Laptop 2600

I used to work out of my house all the time, but in recent weeks I’ve moved to Cubespace over in the East Side Industrial area. This move meant my primary work machine became my laptop. The laptop I was using was fine for say, music production or occasional programming work. I never intended it to be my primary machine. The screen, while 15″, was only 1024 by 768. Hardly enough real estate to do development on a routine basis. Plus, I really wanted to put this laptop back into use as a music production machine, which was the reason I bought it in the first place.

HP was running a deal on the bafflingly named Compaq 6715b, which was reasonably fast, reasonably priced and had plenty of screen real estate. It was capable of running Linux without issue. It was also butt-ugly. I mean, Apple figured out years ago that the way to make a pretty laptop was to make it as clean and streamlined as possible. Why do PC manufacturers insist on making laptops so encumbered with bevels and recesses and bits of molded plastic that they look like they were ripped from a Borg cube? I will never understand.

This particular laptop had a bunch of textured black plastic on it that really reminded me of late 70s/early 80s home electronics. It dawned on me that if I just added some woodgrain contact paper, I could make it look kind of like an Atari 2600. It would still be ugly, to be sure, but it would be ugly in a lovable, nostalgic sort of way.

Thus was born the Laptop 2600. It’s just barely a “case mod” in that it took me about ten minutes and a dollar’s worth of materials, but it makes me happy.

As long as PC companies keep making ugly ass laptops, contact paper is actually a really easy way to make your laptop your own without modifying it permanently. It also has the added benefit of protecting the covered portions from scratches and wear. When you’re ready to sell your laptop, it can just be peeled off. A little spray cleaner should remove any residual gunk. It comes in all kinds of colors and patterns ranging from subtle to awesome to freaking garish. You could even combine a few solid colors in layers and make your own design, then cover it with clear contact paper to protect it. If anyone tries this, let me know because I bet you could do something freaking awesome there.

A few tips on applying contact paper:

1. Clean and dry everything before you start.
2. It’s easier to measure accurately if you use millimeters instead of inches.
3. Use a metal straight edge, a cutting mat and a really, really sharp (new would be best) x-acto blade.
4. Measure the area you’re planning to cover, then draw lines on the backing paper. Cut by running your blade against the metal straight edge. Press fairly hard so you can do it in one pass. Multiple passes will result in messy edges.
5. If you have to work around a bevel or a badge (like the lid on mine) just measure the square you want to cover and apply right over it. Once it’s on, burnish around the whatever with something like the back of the x-acto knife handle, making sure you get into the nooks and crannies. Once you’ve got it in there pretty good, you should be able to trace the blade around the grove of the logo or badge and get a clean line.
6. It’s way easier to apply contact paper if you only remove part of the backing paper (maybe an inch or two from the edge) and fold it over, line up and stick on one side, then remove the paper. If you take the paper off all at once it’s a nightmare to align.
7. Stick the paper on lightly at first, them push out any air bubbles. After they’re gone, then really press hard to get a good seal. Use a pin to puncture any remaining air bubbles you can’t press out.

Here’s some additional images. Let’s start with a “before” picture from HP’s site:

My inspiration, the original Atari:

Here’s what the lid looks like. Granted, it would be a little more Atari-tastic if the lid were black, but I just didn’t have the time or energy or desire to lower the resale value that spray painting requires.

Here you can see the keyboard surface a little more clearly. All it needs is a round, red LED. I’d really like to find some atari badges to put over those HP logos, but alas I have yet to find any. If you have any ideas, please let me know.