Lots of MP3 players as final projects- schematics and source included. Our goal was to design a scaled down version of an otherwise marketable product with minimal cost. Our intent was to ensure that our end result would be expandable to include all of the functionality of the most popular players on the market. Link.
Here’s a good resource for making an cell phone LCD in to a small display that gets its data from the parallel port. pcd8544-based displays can be found in some monochrome nokia-cellphones. With some technical skills, an independant, small display with background light can be gained out of these phones at hardly any costs. Link.
Some video card hacking…Firingsquad is running a story on how to unlock all 16 pipelines in nVidia’s GeForce 6800. By default the card only ships with 12 pixel pipelines enabled, but with a tool and a few mouse clicks, the card can be unlocked to run with all 16 pipes. Performance improvements are seen everywhere, so it’s a pretty nice free upgrade. These cards are currently selling for $200 online, so a 16-pipe GeForce 6800 delivers great bang for the buck. [via] Link.
This isn’t a new project, but one I really like- a Hitachi TRK-8200HR + Fujitsu Stylistic 1200 Color Tablet PC running a MediaCar interface with custom skin in portrait mode to simulate a Boombox. The housing is an actual Boombox and it looks great. The Maker can also record radio right to the system too. Nicely done! Link.
Ask Slashdot has posed an interesting question looking for a cheap (under $50) word processor for banging out notes on the go. I think my favorite one is the $9 (Ebay) DreamWriter NTS 325. Seems like you can get the data off fairly easily too. Link.
If you’ve been using PCs for a while, you’re bound to have an old one you don’t use much, if at all. With 2-GHz computers available for well under $1,000, what good is an old 300-MHz Pentium II system? The answer depends on your willingness to experiment, have fun, learn, and prevent pollution. Here are ten things you can do with that old PC, starting with tasks for relatively “better” old PCs, and working our way down to the real junkers. [via] Link.
If you use Roxio Toast (Lite or Titanium) to make your own CDs/DVDs from audio purchased from the iTunes music store, those days are over if you upgrade to 6.1 – “Following discussions with Apple, this version will no longer allow customers to create audio CDs, audio DVDs, or export audio to their hard drive using purchased iTunes music store content” Link.
