How-To: Make an Xbox 360 laptop (part 1)

The making-of How-To for the Xbox 360 laptop will be in three parts. In today's segment we'll discuss the parts list, stripping down an Xbox 360 motherboard, and modding / reattaching the DVD and hard drives. The next installment will cover case design, construction and hacking the LCD display, as well as wiring the video. Part 3 will then describe wiring all the separate parts together, troubleshooting, and finishing up the unit. Full design files will be including along the way. Let's take a look and prep to get started!

Can't make an Xbox laptop without some parts, so let's see what we'll need.

Parts list

• Xbox 360 Premium system - Or whichever version you wish. With the Elite you could, in theory, make an HDMI-DVI converter and input that into a LCD. The model LCD we used had DVI but, of course, the XBox we used is still analog. Rats.
  
• Westinghouse LCM-17x1 17-inch widescreen monitor - Same as on the first Xbox laptop we did in 2006. However, by the time we started construction on the second laptop, these have all but disappeared from the stores. Thankfully there were some still available online, namely from places like eBay. Alternatively, most 17-inch widescreen LCD monitors should work. They're plummeting in price since the 19-inch LCDs are dirt cheap these days. This monitor also gives us a sound amplifier and built-in speakers we can use. The resolution of this screen is 1280 x 768 so it fits the high def resolution of the 360 nicely.
  
• Xbox 360 WiFi module - Here's half the cost of the project alone! Ha ha, we kid, we kid. But when you're making a "portable" unit, the less wires the better. I've seen these adapters sell used for as low as the "bargain" price of $75. I've heard certain model "thumb" USB WiFi adapters work, but we haven't tested any as of yet.
  
• Small, flat USB keyboard - we suggest one such as this. If you can find one with a built-in USB hub that's even better since you'll actually gain a USB port by using the keyboard.
• Male headers - These are used to interconnect things between circuit boards. You can pull them off old motherboards or buy them new. Here's a link to one on Digi-Key.
• Ribbon cable - As usual I'd suggest the type from old floppy drives and IDE disks. However, for rewiring SATA connections it's best to have thin (as in Ultra ATA 33 and up) solid-strand wire. You can tell if it's solid or stranded by bending the cable -- solid wire cable holds its shape much better than stranded.

Tools you'll need today

• Soldering iron. As usual we suggest a low wattage type to avoid damage to parts.
• Desoldering iron. To remove parts, and is also useful to solder large items that the lower wattage iron can't handle.
• Dremel tool - With the ever-important cutoff wheel to slice up things.
• Wire clippers, small screwdrivers and tweezers - All very handy.
• X-Acto knives - Again, quite useful for doing delicate (and sometimes not so delicate) hacking work.
• Multimeter - Or "voltage meter", whatever you'd like to call it. Very useful for detecting circuits to discover pinouts.

Stripping down an Xbox 360 motherboard

I'm not going to cover how to take apart the somewhat Pandora's Xbox-esque 360 case since it's covered elsewhere on the 'net. We'll start by assuming you have it disassembled and down to the motherboard and drives.

Removing parts from the motherboard

We don't need to get into how to desolder in this article since we've covered it before. Some tips on removing these parts from the motherboard:

• It is important to note that the Xbox 360 is RoHS compliant, meaning it uses unleaded solder.
• In general it's tougher to desolder parts in the RoHS world, so for best results apply some new solder onto a pin, then heat it with the desoldering iron for longer than you normally would (so about 4 seconds) before sucking up the solder.
  
• Be especially careful with pins that connect to inner ground or power planes, they're also difficult to remove. This is also true of the ground connections on a jack that connect to the main surface of the board, such as a USB jack.
  
• Use a clean, brand new desoldering iron tip for best results. Heat up a pin for a little longer than normal to ensure all the solder in the through-hole is melted before you try and suck it up.

Side RoHS conspiracy theory - While we were doing the Wii Laptop hack we noticed it was very easy to desolder parts off the motherboard, unlike most other modern electronics. Could the Wii have been non-RoHS compliant, thus explaining the shortages?

