Of all the legacy platforms that have been massaged by modder extraordinaire Ben Heck, it seems the Atari 800 is his favorite. One got the portable treatment back in November of 2005, and he then re-worked it in late 2006. He's done it again, creating the third revision of the 8-bit luggable, completely overhauling the mod in period brownish/beige plastics, with old-school LED lights and an authentic keyboard that even pops up after the laptop is opened. Inside things are a bit more modern, with a 2.5-inch HDD serving the games (no more pressing PLAY on the cassette drive) and and a GameCube power supply, of all things. It's a lovely creation that Ben himself rather enthusiastically demonstrates after the break and we, like him, wish we could add one to our collection.
If you've spent any time on Engadget before, you'll be aware that we're big fans of Ben Heck and his tireless modding, tweaking and hacking (or is it Hecking?) of console hardware. The latest feather to his cap comes in the form of a customized Xbox 360 controller, which sees its D-pad and action buttons swapping places in an effort to help a handicapped gamer get his proverbial groove on. The trigger buttons are also flipped, but the pièce de résistance is the inclusion of four extra action buttons along the bottom of the controller that make one-handed gaming totally feasible. Check 'em out after the break.
Even after five iterations, Ben Heck's portable Xbox 360 models are still a spectacle to behold -- he seems to keep outdoing himself every time, both in functionality and style. This latest model has the appearance of an oversized plastic polycarbonate Macbook when closed, and packs a 17-inch Gateway LCD panel. The big improvements here include the Jasper motherboard, a flush-mount DVD door and side panels, digital potentiometer / button volume controls, and an ethernet port in addition to WiFi. Not everything's been kept, as Heck says he ditched the camera, not seeing a point for it -- but hey, there's still two USB ports if any of his (already spoken for) customers want to add it. Impressive work, indeed. See it for yourself in the video after the break.
Though he's gutted the same Gateway 1775W laptop with 17-inch (1280 by 720) display, he writes that this design is from scratch, and has the following new features:
• Built-in Ethernet port, finally. • Built-in WiFi adapter, as usual. • Digital pushbutton volume control rather than a clunky knob. Different, better sounding audio amp • Flush-mount DVD door and side panels (such as the memory card slots) • IR sensor for the remote control. • Two user USB ports. • More air holes! • Jasper motherboard.
