanks,
Jeffler and kade]
posted Sep 11th 2006 12:42AM
holy sh*t, this is a work of art that Michaelangelo would be awe-struck by, not to mention the fact that you've got to be pretty brave to put a $300-$400 piece of equipment under the knife (so-to-speak), artistic, brave, creative, intelligent, do you like work on the military's most secretive projects? WAIT! don't tell me, cause' then you'd have to kill me!
I want to know where this guy learned to do it. He had an interview about this on G4's X-Play.
He is a Mod God
lulz if he gets red rings.
lulz if he gets red rings.
What I'm interested in is how much did this guy comission Ben for? I WANT ONE. D:
Very nice benheck also the instruction is really easy to understand how to do it and soon i am going to do it my self yayayayayayyayayayaya?!?!?!?!?!
Now just make it portable.
THAT IS AWESOME
My email is stillapaco@gmail.com and i would love to buy this console name your price
Or can someone build me one I love buying one of kind stuff I just had a custom corvette build and would love to have this unit build into it
Just imagine tripping over the power cord... no magsafe there
Now that is nice. Very well done.
Ben Heckendorn, you are a god among men.
that is truely amazing. i am quite speachless at the quality of your workmanship. very well done
That thing is SICK
If they made the Xbox360 like that at the first place... Sony would have buried its head in the toilet long ago...
I would buy this piece of art, no fuss... gimme the price, and I'll hand you the check... No joke... This is some good stuff...
so what can the keyboard do?
now, why cant a big production company just hire this guy. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo; i really dont care, but if his work ever gets mass produced by anyone im all over it.
I assume the keyboard is for communicating online via Xbox Live.
I am truly amazed by this mod. The fact that this was NOT made by a major company, but a regular guy – is unbelievable!
Wow. I don't even know what to say. That's by far the sexiest piece of gaming workmanship I've ever seen. They seriously should've manufactured that as the 360, just have video out to play it with the monitor down on a bigger screen. If that was available for purchase (at a highly produced rate, not one man's hardwork for months) I'd buy one.
#1-
You don't need magsafe, the thing is so heavy you'll end up ripping the plug out the socket.
Is there somekind of award for this kind of stuff? An award that he should win year after year?
looks pretty clean.
good job.
I'm also suprised no one has set up a site like colorwarepc.com for his stuff, where you can send him products and have them turn into one of Ben's creations. Once he has figured out a way to create these pieces of art, there should be a way to mass produce them. I mean is it illegal to sell 360's after they have been reconfigured? It's not like he is adding a modchip, and he's only increasing sales for MS. I for one think I would pay an extra $250 on top of the money for the parts to have this. Anyone agree?
The funny thing is, IT DOESNT FUCKING WORK!!! HAHAHAHAHA
Wow, Mr. Heckendorn continues to out do himself. Incredible work.
Hey Evan, remove the question mark after 'best mod ever'. :-) There's no doubt in my mind at least.
@ Jeff (#9)
Ben Heckendorn is no "regular guy"
He is a genius.
He should get some people to produce more of these mods and sell them on a website.
I'd target a $2000 price point.
Seriously, I think I just got a little hard. This guy amazes me.
WOW. I mean... WOW! If Ben is this creative with his xbox mod, imagine if he submitted an entry to Engadget's commercial contest. Um yah, game over!
CRAP! Let me put up a mirror. Save the bandwidth guys!
WOW!!!!! his other projects have all been extremely impressive but this one is beautiful. the know how and hardware skill it took to make this is one thing but the design is incredible. It looks better than stuff huge companies with bottomless budgets make. This is a nothing short of a piece of art. You are a god!!!!
Is this the legendary Powerbook G5, gaming edition? :D
I think... I got a hard on...
hmmm. where can i pre-order?
Microsoft should give that man a a job.
ben u are a GOD. i bow to u.
what? you mean it's not waterproof? :p
:D
Sometimes, it's ok for grown men to cry.
I wonder how a suitable battery would look like.
=)
sony if you want your play3 to survive
HIRE THIS MAN for godsake and pay him really well for it
i can wait/live another year without that ugly thing you got there......
but does it run Linux?
Holy... ... ...
The title says it all: Best. Mod. Ever.
This man is the Official Patron Saint of Tinkering.
That thing is amazing. Simply amazing.
LOL THIS IS FU*CKING SICK!