The front USB ports. It connects with two rows of pins (for the USB signals) and metal tabs off the shielding on the side. The best way to get this sucker loose is to rock it back and forth slightly while heating the large metal mounting tabs. It also helps to chop off any plastic posts from the plug that are going through the board. The photo above shows the pinout for future reference. The left column of pads is port 1, the right column is port 2.

Here's one of the memory card connectors. It uses a pinout much like USB, but uses +3.3 volts instead of 5. Since these take up a decent amount of space it's best to remove them, but use the pinout above should you desire to reattach them remotely.

Next comes the top-mounted hard drive connector. Be sure to desolder all of the pins before you try and pry it off, you don't want to damage any of the thin traces on the motherboard for the data signals. We'll cover how to wire directly from here to the hard drive a little later on in this article.

One one the trickest parts to remove is the remove Ethernet / USB port. Shown above is the pinout for the USB portion of it.

To the left of this is the big audio / video port. Since this port is fairly thin it won't get in the way, and since it has so many pins it would be quite difficult to remove if you tried. Connections to it can be made via a hacked A/V cable (as with our Xbox 360 VGA hack) or by soldering to the points on the bottom of the board. More on this, as well as removing and rewiring the big power input jack, in Part 2.

Capacitor Flattening

Even in this high-tech age of supersonic jets and microwave ovens many electronic devices still employ large electrolytic capacitors ("caps" for short). These are the can-shaped objects on a circuit board, usually colored blue or dark brown, and are usually the largest components as well. While we can't remove them we can "flatten" them over to save some vertical space.

Flattening caps:

• Decide in which direction you'd like to flatten the cap. Keep in mind that if you're flattening many caps you'll need to make sure there's going to be room to lay them all down.
• Heat up the leads on the cap at the bottom of the motherboard (also called the solder side). Once they're hot, you can bend over the cap. You can heat one lead, bend the cap a bit, heat the other lead, bend it, wash rinse repeat until the cap is tiled over on its side.
• In some cases you may need to move the cap and not just bend it over. Desolder the cap and then use small bits of wire to attach the leads to the original spot.

Be sure to check polarity when working with caps. On the motherboard one of the leads will be marked with a "+", this is positive. The other lead may have a white stripe as shown above, this is negative. On the cap they'll be a strip on one side or end -- this indicates the negative terminal. Check that you rewire caps correctly. Doing them wrong can result in a 3 red lights of death scenario, though if you go in and fix the caps you'll be ok. (So the 3 red lights aren't always a death knell.)

Hacking up the WiFi module

Next let's hack up the worth-its-weight-in-gold WiFi module. Like many electronics these days, it's literally glued together (which is why we don't feel bad about our own hot glue fetish). It does take a bit of work to crack it open, though.

Start by using an X-Acto knive to cut a groove along the seam of the module on one side. Make several cuts until the groove is deep enough to fit a screwdriver inside.

Next, as you may have guessed, stick a flat headed screwdriver in there and twist. This should pop open at least a portion of the shell. Once you have a bit of purchase you can wedge the rest of the shell off. Just don't push the screwdriver in too far or you may damage some of the components.

Here's the WiFi module with the shell opened. Not much too it really. Not let's rewire the plugs to make it easy to use in a laptop portable.

Here's the original USB port. As you can see it plugs into the PCB via a mini-USB port, similar to a digital camera. Desoldering this port would be a bit tricky, so we're simply going to attach new wires for the USB connection on the other side of it.

Shown above is the solder side of the mini-USB jack.

• Using a multimeter, test the each pin inside the big USB jack while it's connected to this PCB to see which pins on the back of the board are which.
• To identify them, first find which pin on the big USB port is ground. This should connect to all ground points / shielding on the WiFi PCB, including the shielding of the mini-USB jack itself.
• Once you've found ground, the next 3 pins over are Data +, Data - and then +5 volts.
• Solder a piece of ribbon cable to the pins on the mini-USB port and mark the opposite end of the cable for future reference. Typically we suggest black magic marker for the ground wire and red for +5 volts.

