Eee PC mod adds keyboard backlight, subwoofer and spinner rims optional

With its minute keyboard, the Eee PC can be tough to use in the dark. Imagine, then, if yours had a backlit keyboard. The folks at Popsci have come up with -- and explained -- a way to add one of your own. And get this: you can do it in 3 hours for just $13.50. But before you go ripping apart your new Eee PC, mind this: this isn't the easiest mod in the world. You have to be cool with removing the keyboard, slipping some wires, and doing some light soldering. In addition, the hack plops a Techno Flash luminescent wire inverter on the outside of the case, so if you're big on minimalism, this might be a skip.

[Via Pimp My UMPC]

[TheGeektoriousBIG @ May 16th 2008 9:56PM]

I'll want the Optimus Maximus Mod added for $1300 on an Eee plz.

[TheGeektoriousBIG @ May 16th 2008 9:58PM]

You have to be cool with removing the keyboard, slipping some wires, and doing some light soldering.

You mean "snipping some wires".

[Tony @ May 16th 2008 11:03PM]

I read that and thought, "I must not be skilled enough to do this, since I don't know how to slip wires..."

[DOOM!!! @ May 16th 2008 9:58PM]

but will it play doom?

[Neebs @ May 16th 2008 10:22PM]

no.

[El Taco @ May 16th 2008 11:10PM]

yes, but only the Windows XP version, and at 8 frames per second. It also might crash your computer.

But yes, it will play doom.






...I love answering these stupid comments seriously.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ May 17th 2008 2:44AM]

If you can play online multiplayer of DOOM on PSP with homebrew then Yes, someone will port it for you.could use a Bosch emulator.

[Jack @ May 19th 2008 6:49AM]

personally I prefer zdoom, that should work fine

[The Dude @ May 16th 2008 10:00PM]

"If you're gonna have something taped or velcroed to the outside, you might as well just buy a USB Light to light up your keyboard when you need it.

For this to be a worthwhile mod, you have to hard-wire it like Benny and emo5 mention above..."
- qwertyv
(From the read link.)

Couldn't have said it better.

[Jack @ May 19th 2008 6:50AM]

I find the easiest way to illuminate your keyboard is to turn the light on in the room

[Ignatius @ May 16th 2008 10:03PM]

If you need to look down at your keyboard to type... wow.

It's 2008 people, learn to freaking type.

[gad get @ May 16th 2008 10:05PM]

NO!

[The Dude @ May 16th 2008 10:12PM]

I take it you haven't considered the keyboard isn't of the standard sized variety, it being an ultra-portable and all, thereby seriously fucking with your typing skillz oh 1337357 0f 73h 1337.

I don't work in the dark, staring at a screen in a dark room harshes on The Dude's eyes. So I wouldn't be looking for a backlit mod anyway. But different keyboards, shitty ones really, you find at public terminals just totally fuck with my hands. The ones with the giant-ass, inexplicably grotesque-looking Return key do it more often than not.

So yeah, it's not about not knowing key-placement it's about the size and spacing of the keys.

[Ignatius @ May 16th 2008 10:16PM]

I know the keyboard is of different size... I've had to type at countless keyboards that were different than mine. The only ones that really screwed with me were those crappy ergonomic broken apart keyboards.

Even then, for a good typist, it's not that hard to adjust to a new keyboard within a few days... a backlight is more of a distraction than a help, especially in the dark.

Ever tried to watch a movie on a newer TV with the power LED blaring in your face? If anything, this is annoying. Hell, my keyboard has backlit... but I didn't even know that until about two weeks after I started using it... I hadn't ever looked at it. :P

[Ignatius @ May 16th 2008 10:17PM]

Feh... *has a backlight. Edit button please.

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ May 16th 2008 10:17PM]

Dude (Ignatius), have you ever tried typing looking down at your keyboard?....

Even if you can type without doing so, if you look you can type even faster and without typos...

At least that's my case... I could type eyes-free, but I'd be slower

[Ignatius @ May 16th 2008 10:23PM]

Huh... I replied, but my comment never went through. Oh well...

DarkLight, typing with my head down, looking at my keyboard is actually slower for me, since I can't see what the output is on the screen itself.

Typing blind is probably the best thing I ever learned back in 6th grade, as we were forced to type with a cloth over our hands that forced us to learn to know the keys and memorize them.

Hell, I just typed this last sentence with my eyes closed. I made mistakes, but I still corrected them by feel alone. Hard to prove, but hey, it's the Intertubes. :P

[Shane @ May 16th 2008 11:13PM]

I would have to agree. We had a teacher in primary school that forced us to learn to type properly and covered our hands with a sheet of paper. I'm actually kind of glad he did...Now I can easily do 60-80 WPM (very few errors) without looking at the keyboard. A QWERTY layout is a QWERTY layout, generally speaking. If the position of the shift keys is slightly off, or if the layout is 'slightly' different (i.e. UK layout) it might throw me for a bit but I can usually adjust pretty quickly.

