Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Neat way to get rid of cases that aren't worthwhile.

Any of these really flimsy black cases meet the crusher. The old world gray HP cases (as ugly as they were), I don't crush...they're built like tanks and make great sleepers...I have quite a few of them.

Though I saw the front panel and/or USB/front audio headers were left on a few of the cases. I suppose you have enough of these that don't need any more? They make great retrofits for older beige cases, otherwise, when front USB or audio are needed... or just to replace the crappy cables on an otherwise well-built no-name case (seen a few like that.)

I usually pull those and keep them just for that reason. I have a plastic tote full of them.

Oooof. Let's hope they put some good thermal compound in there then.

It wasn't terrible....but I cleaned it off and buttered it up with some fresh AS5

Really? HP put that kind of small HDD on the AMD APU system?
I guess that's a double-whammy with the big hollow tincan cases: so not only you get big empty case, but also big 3.5" HDD that's only 160 GB. Wow!

I lied....it was a 500gb seagate. I don't know why I had 160 in my brain when I typed that....old age I suppose....but yea, full of bad sectors.

Perhaps the HDD wasn't original to that system, after all?
Also, which series was the Seagate? 7200.9 or later. If 7200.9 or earlier, it might still hang around with some useful life.

It probably was. It's in a big box of bad hdd's I have here....I take them to the Sheriff's department and give them to them. They take them to the range and use them for target practice.

I genuinely dislike those. If you have a torx driver with a long handle, perhaps it would be tolerable. I don't so I have to use one of those drivers with the short replaceable bits. Problem with that is, the screwdriver handle's body is sometimes too thick to reach in certain areas... and HP always has one or two screws in such areas. Flat heat is not a good alternative either, because I can never grab the screw with it and then move it to the hole without it falling from the screw driver, even if the screwdriver has a good magnetized head.

Don't get me wrong - I like Torx screws for certain applications. But PC cases isn't one of them.

I dont mind them....it just annoys me when they're hybrid; some philips some torx....and then I have to go get extra tools...

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Agreed. It will be redeemed though, I devised a case crusher using my fork lift. It flattens them out the size their footprint size but about an inch thick.

Oh yeah, I saw that in the cheap scores thread when I scrolled through it briefly last time.

Neat way to get rid of cases that aren't worthwhile.
Though I saw the front panel and/or USB/front audio headers were left on a few of the cases. I suppose you have enough of these that don't need any more? They make great retrofits for older beige cases, otherwise, when front USB or audio are needed... or just to replace the crappy cables on an otherwise well-built no-name case (seen a few like that.) Actually, I had to temporarily do a fix on one like that. The USB 2.0 front ports kept dropping out flash drives or Windows saying it's an unrecognized device. A few wraps of aluminum foil, tape, and a grounding wire later, and that fixed the issue with unrecognized devices. Then added an electro cap for filtering + power transients right on the USB port, and that healed the issue with devices dropping out on power-up. But in reality, I really should change that crappy front USB cable. I have one I saved from an HP case that was going to get junked by someone. I keep it in my spare bin for testing certain bare motherboards, though.

LOL...not that you didn't already know...

Yeah, the Vista sticker was a good giveaway clue too. Whoever had that system got the "best" "fully loaded" package - Windows Vista and a crappy nVidia chipset. I mean, what could go wrong?

Indeed, soldered. Heatsink attaches with the little anchors & hooks like an old world northbridge sink would attach.

Oooof. Let's hope they put some good thermal compound in there then.

That will live on in any build that deburring is required!

The original spinner was a seagate 160gb full of bad sectors.

Really? HP put that kind of small HDD on the AMD APU system?
I guess that's a double-whammy with the big hollow tincan cases: so not only you get big empty case, but also big 3.5" HDD that's only 160 GB. Wow!

Perhaps the HDD wasn't original to that system, after all?
Also, which series was the Seagate? 7200.9 or later. If 7200.9 or earlier, it might still hang around with some useful life.

but most people believe the hype that 7 is insecure...