Next let's extend the WiFi antenna wire. It starts out fairly short but with some careful modding we can change that.

• Cut the wire at the middle section. This wire contains an outer shield (ground) and an inner coated wire which is the signal itself. This is very much like the WiFi we hacked back during the Wii laptop tour de force.
• Strip a small bit of plastic off the inner wire and dab some solder onto the wire. Twist the stranded shielding wire together and solder it into a single piece as well. This is the kind of work where you'll be glad you used a low wattage iron and not something that melts everything within a two foot radius into mush.
  
• Solder a length of wire to each of these connections. For best results cover each connection with a bit of thin heat shrink tubing (available in the electric aisle of your friendly neighborhood hardware store).

Re-attach the snap connector to the other end of the wires in the same fasion. Take care with this type of soldering since with the short existing wire there's not much room for mistakes.

The hacked WiFi module. Note on the right side I've attached a 4 pin male header to the end of the USB wire. This will allow me easy connections to the rest of the motherboard further along in this project.

Modding / reattaching the DVD and hard drives

Now let's modify the DVD drive to fit in a smaller case, and prep the hard drive as well.

Start by using the Dremel cutoff wheel to remove the extra length of the 4 black plastic posts on the bottom of the DVD drive. Cut them off so they'll flush with the base of the drive. The holes remain inside the post, allowing us a way to secure the drive to the final case. A size 8 screw will fit tightly into it.

Extending SATA cables for the DVD and hard drive

In the original Xbox 360 the DVD drive sits atop the GPU heatsink and has a stubby SATA cable for its connection, along with a power cable very similar to the one for the DVD in the original Xbox.

The stubby SATA cable from the 360.

To place the DVD drive beside the motherboard for a laptop we're going to need a longer SATA cable. One option is to simply buy one, but even a short cable might be too long and bulky for the confines of a case. Here's how to hack the existing cable into a longer one:

• Start by cutting the SATA cable in half length-wise. Note that the cable is in 2 halves side-by-by, one half is the A+ A- signals, the other is B+ B-. You can peel these halves apart like string cheese, which is fairly tasty unless it's sat in your lunch pail too long.
  
• Using an X-Acto knife, carefully slice away about 1/2-inch of the plastic covering. This will reveal a tin foil like material.

Carefully peel this away to reveal 2 bare wires (both are ground) and 2 coated wires (data signals).

Solder a piece of solid wire thin ribbon cable with 4 strands to the SATA wires. This preserves both the ground signals and the data (either A or B). Use a minimal amount of solder for the connections. Insulate the connections and repeat the procedure for the other half of the cable.

Reconnect the other end of the cable to the ribbon cable in the same way. To place the DVD player as seen in this laptop you'll need to extend this cable by about 4 to 5 inches. The cable should now be ready to go!

DVD drive power connector

The other cable going to the DVD drive is the power connector. It also includes an "Eject" signal.

This consists of a group of black wires with a white plug on each end. It's longer than the DVD's SATA cable but still, in stock form, not long enough to move the drive very far. Note that the pinouts at both ends of the cable are the same, thus the wires "flip", or cross each other from end to end. You can tell which way the cable is meant to be inserted by the small tabs on the side of the plug. More on this later.

The cable cut in half. Doubles as a modern art spider.

Cut the power cable in half. Don't worry about keeping track of which wire goes to what, it's pretty straightforward. Strip a bit of plastic off the ends of the wiring and "tin" them with a bit of solder.

• Cut (2) lengths of ribbon cable with 5 strands each. About 5-inches long should be good.
• Solder each of the ribbon cables to the 5 wires on both sides of the plug, as shown above.
• Insulate the wires with electric tape or small bits of heat shrink tubing. Of course you'll need to remember to slide the tubing on before you make the connection. Regardless, heat shrink tubing gives it a nice clean look when done. We usually do ours with a lighter, the tubing shrinks before the wires burn.
  

