Toaster Computer is fine for email, useless for Pop Tarts

After discovering the Scan Toaster a few days ago (and who can forget the Nintoaster?) we had really high hopes for Gordon Johnson's Toaster Computer Project. Unfortunately, though it sounds exotic (like some sort of WiFi, dual-core, programmable toaster oven), the Toaster Computer turns out to be little more than a PC housed in the classic Black & Decker Toast-It-All 4-Slice Toaster enclosure. There are a plethora of photos -- and a YouTube video -- to take you through the process (complete with a stomach churning trance techno version of "The Final Countdown" on the soundtrack). According to Johnson, the next step will be to replace the machine's "regular cooling method" (also known as a "fan") with a thermoelectric cooling process he calls the "Passive Laxative Copper Cooler Concept." We look forward to seeing how that turns out. Video after the break.

[Via Hack A Day]

[chefgon_ign @ Sep 15th 2008 3:44PM]

That monitor is making me physically ill.

[Stiv @ Sep 15th 2008 3:46PM]

I know, right? Who still has monitors like that?

[M @ Sep 15th 2008 3:54PM]

The fact that they've kept a monitor that old for so long is almost more impressive than the toaster project. Maybe it's their source of heat for the winter.

[Hellaphunt @ Sep 15th 2008 4:05PM]

Isn't it hideous? It's hurting my feelings!

[CraigJ @ Sep 15th 2008 5:15PM]

I have 5 in my garage. free for the asking...

[Mario @ Sep 15th 2008 5:30PM]

Is that VGA resolution??

Does this guy live in a museum???

[Aaron @ Sep 15th 2008 7:19PM]

The 80's called... they want their monitor back.

[papafew @ Sep 15th 2008 9:02PM]

the 320/240 pixels, 256 colors, monitor (without multitouch) fit well with Windows

[DWes @ Sep 16th 2008 4:21PM]

The 90's called - they want their worn-out cliche back.

[BradS @ Sep 19th 2008 8:03AM]

And dig that 1" of black border around the image! 11" of pure VGA image action!

[qwert @ Sep 15th 2008 3:48PM]

How was that saying that linux can be made tu run on everything, even a toaster?
And then there comes this guy with his toastuter and puts Win XP on it!
Oh the ironing.

qwert

[From My Cube @ Sep 15th 2008 3:51PM]

while your at it, I have a few wrinkles on my dress shirts...think you can help?

[ybd @ Sep 15th 2008 4:03PM]

Well, you know what they say - all toasters toast toast.

[From My Cube @ Sep 15th 2008 3:49PM]

more likely to get burned off the monitor than the toaster

[rony @ Sep 15th 2008 3:50PM]

he types on a keyboard placed in his drawer?

[SchmuckyTheCat @ Sep 15th 2008 3:50PM]

Maybe he should have spent some time working for money to replace that ~1993 VGA monitor instead.

[From My Cube @ Sep 15th 2008 3:50PM]

while your at it, I have a few wrinkles on my dress shirts...think you can help?

[From My Cube @ Sep 15th 2008 3:55PM]

oh for fucks sake, i hit reply to another comment and I get this shit, Engadget you can no longer complain about buggy software until you fix this damn comment system. Is it that hard to let it know I am a returning users? I have to click reply twice to hear my speakers spaz with the "clicky noise" that will finally allow for me to comment....AOL TAKE $500 rent a freaking coder and fix this once and for all

[kyle allen @ Sep 15th 2008 3:58PM]

i agree, but i dont think its engadgets fault that u have cheap speekerz

[Colin Potter @ Sep 15th 2008 3:53PM]

if the toast slots were turned into docking bays for HDDs, and then you pop them up to remove them... that would be neat.

[kyle allen @ Sep 15th 2008 3:56PM]

finally someone combines toasters and cathode ray tubes! two of my favorite things!

[GON @ Sep 15th 2008 4:02PM]

So... How do you load a Cd?

[Darkest Daze @ Sep 15th 2008 4:26PM]

You put it in the left toaster slot then set it to "lightly brown". Unfortunately, it usually just melts the cd instead. (Toasters don't understand the difference between burning a cd and "burning" a cd.)

[Kenny @ Sep 15th 2008 4:09PM]

http://www.crazypc.com/other/misc/toast.htm

With this you can actually toast in your toaster.

[Vidiot @ Sep 15th 2008 4:17PM]

Reminds me of an SGI O2...

http://www.blakespot.com/sgi/images/sgi_open1.jpg

[imacmatt09 @ Sep 15th 2008 4:25PM]

Lets do a ping of death attack on Oliver's website.

[Almighty- @ Sep 15th 2008 4:27PM]

That could have been made better ... My Shuttle XPC is smaller than this...