Well, that's what happens when "IT Professionals" write clickbait articles for major "news" sites. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this rhetoric on Yahoo! articles.

Only having one WiFi antenna and leaving the second antenna connector open is another quality bit of HP "engineering."

Funny you mention this.
I did the same thing, and on a HP mini desktop PC nonetheless , because with both antennas connected, I was getting more frequent WiFi dropouts than with one antenna. In retrospect, though, that might have been an improper solution, as it seems now that the WiFi at my parents' apartment just seems to drop out at certain timeframes of the day, regardless of anything else. It's not the router either (already replaced with another)... nor the ISP (doing a ping to the router's IP - 192.168.1.1 - for 1000 packets, I can confirm the connection drop happens between router and device/PC and not ISP.) Removing one antenna seems to drop the WiFi speed of the connection... but somehow the connection seems to dropout less frequently then.

HP is still using the old Compaq Torx/slotted combo screws, too.

I genuinely dislike those. If you have a torx driver with a long handle, perhaps it would be tolerable. I don't so I have to use one of those drivers with the short replaceable bits. Problem with that is, the screwdriver handle's body is sometimes too thick to reach in certain areas... and HP always has one or two screws in such areas. Flat heat is not a good alternative either, because I can never grab the screw with it and then move it to the hole without it falling from the screw driver, even if the screwdriver has a good magnetized head.

Don't get me wrong - I like Torx screws for certain applications. But PC cases isn't one of them.

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Ah.... HP "Engineering" again. *sigh*

I never understood why they did that. Such a waste of metal and space. Granted those cases are made of really really thin steel... but still a waste.

Agreed. It will be redeemed though, I devised a case crusher using my fork lift. It flattens them out the size their footprint size but about an inch thick. I have the cabin of a junk car filled with many horrible junk cases that are crushed....just waiting to be taken to the steel recycler! They will live again, hopefully as something useful!

Let me guess... model number on that board starts with M2N (looks like M2NC51-AR)... so by that, I can only guess it's an nVidia (a.k.a. "noVideo") chipset. If so, that probably explains it all.

Yup. M2NC51-AR....and yup, no video.

*EDIT*
yeah, I see an nVidia sticker on the case...

LOL...not that you didn't already know...

It's unfortunate these soldered APUs don't have an AM2 mounting bracket or provision to mount any other kind of heatsink. Otherwise, even a stock slim Intel Al heatsink will work tons better here for cooling. But again... "HP Engineering"

Indeed, soldered. Heatsink attaches with the little anchors & hooks like an old world northbridge sink would attach.

Glad to see I'm making you do extra work every time now. Wonder how many people cut their fingers on your builds before that.

That will live on in any build that deburring is required!

Ghetto? It looks OK to me. Probably cools better than the original 92 mm fan too, since I didn't see a shroud over the CPU HS in the original case. If HP did that, though, that would have been one helluva cool-running CPU. Dell did this back on their P4 regular tower cases, and it managed to keep those P4s cool, despite all their heat.

The CPU would get warm, but not alarmingly so....I still fanned it anyway.

Brilliant solution! It's like those plastic pins were made for that.

They had to be shaved about 3/16" to flush up with the steel, otherwise the bezel would still be loose and flop around on that bottom side. It's rock solid now.

BTW, if you have a center punch with a larger diameter than the screw head, you can use that to make a flare around the hole in the steel cage. This will also raise the HDD a few mm away from the metal parts... though I don't know if that could also make the original cage not fit 3.5" HDDs anymore, due to the flared metal holes sticking out.

Noted. Ones originally like that are stamped with a press...but yea, a punch and a little finesse would totally work in that case.

how come you're not re-using the original 3.5" HDDs? Too slow? I suppose if you're going with Windows 10, that's a good enough reason. But for Win7 and older, I still don't mind 7k2 RPM spinners. Every now and then, I still buy 250 GB 3.5" HDDs from Ebay for pretty much the price of shipping. Seems like no one wants HDDs that small or that old. I use them on Win7 machines, and depending on the config (and drivers that have to be loaded), some systems take less than 20 seconds total to get to desktop from pressing the power button.