• Connect each of the plug ends to each other with the ribbon cable. In this photo the tabs are placed as such to have their tabs both on the right, to ensure the connections are made correctly.
  
• Note that the plugs are the same shape and have the same pinouts. Thus, the 5 wires on the "Left" side of the first plug connect to the 5 wires of the "Left" side of the second plug. This is what causes the wires themselves to "flip" or criss-cross between the cables.

The finished extended DVD drive power connector

Hard Drive Connector

Now it's time to extend the connector for the hard drive. This is similar to the DVD method but we have to determine some of the pinouts manually.

Above you can see the pinouts for the 360's hard drive. There's really only 6 wires to make the connection since most of the pins are ground. For this example we'll use some standard size stranded ribbon cable for the ground and power, and thin, solid Ultra ATA ribbon cable for the data, like we did with the DVD drive.

You can take apart the Xbox 360 Hard Drive enclosure with the same type of tools required for the main case itself. Inside you'll find a 2.5-inch SATA laptop-style drive, a power / data plug going into it (item above on the left) some short wiring and then the plug which goes into the top of the Xbox (right).

• Cut the wires off close to the Xbox plug end. We'll be reattaching them by color code and pin testing, so no need to check how they connect on the Xbox plug.
• Twist and solder together the white, blue and yellow wires - these are all +5.
• Likewise, connect black, green and orange together, these are all ground.
• As with the DVD drive's SATA cable, peel back the foil on the other wires to reveal the data lines and their ground wires. Unlike the DVD cable it's not very clear how to rewire the data lines, we'll cover that shortly.

As with the DVD drive, solder a piece of 4-strand ribbon cable to each data strand. 2 of the wires will be ground, 2 data. We'll determine which signals they are in the next step.

Here's what the extended hard drive SATA plug/cable should look like. We've used a bit of electric tape to insulate the data connections, thin heat shrinking tubing would have also worked if we would have had some around. For this project we've added about 5-inches of length, and without the aid of prescription drugs.

Pinout of a SATA plug.

• We need to discover what the pinout is of the wires on the other side, but it's kind of hard to fit the probes of a multimeter into a jack like this. Use a small bit of stiff wire (such as that clipped off a resistor) to insert into each pin of the jack for easy testing.
• Use the multimeter to test which wires at the end of the newly extended cable are A+, A-, B- and B+. You may find it handy to label them using different colored magic markers, or by putting a bit of Scotch tape on the end of the wire and making it with a pen.
  
• Solder the cables to the motherboard using the pinouts shown at the beginning of this section, as well as making the +5 and ground connections.

Here's how the extended SATA/power cables should look when soldered to the motherboard. Notice how we've "doubled up" the ground and power with 2 stranded ribbon cable wires each. This ensure enough current gets through. Sure it's just a 500mA laptop hard drive and not, say, an electic pizza oven, but it's good to make sure anyway. Alternatively you could use slightly thicker gauge wire but that's not always as convienent, and tends to be a bit stiff and unwieldy.

Also note that the 2 ground connections per data cable had been soldered to ground (lower connections on the left and rightmost sides). You can never have enough grounds!

Once you've had a chance to make sure that it's working properly it's a good idea to "lock down" the wires with some hot glue. You don't need to cover the connections, just glue the wires down someplace nearby. What this does is keep the wires from pulling or breaking free of the motherboard since the "hinge point" becomes where you've glued them down, not at the connection point. A good general-purpose tip for any kind of electronics hacking.

Here's the final combo unit. We have the DVD drive with the hard drive attached at the rear. On top of this is the WiFi module we hacked earlier, and everything has convienent ports for connecting to the main motherboard. This modular approach is a big help when assemblying and troubleshooting a unit. The extra time it takes to add plugs and ports now will save time later when you don't have to desolder or cut wires later.

