How-To Make a Wii Laptop (Wiitop)

rraider04

I was doing some web surfing and came across an interesting site: engadget.com. The are doing a 3 part on how-to turn your Nintendo Wii into a Wii laptop. I have posted links to the overview (which has pictures and a video of the final product) and the first part.

The Wii-Laptop

Part 1

AbsoluteZero

Ugh! They mangled that poor Wii! What an ugly... thing.. they've made.

Neat concept though.

rraider04

That was my first impression as well. But the more I look at it, the more I start to like it.

Cokomon

It seems to mostly be the big black outlines that kill it.

FireWeasel

Given the optimal distance for using the remote, I can't conceive of a situation where I'd enjoy a Wiitop. I'd be too busy being irritated by how small the screen looks three feet away.

But I'm a picky bastard, so there you go.

4rch3nemy

..and a thousand souls cry out as the sensor breaks.

s3rial one

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

rraider04

FireWeasel wrote:

Given the optimal distance for using the remote, I can't conceive of a situation where I'd enjoy a Wiitop. I'd be too busy being irritated by how small the screen looks three feet away.

But I'm a picky bastard, so there you go.

The video says that since the senors are closer together, it works very well from about 1 foot away. Could be good for long plane flights.

Gino

s3rial one wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

BRILLIANT!

Daedalus

s3rial one wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

s3rial one

The Warlock wrote:

s3rial one wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

The sheer awesomeness would bend the laws of physics and make it work flawlessly.
[spoiler:4ea44ed233]I have no idea[/spoiler:4ea44ed233]

DekuStick

Wireless sensor bar and an easy remove wall hook. Best idea I can come up with. This Wiitop is a still a pretty cool project however.

mrcheesypants

The Warlock wrote:

s3rial one wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

Not even that

SirUltimos

It's amazing to see the kind of stuff people can come up with just by opening up and playing around inside a console. I'd love to do something like this, but I don't have the money to blow on the consoles I would no doubt ruin in the process.

Aioua

The Warlock wrote:

s3rial one wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

A pair of really bright infared lasers would do the job. As long as whatever your're projecting onto reflects infared well. Which i guess it would, but I really have no idea.

MeatPopSICKle

Seen it done with an xbox 360. It was pretty big, water cooled, and a fairly cool item.

Gorilla Salad

rraider04 wrote:

FireWeasel wrote:

Given the optimal distance for using the remote, I can't conceive of a situation where I'd enjoy a Wiitop. I'd be too busy being irritated by how small the screen looks three feet away.

But I'm a picky bastard, so there you go.

The video says that since the senors are closer together, it works very well from about 1 foot away. Could be good for long plane flights.

Yes, yes. because we all know how much a person who's cooped up in something way above land just loves to get smacked in the face so you can play wii sports.

Viscountalpha

MeatPopSICKle wrote:

Seen it done with an xbox 360. It was pretty big, water cooled, and a fairly cool item.

Its the same guy that did the 360.

www.benheck.com

Utsanomiko

Viscountalpha wrote:

MeatPopSICKle wrote:

Seen it done with an xbox 360. It was pretty big, water cooled, and a fairly cool item.

Its the same guy that did the 360.

www.benheck.com

Yeah, Ben Heckendorn has a great site, he's practically turned every major system into a handheld version. I particularly like his old Atari handhelds and his latest micro NES.

GSM

As much as I love the idea of the projector/infrared lazer laptop idea, I fear the only projector small enough would be the Zoom Box (shudder!). But I really don't know the dimensions of modern DLP projectors. Off to Ebay, I guess.

Cameron_Talley

rraider04 wrote:

FireWeasel wrote:

Given the optimal distance for using the remote, I can't conceive of a situation where I'd enjoy a Wiitop. I'd be too busy being irritated by how small the screen looks three feet away.

But I'm a picky bastard, so there you go.

The video says that since the senors are closer together, it works very well from about 1 foot away. Could be good for long plane flights.

Yes, except that the remote uses Bluetooth, which I'm pretty sure is prohibited on plane flights (It being a form of wireless communication).

Zen Vulgarity

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Lunker

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

NickTheNewbie

"You're goin down this time!"
"Yeah that's what I'm talkin about!"


That guy in the video sounded like a total toolbox, nay, a toolSHED.

Zen Vulgarity

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Rohaq

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate licence, again, illegal.

Zen Vulgarity

Rohaq wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate license, again, illegal.

That seems frustrating. Would Microsoft have any desire to put out an OS shell for the system? I know Wii has the browser, but I want AIM and such too, damnit.

Bartholamue

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

Daedalus

Rohaq wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate licence, again, illegal.

Wrong. It is legal to modify the code of a system for your own purposes, see the supreme court case Nintendo of America vs. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.

Zen Vulgarity

The Warlock wrote:

Rohaq wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate licence, again, illegal.

Wrong. It is legal to modify the code of a system for your own purposes, see the supreme court case Nintendo of America vs. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.

Wha? Never heard of it.

BigDes

I'm sorry, but whilethe concept of a Wii laptop is cool in a pointkess kind of way, it's kind of ugly.

mntorankusu

Bartholamue wrote:

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Zen Vulgarity

mntorankusu wrote:

Bartholamue wrote:

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Retractable stand?

Daedalus

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

Rohaq wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate licence, again, illegal.

Wrong. It is legal to modify the code of a system for your own purposes, see the supreme court case Nintendo of America vs. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.

Wha? Never heard of it.

Nintendo sued Galoob for the Game Genie, saying that it modified the code of their games and was therefore creating "derivative works" and illegal under copyright law. Galoob won. A judge ruled that a private user, having already bought a piece of software, was within his rights to fuck with said software if he wishes. (I'm paraphrasing).