The original spinner was a seagate 160gb full of bad sectors. Odds are when rehomed, it'll be doomed with 10....it originally had 8.1 on it, so 10 will activate without any smoke & mirrors....unless I could talk them into 7 or Mint....but most people believe the hype that 7 is insecure...and look at you like you grew another head when you say Linux Mint...

[lti]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Only having one WiFi antenna and leaving the second antenna connector open is another quality bit of HP "engineering." In this case, there appears to be a second antenna on the front of the case, but I've seen laptops with one antenna.

HP is still using the old Compaq Torx/slotted combo screws, too. It just reminds me of the computers that taught me to save often in case they locked up.

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Ok, I ended up with a couple more of these turds in big tin cans a couple weeks ago....

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Ah.... HP "Engineering" again. *sigh*

I never understood why they did that. Such a waste of metal and space. Granted those cases are made of really really thin steel... but still a waste.

What better to rehouse this than some HP slimline 3000 series AM2 with a bad motherboard.....

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Let me guess... model number on that board starts with M2N (looks like M2NC51-AR)... so by that, I can only guess it's an nVidia (a.k.a. "noVideo") chipset. If so, that probably explains it all.

If it was a socket 939 system and had a Athlon 64 X2 CPU, certainly save those, as they are getting harder to find. AM2... not so much. In fact, AM2 is pretty much scrap value now... unless you specifically want to run WinXP on something dual-core and "proper" from that era... but dirt-cheap.

*EDIT*
yeah, I see an nVidia sticker on the case...

The board. I added a 40mm fan to the forward side of the sink. The original case had a 90mm fan drawing air across this sink....and we all know AMD stuff running hot!

The AMD APUs run pretty cool, IME. It's just that the stock heatsinks that come with these systems are always inadequate and running either a tiny fan or no fan at all, thus relying on the rear fan (like it was with the original big tincan HP cases above.) It's unfortunate these soldered APUs don't have an AM2 mounting bracket or provision to mount any other kind of heatsink. Otherwise, even a stock slim Intel Al heatsink will work tons better here for cooling. But again... "HP Engineering"

Drilled and DEBURRED!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Glad to see I'm making you do extra work every time now. Wonder how many people cut their fingers on your builds before that.

Here's where the fan interfered....the optical was hitting it. The solution was simple, relocate it to the AFT end and have it drawing across the sink instead of blowing. Worked like a charm. Yea, looks a little ghetto with the zipties, but it's not going anywhere. There was no cleaner way to fasten it with screws....

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Ghetto? It looks OK to me. Probably cools better than the original 92 mm fan too, since I didn't see a shroud over the CPU HS in the original case. If HP did that, though, that would have been one helluva cool-running CPU. Dell did this back on their P4 regular tower cases, and it managed to keep those P4s cool, despite all their heat.

A little more engineering....the tabs that held the lower part of the bezel on were broken off.....so I shaved the alignment pins flush with the steel and ran a couple screws into them. Perfect!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Brilliant solution! It's like those plastic pins were made for that.

Now to fit it for a 2.5" HDD without having to waste an adapter tray (keeping costs down). Simply marked & drilled the 3.5" cage.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

I had to use the most flush screws I could find, otherwise it dragged on the ceiling of the cage housing.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1634181990

Neat! I've had to do that before as well.

BTW, if you have a center punch with a larger diameter than the screw head, you can use that to make a flare around the hole in the steel cage. This will also raise the HDD a few mm away from the metal parts... though I don't know if that could also make the original cage not fit 3.5" HDDs anymore, due to the flared metal holes sticking out.