Conclusion

We're now well on our way with the Xbox 360 laptop mod. In the next How-To we'll cover designing and building the case plus hacking up the LCD monitor. Stay tuned and we'll see you then!

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 27th 2008 12:09AM]

Where can i but ultra ata ribbon cables.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 3rd 2008 1:46PM]

im assuming there is no battery so i guess u still have to plug some wires into power source. this kinda kills the point of having a laptop...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 9th 2008 10:00AM]

hey man this is so far the best mod iv seen would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u n give u the money for the parts n for the working hours if your interested send a message to my e mail

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 9th 2008 4:25PM]

rr Rulez !! I'm Ukranian

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2008 3:42PM]

Do you sell the casing for it, because I'm interested in trying this mod. Problem is, even if I am successfull at doing all the technical stuff I do not have the resources nor craftmanship to make the casing. I'm willing to pay a lot for it, name your price. Email me [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2008 12:09PM]

could i get a link to part 2 and 3?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 9th 2008 1:19PM]

i would pay some to do this how much would that cost

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 26th 2008 10:53PM]

Does anyone the final dimensions of this product?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 28th 2008 11:02PM]

Hey I was wondering how much would it cost to make one myself? Then I would like for someone give me a price on one that is already made. I got money, so about any price is good for me just not a ridiculous one. E-mail me at [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted May 10th 2008 5:09PM]

I will build 5 and only 5 of these for others. first 5 to reply and make agreement get picked. according to my math it is expensive though. about $1000 once all is said and done. I will build but I need time.

[(Unverified) Posted May 17th 2008 1:07PM]

Can anyone help me i messed up with the hard drive cable, does anyone know how to identify the data cables

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2008 11:00PM]

A few questions to ask because I am very excited about this project.
1. Does the xbox have to be the prenium with the hard drive or can it be the cheap one?
2. What about a xbox hard drive, would that still fit?
3. There are speakers that work right?
4. You said most 17 inch moniters would work right? Cause I cant find the one you suggested.
5. How muhc in total did this cost including the xbox and everything... and did you make the shell yourself? I mean shell as in the laptop case like the green one.
6. The wifi you put in will work for xbox live wirelessly right?
7. How many wires are out of the laptop, just the power or what?
Sorry for soo many questions..:(
Thanks for listening!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2008 1:56AM]

dude will youmake me one if I buy the parts and pay you for your service.
my e-mail is [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 23rd 2008 10:06AM]

A couple of questions about this mod
Could I buy a larger than 120 gig HDD and use it instead?
Also would it be possible to flash the firmware of a Blue ray or HD DVD and use it instead?
Im sure I can use a larger screan like 20 in and add a batterie but would like confirmation on that.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 24th 2008 7:36PM]

A couple of questions about this mod
Could I buy a larger than 120 gig HDD and use it instead?
Also would it be possible to flash the firmware of a Blue ray or HD DVD and use it instead?
Im sure I can use a larger screan like 20 in and add a batterie but would like confirmation on that
by the way Im not asking How to change these thing just if it is possible and still play xbox 360 games and watch HD movies

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 14th 2008 3:14PM]

Am a student in university in Ghana and i am good technical and am 23 years of age, i need to be part of those who are doing games d in tand other things.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 10th 2008 12:25AM]

I looked at this and thought it was a good idea. But the problem is I am stuck on step one and I can not de-solder the parts off the mother- board because of the RoHS. my soldering iron is old, what would be the best one to get so I can do this "cheap please".
Any recommendations; please

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 11th 2008 10:49PM]

I AM WILLING TO OFFER 900$$$$ FOR ANYONE WHO CAN MAKE ME A XBOX 360, PREMADE

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2008 4:36PM]

Hi does any one now any ware were i can buy on also as i am dumb persion and dont undersatnd any of it how to make a xbox 360 laptop well does any one now or can tell me how much will some one do this for me? here is my email [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2008 4:50PM]

