You're probably already familiar with the work of
modder / hacker extraordinaire,
Benjamin Heckendorn... and if you're not, well, maybe it's time to familiarize yourself with his work. Regardless, some of his fantastic handiwork has shown up on Ebay for sale, and while we don't want to counsel you to foolishlessly spend loads of hard-earned cash, this
is bound to be an heirloom one day. The listing here is for Ben's
PS3 Slim laptop -- the one modded from a 17-inch Gateway 1775w LCD with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution -- and its currently at around
$1,075.00 with 16 bids on it and roughly 3 days remaining. So if this kind of thing strikes your fancy (and we know that it does) hop to it! Check out our segment of The Engadget Show we filmed at Ben's evil laboratory after the break.
Update: It looks like the auction has been pulled just recently, though we're not sure why. Thanks for the heads up, Wesley H.
Update 2: And it's back! Phew.
posted January 1st 2010 9:28PM
Why no link to the auction?
Here it is...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=330390006316
@Michael Scrip
I will spend my life savings trying to buy this glory device on ebay
well, if we look at the little thing called the source near the bottom of the article...
if it wasn't there when you posted, sorry
@Robot Overlord
Oh, my bad, I've never looked there...
It just seems like if they can put 4 other links in the body of the text... they might put a nice blue link to whatever they are talking about... instead of having it 5 inches down the page... written in black italics.
Links on this site are blue... and that's what I was looking for.
@Michael Scrip
I think the "source" and "via" buttons were introduced as part of the redesign.
@Chavez
They were. I just didn't notice them... being so far below the video away from the text.
In this case... I had already seen the video... so I didn't look past the video.
@Michael Scrip
They were always there, even before the redesign.
@finnith
OK... but my point is... there were plenty of links in the article... why couldn't they just put one more below the text?
This is the one time I wanted to read more... but I couldn't find the link... it was below the video I've already seen. But I've learned my lesson now :)
@Michael Scrip Actually, I believe Tags are blue. Technically links yes, but all those highlighted blue words in Engadget posts will just bring you to a list of other posts tagged in a similar fashion.
@Michael Scrip They also could have linked the auction to the picture...
and it at $3,250!!!!! wow! thats a big butt load of cash!
@Michael Scrip Actually this is the link. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330391804986&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
That slim put on some pounds...
I would not pay anything NEAR 1 grand for that.
@mtnDewFTW
its over 3 grand now.
@Engadget
Buy it for recession antidote pl0x?
Ben Heck is amazing and all, but even if I had a couple grand to blow, it would never be on this...
Anyways, it's not even Ben selling it. Doesn't seem fair that someone else is profiting from his work...
@NCase Especially when you consider the dork won the thing in a giveaway. The best part is he threw up a Reserve, which is over $1,000. So he won, says he doesn't care about PS3 gaming, takes it anyway, and tries to sell it for over $1,000. Classy.
@NCase Agreed. I would bet that the reserve is set for the 'verifiable' retail value of over 7K (retrieved from the official rules). I have to agree with @Griff on this one. The store that got the PS3 Laptop (The Score) just opened in my area, and is the first reasonable game store in the area. While I'm sure that the store made more than enough to cover the loss, it just seems like the store might have some bad press here by having the person give it away within days of winning it. Not adhering to their true gamer persona they are trying to create.
At the very least, this is not a classy move by the seller.
@jfryman Sounds like the store needs to check who they allow enter their contests... Easier said than done, though. Really not a classy move by the seller, but I guess I can see where he's coming from, but kinda disrespectful.
@NCase Sadly this is a very common problem with the game industry, and why pot-luck style of "drop your email or similar" contests don't happen much. I remember back in the day with Westwood Studios when Red Alert I believe it was came out. They were doing a drawing for a bunch of awesome stuff. The grandprize was a freaking Hummer (not those POS H2 & whatever people drive now). The winner ended up being some douche chick that never had heard of the company, let alone wasn't even a gamer. Of course she took the Hummer, and from what I can tell just sold it. Apparently there are companies back then (and I'm sure still today) that just charge people cash to enter them in hundreds of random contests like that. Needless to say for one, the heads of the company were less than happy, and two, made sure those kind of give-aways NEVER happened again in the company. Only takes one person to screw it up for everyone else!
A bit thick for a laptop,
why did he not pick a screen with 1080p resolution?
@va jj Not many console games get past 720p.
@(Unverified)
It's not even that, it's just that on a 17 inch screen, there is no way you would be able to tell the difference.
@(Unverified) You would be sitting pretty damn close, so ANYONE could tell the difference.
I've never understood why someone would have a staring price of $100 on an eBay auction for an item with a reserve that is over $1000- and not disclose any indication of the actual reserve price...
Good luck on this one 'stan.the.awesome.nerd@gmail.com'...
Wonder why engadget is just putting this article up now. It looks like the auction has been going for 10 days already.
@Chavez Maybe they just came to know about it? That wasn't difficult was it?
This makes me want to mod my PS3 into a laptop. I just hope I don't get banned from PSN.
@Tothamax Sony doesn't care if you put your PS3 guts inside another case, dude. Go try it yourself, take apart your PS3 and put it in a Rubbermaid bin, then see if they ban you.
@cloud858rk
ahahahahah
I'm happy with my laptop which costs about the same. Has a Blu-ray drive and tonnes of games via Steam. I'm sure I'm not alone on that.
whoever buys this...don't update ur firmware to 3.xx
that is all
@mithritades
Why?
@Peytral Yeah Why? you wanna miss out on cool animated themes? or you found a way to play backed up games in expensive empty BD on firmware 2.xx and down?
@mithritades
It is said that the 3.XX series causes Blu-ray drives to malfunction.
@Peytral firmware 3.xx is bricking PS3s and and rendering blu-ray drives non-operational and Sony wants u to pay to have it fixed($150),I'm not speaking out of school as there are 1000s(check psnnetwork.com) of this happening but in my case all my trophies are corrupted so I can't play any game that has the function and I'm not going to reformat my drive,fcuk that,I'll wait and see what Sony does with 3.20 or later updates...Read the fine print,u will see it says Sony isn't responsible for any damage their firmware does to ur console and blah blah blah,enough of my rant*drops mic*
@mithritades
I dont have a PS3, I just was curious, did some reading, came across this: http://www.ps3blog.co.za/2008/04/10/ps3-error-80010514-explained/
Read: (Update 2)
Hope this helps?
Sadly missing built in Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Great deal $1k.
@(Unverified)
Please explain the point of building in a wireless keyboard...
Kinda want one, but I will take a MacBook and ps3 over this anyday.
that is a big ass house.
I would never pay $1k for a ps3 laptop. I have to wonder though, can you connect this to a larger monitor? if you can't it just takes away from the experience, especially when multiple people are playing at once. Oh, and was this made from a backwards-compatible PS3?
@YvesOfWinter
... it says in the title " PS3 SLIM" meaning no backwards compatibility.
@Peytral
and slim also means no linux support so not viable as an actual laptop either
@linuxiswin
Slim also means no Slim PS3 laptop support
Current Bid is +3k - wow.
i want this
What a ridiculous premium to pay for aesthetic changes to a £250 device.
@laze Exactly. People can people can be completely ridiculous.