Tom Owad likes repackaging Macs with toy bricks.* The Compubrick 160 takes a PowerBook 160 and converts it into a very compact desktop computer. In fact, Tom says the design was inspired by Apple’s Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM).
A huge ClarisWorks fan, Tom decided that the 25 MHz 68030 and 640 x 400 screen in the PowerBook 160 would be perfectly suited to his needs – but he didn’t want to use the PowerBook’s keyboard and trackball. With this design, he can use a standard Macintosh keyboard and mouse.
All the ports are on top of the Compubrick 160, the floppy drive is on the right, and the battery (a built-in UPS!) is on the left. It even uses a brick as its power key.
Okay, it’s a bit less professional looking than the TAM, but it’s one of the must fun CustoMacs I’ve ever run across.
This is just one of several projects on Tom’s Applefritter site, most of which include several photos and project details. In addition to the Compubrick 160, he has also rebuilt a Macintosh SE using plastic bricks, creating the Compubrick SE.
For those needing a PowerPC, Tom has repackaged a Power Mac 6100 into a minitower Compubrick 6100 and a compact Compubrick NC (the NC is the only Compubrick that is not a working computer).
And then there are the extended keyboard, the QuickCam, and the mouse…
- * Tom originally used LEGO® bricks, but they got upset when he used their trademarked brand name to describe his Mac rebuilds. All projects are now built using the competing MEGA BLOCKS made by Ritvik.
keywords: #customacs
short link: https://goo.gl/FL2236