Hi if i suply the 360 can some one modd it in to a laptop but i dont want the keybord instead i would like computer mesh all the top to be computer mesh that is see through and would help to remove the heat as well as looking good can any one do that for me here is my email adress [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2008 4:50PM]

Hi if i suply the 360 can some one modd it in to a laptop but i dont want the keybord instead i would like computer mesh all the top to be computer mesh that is see through and would help to remove the heat as well as looking good can any one do that for me here is my email adress [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 11th 2009 1:00PM]

can some one make me Xbox 360 laptop lat no the price [e-mail] let me no just let me no ok bye

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 3:35PM]

If I supplied the supplies would any one want to build one and I pay you for labor

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 10th 2009 6:54PM]

what is it talkin bout when i says dvd is it talkin bout the video game thingy?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 11th 2009 5:26PM]

no matter what i do i cant find the USB wire that the thingy is saying so were can i get that type of wire?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 16th 2009 9:34PM]

I can make one of these for price of all components + $30 per hour

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 23rd 2009 4:34AM]

i still cant seen to figure out something about the screen and chassis/case.....where the hell can i get them?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 23rd 2009 12:04PM]

can u make me one

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 8:31PM]

would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u how much would that cost Email me [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 8:32PM]

would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u how much would that cost Email me [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 8:40PM]

would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u how much would that cost

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 8:43PM]

would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u how much would that cost

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 8:45PM]

would u be interested in turning my xbox into that if i send it to u how much would that cost

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 14th 2009 8:25AM]

hey very nice mod i was wondering if i payed you for the parts and working hours to make me one of this. if so how much. please send a response to my email. thanks

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:16PM]

hey very nice mod i was wondering that if i payed you for the parts and the work (i have an xbox 360 with a broken disc tray so its perfectly fine it just needs a disc tray) if you could make me one of these. if so send me a message via my email [e-mail]
Thanks!

[Slammy Posted Nov 19th 2009 10:07PM]

Yea I would love to have one of these so if you would email me wit a price estimate that would be sick. My email is [e-mail] hope I get an email.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:13PM]

I wish I had the "know how" to construct this awesome beast. Is there some easier way to create an xbox 360 laptop, (read: with minimal soldering/de-soldering)? ^_^

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 8:01PM]

You could always maked a box big enough to fit the 360 into (no mods) and screw a screen into the back of it... actually you wouldn't even need the box just screw the screen into the 360s case. sticky tape a keyboard to the top of the xbox and you're done :)

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 15th 2007 7:11AM]

yo dude can u tell me every last thing u need to make 1 of these cuzz im up to making 1 my msn is [e-mail] add me and we will talk more

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 14th 2007 11:35AM]

Nope, there's no way to make a Laptop out of an Xbox 360 or any other console without doing alot of soldering. The consoles are meant to stay the way that you got them in. The company never intended that someone could make their product into something else. If you're gonna do this, you better get really good at soldering really fast!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:25PM]

That's a pretty disgusting-looking thumb on pictures 2 and 3.

Pretty cool, Engadget! Thanks for this how-to!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 10th 2008 11:57AM]

You'd have a 'disgusting' thumb too if you were tinkering with wires thin and sharp enough to slice through cardboard. And electronic components have hundreds of sharp bits and pieces out for blood as well. lol. Be nice to the tecky.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:30PM]

You can tell this guy has been screwing around with computer innards by his "battle damaged" thumb.

/wish i was brave enough to do this hack.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:30PM]

The "easy way" would be buying that Hori 12" LCD panel (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/xbox+top-giant-japanese-12+inch-lcd-for-the-360-252809.php), a USB keyboard and the USB WiFi adapter. Sure, it won't look as pretty and the screen won't be as big, but it'll involve no system modification at all!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:49PM]

But where would I be able to purchase this jap. only screen? BTW, I would LOVE to see these small lcd's (12"-7") get high def resolutions FINALLY! I never bought a portable DVD player because none of them (not even the Sony ones!) had a screen res that was even 720x480 (the res of a standard NTSC DVD!), and some of the screen sizes on these portable players were 11"+!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:49PM]

I have a 360 i'm trying to sell, i'd totally do this hack for someone, also the one for the LED's under the buttons in the controllers.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 5:12PM]

email me if you are still offering
[e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 3:41PM]

I would totally buy it if you could make this (depending on price). About how much would you think you would sell it for?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 8:01PM]

As soon as the mod is all up and i can have a good look at the entire parts list & costs i'll plop a dollar sum out there for thoes who want..