BTW x2... how come you're not re-using the original 3.5" HDDs? Too slow? I suppose if you're going with Windows 10, that's a good enough reason. But for Win7 and older, I still don't mind 7k2 RPM spinners. Every now and then, I still buy 250 GB 3.5" HDDs from Ebay for pretty much the price of shipping. Seems like no one wants HDDs that small or that old. I use them on Win7 machines, and depending on the config (and drivers that have to be loaded), some systems take less than 20 seconds total to get to desktop from pressing the power button.

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Ok, I ended up with a couple more of these turds in big tin cans a couple weeks ago....



What better to rehouse this than some HP slimline 3000 series AM2 with a bad motherboard.....





The board. I added a 40mm fan to the forward side of the sink. The original case had a 90mm fan drawing air across this sink....and we all know AMD stuff running hot! This slimline had no case fans other than the one in the PSU, which was removed....so I figured something had to be added. This ended up being a bit of a goof, but easily remedied....more later.



Now popped the original IO shield and had to mod the new one for the wifi antenna. I didn't do the antenna in the PSU blockoff plate this time, the cable was too short.



Drilled and DEBURRED!



Now to debadge the case....



Done.



Test fired, booted Hiren's.



Here's where the fan interfered....the optical was hitting it. The solution was simple, relocate it to the AFT end and have it drawing across the sink instead of blowing. Worked like a charm. Yea, looks a little ghetto with the zipties, but it's not going anywhere. There was no cleaner way to fasten it with screws....



A little more engineering....the tabs that held the lower part of the bezel on were broken off.....so I shaved the alignment pins flush with the steel and ran a couple screws into them. Perfect!



Now to fit it for a 2.5" HDD without having to waste an adapter tray (keeping costs down). Simply marked & drilled the 3.5" cage.





I had to use the most flush screws I could find, otherwise it dragged on the ceiling of the cage housing.



...and done!!!





Specs are an AMD APU E2 with 8gb RAM. The spinning 2.5" HDD is just temporary, I'll get a cheap SSD for it.....but here's to one saved from the shredder & repurposed....without the big ass useless tin can case. No OS installed, just used Hiren's and Mint Live boot for testing....I'll install an OS when it gets rehomed.

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

I asked her if she wanted the camera & mic put back in, it was an instant NO!

Not all of them from the older generation say no, though. For example, my neighbor's parents have an older (but still recent-ish) AIO at their home and they use it to (or used to?) Skype with their grandkids.

And now with virtual meetings getting even more popular due to Covid, I can see why even more people may want a camera and mic... though IMO, a properly configured and separate/external mic by itself is more than adequate (if not better in some situations) for that task. Built-in mics, especially, tend to have pretty poor pickup quality anyways.

Don't even get me started on all the people (kids) using their built-in Xbox One mics in online games.

[lti]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

a stock store-bought PC with Win10 that instantly picks up your WiFi and asks you to make a MS account - screw that!

At least Windows 10 doesn't automatically connect to random hotspots anymore. Now it actually gives you the option of connecting to your own WiFi or using Ethernet instead. I'm surprised that more people weren't talking about that.

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

but I still think it's silly to be dependent on an online account to use your own PC at home - it's just nonsense!

At least she can't get spied on through the webcam anymore!

I always set them up with local accounts. She didn't even know about M$ accounts, when I brought it up she was clueless. I just left it as "It's nothing you need to wrorry about for your needs"....

I asked her if she wanted the camera & mic put back in, it was an instant NO!

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

....and gone....

Sold it this morning.....

Dang, that was fast! Almost didn't have time to cure the paint, lol.

I like the KB and MS mod you did - really cool stuff. And the black KB and MS go with the B&W color theme of the system too.

It went to an older lady who was still using an XP-based laptop.....so I carved it down to be as "XP-like" as I could possibly make it....but it's gone!

Nice! I like how we were able to see the story of this machine from start to finish. That lady will probably need a little time to get used to Win10, but given the mods you did, it may not be anywhere near as bad as on a stock store-bought PC with Win10 that instantly picks up your WiFi and asks you to make a MS account - screw that! Sure we are not going to see the internet go anywhere anytime soon... but I still think it's silly to be dependent on an online account to use your own PC at home - it's just nonsense!

