Before I begin I would just like to mention that Double Stuf Cool Mint Creme Oreos are by far the greatest tasting Oreos I have ever had.  I thought it was amazing when they introduced the double stuf, but now with the addition of cool mint creme, no other Oreo cookie is satisfying to me anymore.  To keep myself from going off topic, I should probably start with the main topic of the post.

The other week, my buddy Rus took on the task of making his own electronic picture frame.  I thought the idea was really interesting and decided to take on the same project myself.  I started out with a really old laptop, one I got from Amanda.  It was a Toshiba Satellite Pro 490.  We are talking about the old laptops that were like two inches thick and didn’t even have a touch-pad on it.  The first step in the process was to take the laptop apart and discard everything that wasn’t going to be needed.  For instance, I got rid of the trackball mouse, the keyboard, the speakers, etc.  All of the plastic housing also needed to came off, basically anything that would make the laptop thinner and lighter so that it would fit into a picture frame.

Once I felt the laptop was thin enought, I installed an operating system on it, more specifically, Puppy Linux.  If you don’t know much about operating systems, they are generally about 700 mb, or the size of a CD (some are larger–Vista is about 5 CDs worth).  Puppy Linux is a tiny operating system, around 100 mb, making it ideal for an old outdated laptop.

After the OS was installed, I copied some pictures to the computer and configured the computer so that it would start the picture slide show without the intervention from a mouse or keyboard.  Finalizing the configuration marked the start of the assembly process.  I stuffed the computer into a picture frame, and made sure it was secure.  After mounting a hinged door on the back of the frame and attaching some wire to hang the frame, it was finished.

Based on its size, I figure a comparable frame would cost anywhere from 200 to 300 dollars.  Based on my costs for this project, I would estimate I spent around 40 dollars, considering I didn’t have to buy a laptop.  For all you techies out there, I would highly recommend this as a project.  If you don’t have a laptop to use, check eBay for Toshiba Satellite Pro.  I’ve seen them on there for as little as 35 dollars.  When I get a chance I will upload some photos of the final product.