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 23rd 2007 9:53AM]

i would like to buy your xbox

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 1st 2008 3:27PM]

hey man i am very interested in buying a xbox360 laptop and can you make it with the halo edition i will pay up to $1200 or less depends can you get back to me as soon as possible at [e-mail] thank you for your time

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2009 6:32PM]

hey bro when you say "i'd totally do this for someone" are you actually capable of doing it if you were paid ?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2009 10:45PM]

yeah, having the time to do it is another thing all together.
I might start producing 360 laptops in the spring if I can get my suppliers in line, but don't hold your breath.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 2:10PM]

Ben seems to like to use ribbon cable to extend every kind of cable.

This is not always a good idea.

1. Shielded cable should be extended with similar shielded cable. It's shielded for a good reason, you know.

2. Power cables should be extended with similar gauge or thicker wire. Using thinner wire can heat up and be a fire hazard.

In some cases (like the SATA cable), it may be easier (and better) to just buy a longer cable than to extend the one you have. Especially for things like SATA, where you have high data rates involved, and you care about the bits.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 2:10PM]

Only two words come to mind when I think of a 360 laptop:
Sweaty balls

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 2:10PM]

We've got ourselves a picker!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 2:09PM]

The digikey link for the heads is broken, just so you know.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 3:15PM]

I wonder why Ben didn't just use a normal 60m or 1m Sata cable.
Aside from that, as with all Ben's hacks, I look forward to the rest of the HOW-To.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 3:52PM]

Jesus, man. Get a manicure. Who bites their nails anymore?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 8th 2009 2:49PM]

i do

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 4:54PM]

man i wish i had the time/money/patience to tackle something like this...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 4:55PM]

Would I be able to bust open the external HD-DVD drive and put that in the lappy instead? Are you able to play games from the HD drive?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 5:48PM]

I suck big time with solder gun.


Where do I send the check to?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 6:08PM]

I dont think I would be able to build this (I've only modded a normal xbox once), but I will definitely pay someone to do it. Email me if anyone is interested.

[e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 25th 2007 11:51PM]

i'll do it for 100$ + supplies

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 7:13PM]

he's my hero

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 7:13PM]

Did he hurt his thumb doing this? Or is that just how it always looks?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 22nd 2007 12:48AM]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010010001%201177512111%201177412119&bop=And&Order=PRICE

The price for a 10" SATA cable is 3.49 (although shipping is 4.99). I don't see why you would make a new one when you buy a new one for 8.50.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 8:02PM]

um yeah if you could make me one of those with the 360 elite how much would it coast

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 8:16PM]

Those are some really poor soldering skills. Look at the closeup of the flattened caps, the pins going into the PCB with the ball of solder. Repeat with me, WICK THE SOLDER.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 10:45AM]

w/e man give the guy a break, this is great stuff

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 11:09AM]

um.. this is a tutorial. way to tutor.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 1:27AM]

does the warranty still apply to this when it is done


HAHAHAHHA

Nando
i'd agree with you on the thumb

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 1:28AM]

does this void the waranty ?

HAHAHA

Nando
i'd agree with you on that one with the thumb

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 10:45AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-pUvsdpdU4

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 7:11AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-pUvsdpdU4

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 19th 2007 11:21AM]

Anyone else want to wait until the 65 nm chips come out? The gains you would make in heat and power consuption would be worth it.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 10:54AM]

i would totally poo on myself if i took apart my 361 and soldered all of this stuff ... not to mention if i screwed anything up. How did you find out which soldering points corresponded to what component or function? anyway... great work.now it only needs a water cooling system :)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 1:50AM]

regarding a comment on the first page ... ill bet if you were taking apart your 360 and soldering the crap out of it, you would chew your nails too!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 10:54AM]

So earlier today engadget commenters were complaining about an article about Snoop Dogg + a 360. Saying it was far too "People" magazine and not "tech related" enough.