At least she can't get spied on through the webcam anymore!

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

yea thats certainly nice. im sure she will appreciate the considerate out-of-the-box design changes u made to make win10 as xp-like as possible! sure way to spread word of mouth on how well and considerate u treat your customers! im sure many more customers, especially older folk will be flocking to buy your win10 de-nutted systems soon! lol!

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

....and gone....

Sold it this morning.....so nuked S2K12 and put W10 on it....



It went to an older lady who was still using an XP-based laptop.....so I carved it down to be as "XP-like" as I could possibly make it....but it's gone!

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

...and this one is now complete...

This was the fastest shipping from China I've ever seen, the USB3 header arrived today.....so here we are, motherboard removed....again (I was getting real good at this)...



Soldered in....







I did have to trim those small tabs off the new slot, they interfered with the housing. It wasn't a big deal.

Slot works.



Now here's where it gets fun, and as mentioned earlier in the thread about repurposing that internal USB connection that used to run the touchscreen that has been removed.... Inspired from THIS POST, I found a complete boardset from a ET2203 that had a broken screen from ebay and it had the wireless keyboard/mouse controller....for pretty much the cost of shipping. It was originally intended for 'Project:PAT'.....but the rack cabinet and a different route because of it left this kb/mouse+receiver unassigned.



Then I found a brand new compatible keyboard & mouse:



...but there was a problem...the plugs were same/compatible on both the Dell & Asus harnesses, but they were not wired & pinned out the same. The Dell pinout did not match the Asus harness at all. The Asus cable was a simple passthrough. The Dell OTOH did a weird crossover from one connector to the other.....so some voodoo had to be done. I chose to modify the Dell cable, as it was a little longer, and the Asus cable was potted with some kind of glue to prevent depinning it....so here we go!

Asus on the left, the way I had to wire the depinned Dell connector on the right.



Completed.



...and the acid test...



Nothing went *poof* and I heard the 'new device' chime....and Winders detected it!



Married the new KB & Mouse to the receiver...they work.



Now to reassemble. I routed the cables in an existing trough and ziptied the receiver to some cabling....easy peasy.



Reassembled & done! Things are happy and this one is finished!!



This one was a mild challenge, but came out well and for not much money. When I sell it, I'll wipe S2K12 and doom it to it's native OS, W10.....but that'll be someone else's problem...but until then, I'll leave it as it currently is.

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

I like it.

Especially considering the rust bucket it was before, this is a darn fine job.
But really, the 2-tone blank-n-white paint seems to go quite well.

Thanks. Unlike some of my other weird builds, this one isn't arguable as to whether it was worth fixing it or not...unless you're a certain someone who's time is worth crazy amounts per hour. For ~2 working days effort, I'll make a buck on it. I don't have much in it dollar-wise (parts)....inspite of the improvisation due to the digitizer. Trashing this one would have been a horrible waste....not much besides the RAM and HDD would have been salvageable, and those by themselves wouldn't be worth much....but FWIW, the motherboards are worth ~$100-ish realistically. In the process of parts hunting, I found a seller that had some used ones with a $100 BIN, and he had sold quite a few.

Meh, that's a very minor imperfection.
My luck with spray paint tends to be worse (though not always, of course.) That's one of the reasons I shy away from it. Also, I don't like spray painting, since I have to do it outside and that kind of sucks because...
- if it's Summer, I get molested by mosquitoes (they really love my blood.)
- if it's Spring (thus good warm weather, but before mosquitoes had time to fully hatch), it's the tree pollen that gets stuck on everything
- if it's Fall, it gets dry and dusty, so leaves and dirt stick on everything
- and if it's Winter... it's usually too damn cold to work outside, lol.

Yea, I'm not sure what went wrong with the black...it was cool, but not cold....low humidity. It should have been ok....I'm a decent rattle-can painter...and the white came out stunning! Only one shrink mark after curing, and its tiny!

