Ben Heckendorn's Apple IIgs hardware mod

Remember the Apple IIgs? I had an Apple IIc but my friend across the street had the Apple IIgs, the lucky bastard. Oh what I wouldn’t give to be a kid again. Not a care in the world except trying to get from the castle to the bottom of the mountain without falling to my death in King’s Quest III. Anyway, Ben Heckendorn has built a gorgeous laptop version of the Apple IIgs with the following specs…

• Large 15″ color screen. Much bigger than the ones on my other 8-bit computer projects (thus far)
• Uses an original Apple IIgs motherboard with RAM expansion.
• Custom acrylic keyboard. It uses the original keyboard PCB, but the buttons were custom made for a cool modern look.
• CompactFlash adapter inside unit functions as an original equipment hard drive.
• Glowing backlit “][” logo. Blue for on, with a bit of yellow during disk access.
• Built-in stereo speakers.
• Side port access for floppy drive, joystick and mouse.
• Can play Arkanoid II!

The keyboard looks pretty sweet. All the air vents are just for show, too. Big points for nostalgia there.

More info and photos over at BenHeck.com if you’re interested.

via Wired