Now they're bitching that Ben Heckendorn doesn't get proper manicures; that he bites his nails?

What is wrong with y'all? This is amazing tech news. Why do you care about the presentability of his frickin' hands?!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 10:55AM]

Hey here a mother board pinout for the xbox 360
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/Xbox_360-HandC-V1_4.pdf

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 11:04AM]

I had to laugh when I saw the manicure comment. You do know of course I grew up rural Wisconsin, and the mere thought of that is fairly hard to comprehend? As in a "do I want to get my ass kicked?" sort of way.

I will concede that I have to wear bandages to heal up when I know I'll be on TV, since there's always close-ups. Other than that, geesh. Some of us still work with our hands, the world wasn't built in an office cubicle you know.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 21st 2007 5:04PM]

I'm definitely gonna go and give this mod a shot. I just bought a 2nd 360 since my old one have me the 0110, so will try and get it working again and then do this. Is there a timeframe for the release of the 2nd How To yet?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 22nd 2007 10:38PM]

geek factor gets a +10 rating

however it's not too cost efficient; for the time it takes and the price for parts, you could easily get a better dual core machine that works right out of the box

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 23rd 2007 7:52PM]

Dude I'll pay someone to do it for me. Just name a reasonable price oh and I want to some what help and watch.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 23rd 2007 1:27PM]

I am from India Just visiting US. Saw the ways to convert X360 to a laptop. Feels great to be able do such modifications.

Shall surely try when I get back home but am not sur if the requred spare / parts will be available.
Anyway shall surely TRY.

EXCELLENT MODDS.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 24th 2007 12:14PM]

You may want to include some safety disclaimers and such. I imagine quite a few idiots will slice their thumb open with the X-Acto knife. :)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 26th 2007 2:29AM]

@ Standingfast - dont you think these guys (as smart as they are) would do this in the easiest and most efficient way they knew how? They didnt post these instructions for everyone in the world to go ahead and do this to their box...with that being said, you shouldnt always look for the easy way out and then you might LEARN something...

http://rmbblog.gothacked.org

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 26th 2007 11:00AM]

How much would this cost to make?... also, how is it powered?

(I'm in class and only had time to look at the pretty pictures)

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 10th 2009 4:57PM]

hi can u make me one Xbox 360 laptop and let me how much it cost need it bad the money is waiting hit soon

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 29th 2007 2:49AM]

wow I'd pay for somebody to make this for me! IF anybody is interested I have plenty of moolah email is [e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 7th 2007 12:39PM]

I will build ha... don't know how it will turn out though, i've never done a project like this

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 7th 2007 12:39PM]

Hey bob, how are you doing? I will build for ya. I don't knwo how it will turn out, concidering I have never done a project to this extent before.

[(Unverified) Posted May 16th 2007 11:27PM]

omg u gotta sell this, i gotta have 1

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 7th 2007 12:39PM]

So, does this double as a true laptop and an xbox, or is it stricly an xbox?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2007 9:33PM]

just an xbox

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2007 1:11PM]

Man if you fuck up your in deep shit.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 12th 2007 2:11PM]

If you was to sell some i would pay as soon as i had the money.

Also is there a place were someone sells them.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 26th 2007 8:44PM]

I would love to have one of these laptops, are you still making them? How much did everything cost you? and how long did take you? Of course the question everyone has been asking, are you mass producing these? if so...can I pay you to make one for me???


[e-mail]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 18th 2007 11:06PM]

hi my name is shane im 14 and i like these kinds of thing i have a quick qusteion whats a male header and where can i get a ribbon cable