It does look really clean... and almost like a Mac too.
Seriously, you should consider the Apple sticker idea.

If I didn't sell it, I'd do it just to fool people that come in the shop.

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Ok pedestal paintjob done. Overall, it came out nice....but not without a flaw or two....but here we go!!
...
A few hours passed and the parts were safe to handle...and reassembled.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1615242392

I like it.

Especially considering the rust bucket it was before, this is a darn fine job.
But really, the 2-tone blank-n-white paint seems to go quite well.

The black for some reason didn't flow out very well...there were a few shrink marks and blurbs in it....you can see it in this pic...

Meh, that's a very minor imperfection.
My luck with spray paint tends to be worse (though not always, of course.) That's one of the reasons I shy away from it. Also, I don't like spray painting, since I have to do it outside and that kind of sucks because...
- if it's Summer, I get molested by mosquitoes (they really love my blood.)
- if it's Spring (thus good warm weather, but before mosquitoes had time to fully hatch), it's the tree pollen that gets stuck on everything
- if it's Fall, it gets dry and dusty, so leaves and dirt stick on everything
- and if it's Winter... it's usually too damn cold to work outside, lol.

Overall, not bad. The black part could have been a little better, but overall I'm happy with it. I do like the look. The white flowed out & settled fabulously & flawlessly....and since you look at it from the front, really all that matters... If nothing else, it's very one-of-a-kind now.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1615242392

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1615242392

It does look really clean... and almost like a Mac too.
Seriously, you should consider the Apple sticker idea.

It was a whopping $18, new in box.... I've had knockoffs melt on me...twice. Haven't trusted them since.

Seems like you're not the only one with that problem. :\
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=1665
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=1667

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

Ok pedestal paintjob done. Overall, it came out nice....but not without a flaw or two....but here we go!!

Base disassembled....once again!! heh..



I sanded out a few nicks & scratches.





This piece set aside, as it's not going to be white.



Inside seams shot.





Exposed surfaces shot...



...and the pedestal back, done in black....inside seams...





Exposed portion.



...and done...allowing to set up...





A few hours passed and the parts were safe to handle...and reassembled.



The black for some reason didn't flow out very well...there were a few shrink marks and blurbs in it....you can see it in this pic...



Overall, not bad. The black part could have been a little better, but overall I'm happy with it. I do like the look. The white flowed out & settled fabulously & flawlessly....and since you look at it from the front, really all that matters... If nothing else, it's very one-of-a-kind now.





Let it sit and cure out while waiting on the USB3 header. There's also an internal USB header that's freed up from the removal of the touchscreen....I hatched another idea for utilizing that one....more later.



Not bad.

[Topcat]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

LOL

At least that would make those ransomware programs with the camera feedback a little less believable when the camera doesn't work.

I just wish PCs like this had a physical camera & mic switch to be turned on/off, and I wouldn't mind them as much.

Me too... I've been asked many times to remove cameras from laptops by paranoid people....

No doubt.
The cheapo's are fire hazards most of the time.
You can also use genuine used too... though the only problem with those is that sometimes their output cords get abused too much and may stop working in short order. Luckily, this is an AIO that shouldn't be moved around too much, so that is less likely to be a problem there.

It was a whopping $18, new in box.... I've had knockoffs melt on me...twice. Haven't trusted them since.

I don't know if it's just the common people being "rogue" as usual or those USB 3.0 ports being more fragile... or a combination of both... but I see busted USG 3.0 ports are lot more frequently.

They really need to bring back d-sub in use for common people. Bulky - sure. But those d-subs can take a TON of abuse. In terms of connect/disconnect cycles, though, I think USB might be rated higher.

Agreed. I've never broken a USB port....but I'm one of those that's quite careful. I've repaired a lot of them for careless people....and other shops that aren't equipped for that kind of soldering. I've seen careless people that could break a ball bearing in a bucket full of grease....