And btw engadget 14lb isnt exactly out of the question for a laptop, last i checked some companys have up to 21lb laptops so really 14lb is kinda midrange for a desktop replacement :)
it doesn't matter because he will not be able to touch the ps3. 36o is made with yesterdays tech ps3 is new and nobody knows how it works yet
This guy is amazing. I've seen some of his stuff over the past few years, and it's simply incredible. He is indeed a genius. I recall that you can buy some of the simpler projects and he'll make a new one, but the more difficult stuff (I'm sure this one is included) is not for sale.
If I owned a hat, it would certainly be off to you, Ben.
This is incredible, the workmanship on this surpasses just a mod, this looks like it was done professionally by some big name company.
On a side note, his website is getting slammed, I visited it last night and it loaded fine, now that it has hit the news the images are not even loading.
Too heavy for me to lug around.
"it doesn't matter because he will not be able to touch the ps3. 36o is made with yesterdays tech ps3 is new and nobody knows how it works yet"
Wow! Is the PS3 made out of some sort of supercomposite indestructable rienforced titanium-alloy-carbon-fiber-lead casting with a coating of super kryptonite armor on top to ensure that even Superman can't get through?
Because I thought it was made out of plastic.
I hate consoles but I love Notebook PCs.
This is first time I have ever seen a console turned into something so nice.
Damn. Very cool.
any1 know where i can get one like this for xbox or ps2? i want to put this in the server room at my company so i can have some "relax" time.
C'mon now, where's that mirror? *salivate*
What I'd like to see in a possible version 2.0:
---
*height-adjustable LCD (on some extendable flex mount)
*left-right angle adjustable LCD (ball joint?)
*rounded corners instead of hard, square edges for easier transportation.
Ergonomics is terribly important.
And...
A better button layout for the keyboard. The spaced-out buttons don't look too comfortable/natural to me, but I could be wrong.
Would be nice to see version 2.0 building upon the hard lessons and techniques learned in this one.
when i tried the link it said i dont have permission to visit on my server. anyone know what it means? or how i get to his site?
Wow. That is the most innovative mod I have ever seen for a console. The fact that one man did all this is astounding. I hope that "generous benefactor" compensated Ben well enough to cover a few months of mortage payments, at the very least.
I know nothing of Ben's previous work (and his website is down, 403), but if this is some 20 - 25 year old college student / intern, he's may have a very bright future ahead.
The website seems to be completely down of taken offline.
The website is giving a 403 Forbidden every time you go to his website
I'm going to jump on the chance to try and make a portable Wii. >:D
It will be SO sick.
Great accomplishment Ben Heckendorn - trully one of the best mods I have seen, and it is a lot to say from being a fellow modder myself with the DreamX-1480. ONCE AGAIN, CONGRATS!!
This is truly the "Best Mod Ever", maybe the best system when homebrew is 360 bound.
Hint.......soon.
CyKiller
http://skytroniks.com/benhell/mirror/x360_page_1.htm
Mirror.
I bet he only did it so he could play Final Fantasy 11 properly on his 360! :)
"Those that use thy liquid for artic cooling, is thy force to be reckoned with." -EAD
In English, sweet... Using watercooling.
I want you to make me one, seriously. How much?
how do I get ahold of Ben Heckendorn I would like to email him.
I would like to find out how is would cost foe a remake on the psp
Seriously man, that is mind blowing. No chance of you making another one, is there? I'd buy something like that in an instant.
Newton, Einstein, Heckendorn.
It is so cool.I would like one
I'm convinced that Ben Heckendorm should get 500 thousand dollars every time he makes a mod. They're just that epic.
this would be the best system ever made. i think that he is the best no question. he should make a PS3 lap top or something like that.
I think you are right. no doubt
Awsome!
Haha it's better then the Kleenex and alarm o'clock mod :) lol
I THINK ITS A GREAT IDEA
That means I wont have to buy a $3000 laptop just for gaming I can buy this for Much cheaper I HOPE :)
& can play games without loading them which is such a bore on laptops
GREAT JOB MAN & Thanks God Bless You
not a 360 fan but thats hot .wish some one would mod play station or wei. but if i had one of these i proably would convert to 360, gaming on the go, you cant beat that. go brewers, go ben!
guru-Milwaukee wi
you should try to get microsoft to make more and sell them.
get microsoft to make more then sell them.
i would pay you to make me one of those
I remember something about modders not being able to get on xbox live. I wonder if he can get online.
How much does it cost for you to make me one of your xbox 360 laptops?
I want to work with Mr. Heckendorn. I have a console appealing to over 200 million and I think that he is the perfect guy to help. What do you all think? Email 55jklm@earthlink.net This one is not on market. Are you all ready to have a product that Mr. Heckendorn has a part of?
is it portable?