[404 @ Sep 15th 2008 4:31PM]

Frakkin' toasters...

[kastonie @ Sep 15th 2008 4:37PM]

the next step will be to replace the machine's "regular cooling method" (also known as a "fan") with a thermoelectric cooling process he calls the "Passive Laxative Copper Cooler Concept."

So is this new cooling process gonna give the toaster computer diarrhea?

[Rogue_Genius @ Sep 15th 2008 7:42PM]

He's getting rid of the "fan" and replacing it with a $h!tt!er cooling device.

Here's hoping the $h!t don't hit the fan!

[Carl Vitullo @ Sep 15th 2008 4:49PM]

They should mount heatsinks just to the inside of the toaster bays so it can at the very least warm things.

That would destroy any sort of cooling it had, but it would be a neat gimmick.

[nth256 @ Sep 15th 2008 4:49PM]

I wonder, if he enables his browser's pop-up blocker, does the whole thing catch fire?

[miked @ Sep 15th 2008 4:55PM]

Here is a Linux Toaster that can make toast:

http://onlyhacks.com/linux/netbsd-toaster/

[DarkLight @ Sep 16th 2008 12:11AM]

That's not Linux, it's BSD.

Please someone make a toaster with Linux... I'm starting to get desperate!!

[Josh @ Sep 15th 2008 5:11PM]

Pfft Ping of Death, that's like so Win95..

DDOS is where it's at!

[TavisJohn @ Sep 15th 2008 5:14PM]

That is the dumbest hack ever!

1) There are slots in the top... Where is the DVD drive popping up out of one of them?
2) There is a TON of room inside... Why is the PSU outside?
3) Why did they bolt the HD tray to the side... With bolts sticking out?
4) They just covered the toast slots... Why not do SOMETHING (anything) with them? Aside from a DVD drive... You could have put in lights... Maybe even vent fans... A small LCD screen that displays free memory or something that you raise and lower using the toaster levers.... A projector clock that projects the time on the celing... SOMETHING!!!

This is a fail toaster computer. The point of putting a computer in something other than a computer case is that it still LOOKS like the original item!

The NES toaster is WAY COOLER than this could ever HOPE to be!
http://www.screwattack.com/node/9572
At least the NES toaster USES the toast slots!

[jupiterthunder @ Sep 15th 2008 5:54PM]

I'm never gonna be that guy that mods but I'm compelled to say that this is one of the crappiest mods I've ever seen.

[Eric @ Sep 15th 2008 6:52PM]

That sound you just heard is the whimpering of Amiga users longing for their days of glory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Toaster

(Babylon 5 was done on Amigas and Nutek Video Toasters.)

[YOO. @ Sep 15th 2008 7:22PM]

I hope that isn't His main computer.

[cycletronic @ Sep 15th 2008 7:24PM]

We all know that it's possible to cook beans with a heatsink-less processor. Why not toast?

[Adeptus @ Sep 15th 2008 7:48PM]

OFN
I remember seeing a toaster PC several years ago, that was so much better than this...
It was a 2-slot chrome toaster with a Mini-ITX PC inside it.

[Edgar Voorbraak @ Sep 16th 2008 2:59AM]

this one ?
http://www.homeserverhacks.com/2008/05/real-home-servertoaster.html

[Gordon @ Sep 15th 2008 10:02PM]

Well, it's not a "hack" per se, more like a mod. This (as stated earlier) is just part one of the project. To correct a few invalid statements made, I have picked a few at random. The PSU would not fit on the inside. Sure, a pico power supply might, but it would be ill-powered for the current setup. In terms of the "default cooling method" (i.e. fan, or aluminum passive cooling for our weaker CPUs) I plan on using the peltier effect, the use of copper & aluminum + mineral oil. When part 2 of the project is done (probably the end of September or so) I will post those details.

As per having a cheap/old monitor... I have had this thing since 1995. It was my only monitor laying around. Honestly, I am not going to go out and buy a new LCD monitor for ~$150 (don't quibble over the prices that you may see elsewhere) in order to display the results. The point was to show that it does indeed function (and this will play a much bigger role when part 2 is complete). Part 2 will also encompass the lovely extras, such as a slim CD-ROM drive popping through one of the toast slots, the levers will power it on/off and restart it, etc.

I hope that this answers a few questions/clarifies any misunderstandings. I will post updates when part 2 is finished.

Cheers

[Crooked Style @ Sep 15th 2008 10:17PM]

will it Play Crysis on very High Settings with AA?

[Crooked Style @ Sep 15th 2008 10:43PM]

will it play Crysis on very high settings?

[Nelson @ Sep 17th 2008 1:21AM]

This thing can't cook pop tarts what the...

[blackfeather @ Sep 17th 2008 2:15PM]

It'd be cool if you could drop SATA drives into the bread slots...