Don't care much for the aesthetics myself, but if I had to pick, I think I'll go with white. Black attracts fingerprints too easily - at least the glossy stuff. And since the rest of the plastic on that unit are glossy, I imagine you're going to try to match that?? Probably going to take a few clear coats, I imagine. At least you're a car guy too, so this isn't anything new to you.

Its resale is coming back, looks-wise. I bought paint for the stand today.... Apparently this one is an oddball, most of this model don't have the adjustable pedestal stand.....they normally come with kickstands in the back and the front rests on those 2 rubber feet...the pedestal was maybe some kind of upgrade? Not real sure... I've seen a small handfull with the pedestal stand in my huntings for a replacement pedestal when I saw how rough this one was.....but I couldn't find the stand by itself.....so had to redo this one.

Should be.
Though isn't mobile i5 just a dual-core with HT? If these things used a proper desktop i5, they'd be smoking hot... maybe literally too, though, unless the cooling was majorly improved as well.

It's a dual core with HT. Great web browsing facebooking emailing letter typer..... I did find a motherboard for ~$180 that had the i7 quad core and the nvidia GPU.....but just didn't want to spend that on it unnecessarily.

[lti]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

There's still no physical switch to mute the microphone (with a few exceptions).

My old Gateway laptop also has a built-in microphone with no mute switch, but those were the days of the Cancel button on the login screen. Also, it just records the hard drive parking its heads.

[ratdude747]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

I just wish PCs like this had a physical camera & mic switch to be turned on/off, and I wouldn't mind them as much.

Then again, your phone has a camera and microphone too.

My laptop at work (A Dell Latitude Rugged 5414) has a privacy cover for the camera. Before that, all work laptops were custom ordered with no webcam... that's before the current day where video conferencing is prevalent.

My old logitech webcams have such as well...

[momaka]

Re: Topcat's Other Misc Weird Build Thread

about half way there...I also deleted the camera & microphone....I hate them. If the buyer wants them, I will put them back in.

LOL

At least that would make those ransomware programs with the camera feedback a little less believable when the camera doesn't work.

I just wish PCs like this had a physical camera & mic switch to be turned on/off, and I wouldn't mind them as much.

Then again, your phone has a camera and microphone too.

New genuine Dell PSU (I've had horrible luck with the chinese knockoffs).

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1614818212

No doubt.
The cheapo's are fire hazards most of the time.
You can also use genuine used too... though the only problem with those is that sometimes their output cords get abused too much and may stop working in short order. Luckily, this is an AIO that shouldn't be moved around too much, so that is less likely to be a problem there.

A pleasant surprise, it is an 7th Gen (as I knew), but an i5 7200 instead of the i3 7100 I thought from searching....

I did discover a USB slot was trashed.... I'll have to pull the motherboard and see if I can find a replacement slot.

:\
I don't know if it's just the common people being "rogue" as usual or those USB 3.0 ports being more fragile... or a combination of both... but I see busted USG 3.0 ports are lot more frequently.

They really need to bring back d-sub in use for common people. Bulky - sure. But those d-subs can take a TON of abuse. In terms of connect/disconnect cycles, though, I think USB might be rated higher.

The white bezel looks good, all things considered.

It does.

And you can also place a large Apple sticker logo over the Dell one, and then jack up the price x3.

Now a better look at the 2-tone look....black back cover and white fascia. The oddball is the gray stand. I actually thought about taking the plastics back down and either painting them black or white to match the rest of the case..... I'll ponder that one in the weeks to come while waiting for the USB port replacement...

Don't care much for the aesthetics myself, but if I had to pick, I think I'll go with white. Black attracts fingerprints too easily - at least the glossy stuff. And since the rest of the plastic on that unit are glossy, I imagine you're going to try to match that?? Probably going to take a few clear coats, I imagine. At least you're a car guy too, so this isn't anything new to you.

Of course this post created from it.....for what it is, it's pretty decent/snappy.

Should be.
Though isn't mobile i5 just a dual-core with HT? If these things used a proper desktop i5, they'd be smoking hot... maybe literally too, though, unless the cooling was majorly improved as well.