[CraigJ @ May 17th 2008 12:23AM]

Secretaries touch type, developers are not secretaries...

[gabe @ May 16th 2008 10:23PM]

meh LED and CCD tubes are so 2006

[Aguiluz @ May 16th 2008 10:58PM]

LED is so 2006?

Then what's in now?

[CJ @ May 17th 2008 11:02PM]

@Aguiluz

It's totally LEAD, Light Emitting AWESOMENESS Diode.

[BigD145 @ May 16th 2008 10:25PM]

That whole big battery bit needs to be in the bezel. That's what bezels are for.

[DWells55 @ May 16th 2008 10:25PM]

Check out the last line of the article:
"Ahh, now you’re typing in the dark, and constant mistakes area a thing of the past."
-----
Oh, sweet irony.

[happy_penguin @ May 17th 2008 1:24AM]

OMG that's FUNNY!! :D :D

[LongshotX @ May 16th 2008 10:53PM]

Engadget you're beating this EEE thing to death. By next month we will have the 10 inch model for $700. I can't wait.

[El Taco @ May 16th 2008 11:12PM]

17 inch EEE FTW

[Sam Zebian @ May 16th 2008 11:04PM]

this appears to be awesome, but after reading it, IDK if I want to do it anymore...

[cwj @ May 16th 2008 11:33PM]

such is the glorious glow of life on its surface.....

[ManekiNeko @ May 16th 2008 11:56PM]

How is this going to affect the battery life? The new models of the EEE only get about two and a half hours from a full charge, and the last thing you'd need is a hack that would further reduce that amount of time away from an AC adapter.

[karmaghost @ May 17th 2008 12:14AM]

If you check out the article, you'll see that they use an external AA battery source, so it'll have no affect on the battery life of the laptop and pretty much ruins the sleek exterior of the Eee.

[Nunuv @ May 17th 2008 12:18AM]

Look, this is a noble effort and all, but this really demonstrates the difference between Macs and PCs. With a MacBook (Pro), the *letters* (not the keys) on the keys are backlit. So, the light shines through the letters. This is a cheap shortcut, more like ambient lighting, but I guess it allows them to claim the keyboard is "backlit." (Yes, I recognize the Macbook Pros cost a lot more that an chEEEap PC.)

[nDee @ May 17th 2008 4:27AM]

You don't get a MacBookEEE for $400
Do you?
But something like ThinkLight should be easy

[NeonRush @ May 17th 2008 8:55AM]

Your opinion will be valid the day you climb off of fanboy mountain and realize that you're actually willing to pay a $500-800 premium on a computer with limited software choices simply because you want to:

A. Look "cool"

or

B. Avoid learning how to actually use a computer.

The answers are irrelevant, since you've already proven your tool-ness.

[Nunuv @ May 18th 2008 3:03AM]

The answer is B, not that you care. I paid my dues struggling with PCs, both software and hardware (ah, IRQs....oh how I miss you so). The fact of the matter is that I'd rather spend my time doing things other than learning "how to actually use a computer." That's the point, dimwit. So, you're opinion will be valid when you move out of your parents basement and realize that a computer is just a tool - a means to an end - and I'd rather not worry about the intricacies of getting it to work just so I can accomplish something. What a dumb-ass.

[Phoenix @ May 18th 2008 11:10AM]

There are a HELL of a lot of PCs out there with backlit keyboards.

[computer.dude.28 @ May 17th 2008 12:58AM]

You mean there isn't actually a subwoofer? :(

[Ian @ May 17th 2008 2:01AM]

How does this backlight help you see the keys? It shines a light at your eyes, not on the keys. On a laptop with a backlit keyboard such as a MacBook Pro or old PowerBook, the lettering on the keys is translucent so that the light coming from under the keyboard will also light up the lettering of each individual key.


And really, touch-typing is better anyway.

[Ian @ May 19th 2008 1:34AM]

i have the MBP, and i have to say i freaking love the backlit keys. it makes typing in the dark a lot easier. i dont always do it but it is nice to be able to see at an angle when your surfing the web on a bed.

[Sim @ May 17th 2008 7:47AM]

Is the mac fanboyism really necessary?*






*This question is rhetorical. Before you answer, look up the word "rhetorical".

[sunnysardine @ May 20th 2008 2:44AM]

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Go【https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pY0-CRMefXLFWdBQoKT3EPA】to help us find out. Thank you for your participation.

[Di S, Gracefully @ May 20th 2008 5:19PM]

I´m typing in bed in the dark on my eeepc, one-fingered in a confined space under a blanket, weighed down by a cat. Thereś enough light from the screen for me to see what the keys are. From your picture I´d say backlighting would actually interfere with your view of the keyboard, providing only glare.

If you need more light try a head torch. I did that with previous machines that had black keys, You can also take a head torch camping or caving -- I use it in the yard for night gardening as well. And you can be green by using rechargeable batteries.