The DMCA, of course, throws a bit of a wrench in this, since it's illegal to circumvent copy protection in the US (except in certain specific circumstances). So you can go ahead and modify a BIOS, as long as you're not doing it to illegally pirate games. The Cromwell BIOS for the Xbox is a great example of this legal modification.

Note that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advise.

PikaPuff

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

mntorankusu wrote:

Bartholamue wrote:

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Retractable stand?

Just have the sensor bar on the laptop/projector. Then stand 3 feet behind the projector. I don't get how people don't understand this concept.

Raybies666

PikaPuff wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

mntorankusu wrote:

Bartholamue wrote:

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Retractable stand?

Just have the sensor bar on the laptop/projector. Then stand 3 feet behind the projector. I don't get how people don't understand this concept.

Or do what I do.
Use a god damn table.
A cheap shitty table you can get for pocket change at a hardware chain (although as gamers, you all should have them for ashtrays, drinks, munchies etc at couch height at the very least), have it under the projected image and there we go.

People don't get the concept of putting their sensor on the projector becuase people tend to mount them on a wall or from the roof. Also, if you have to stand behind your projector, you better have a big ass room to do it in, otherwise the screen size advantage goes out the window defeating the purpose of a projector at all.

PikaPuff

Raybies666 wrote:

PikaPuff wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

mntorankusu wrote:

Bartholamue wrote:

mrcheesypants wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Retractable stand?

Just have the sensor bar on the laptop/projector. Then stand 3 feet behind the projector. I don't get how people don't understand this concept.

Or do what I do.
Use a god damn table.
A cheap shitty table you can get for pocket change at a hardware chain (although as gamers, you all should have them for ashtrays, drinks, munchies etc at couch height at the very least), have it under the projected image and there we go.

People don't get the concept of putting their sensor on the projector becuase people tend to mount them on a wall or from the roof. Also, if you have to stand behind your projector, you better have a big ass room to do it in, otherwise the screen size advantage goes out the window defeating the purpose of a projector at all.

I was replying for the hytpothetical situation of a Wii Laptop with a builting projector. Being portable, I wouldn't see a feasable way to mount it everywhere you went.

In a typical projector situation, I'd do the same as you said.

GSM

Are there such things as infrared lasers, so that the sensor bar could be projected the same way as the visual image? Let me consult mister wikipedia...

wikipedia wrote:

It should be understood that the word light in the acronym Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation is typically used in the expansive sense, as photons of any energy; it is not limited to photons in the visible spectrum. Hence there are X-ray lasers, infrared lasers, ultraviolet lasers, etc.

Sounds like it's entierly possible.

xzzy

The Warlock wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

Rohaq wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

Are these sort of modifications illegal in any way?

Illegal? Nah. You void your warranty like a mother, but you can do as much as you want with it once its yours.

And if you put an OS on the hard-drive of something like the 360? I know this is a rather bad area to talk about, but having a 360 laptop that actually can act like a laptop would be better than the one I have (and fun).

Depends; if it used a hacked BIOS, it's illegal, or install an OS without the appropriate licence, again, illegal.

Wrong. It is legal to modify the code of a system for your own purposes, see the supreme court case Nintendo of America vs. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.

Wha? Never heard of it.

Nintendo sued Galoob for the Game Genie, saying that it modified the code of their games and was therefore creating "derivative works" and illegal under copyright law. Galoob won. A judge ruled that a private user, having already bought a piece of software, was within his rights to fuck with said software if he wishes. (I'm paraphrasing).

The DMCA, of course, throws a bit of a wrench in this, since it's illegal to circumvent copy protection in the US (except in certain specific circumstances). So you can go ahead and modify a BIOS, as long as you're not doing it to illegally pirate games. The Cromwell BIOS for the Xbox is a great example of this legal modification.

Note that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advise.

It is not illegal to rip out an existing BIOS, and plug in one you bought, as long as it uses no copyrighted code that the seller does not have the privilege/right to sell you. Of course, good luck getting a working console using completely original programming, but it illustrates an important distinction.

You can do whatever the hell you want to a piece of hardware you own, but you are not allowed to sell or distribute copyrighted software unless the copyright holder lets you.

PikaPuff

GSM wrote:

Are there such things as infrared lasers, so that the sensor bar could be projected the same way as the visual image? Let me consult mister wikipedia...

wikipedia wrote:

It should be understood that the word light in the acronym Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation is typically used in the expansive sense, as photons of any energy; it is not limited to photons in the visible spectrum. Hence there are X-ray lasers, infrared lasers, ultraviolet lasers, etc.

Sounds like it's entierly possible.

Are you asking if something else can be substituted for the sensor bar? Yes.

Are you asking if the sensor bar can be projected in mid-air like a hologram, which then emits IR like a normal sensor bar? No?

mrcheesypants

PikaPuff wrote:

Raybies666 wrote:

PikaPuff wrote:

Zen Vulgarity wrote:

mntorankusu wrote:

Bartholamue wrote:

s3rial one wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

A Wiitop shouldn't have a screen, it should have a projector.

That idea sounds awesome, but how would you handle the sensor bar? Projecting infrared lights or something?

For your info, the wii does indeed work on projectors. You put the sensor bar near the bottom of where the screen is being displayed, and it acts just like it would on any normal TV.

That's not the issue, though. The problem is that if you're projecting onto a wall or something, you won't necessarily have a place to put the sensor bar. So you'd need some easy way to temporarily mount a wireless sensor bar onto a wall, or something like that.

Retractable stand?

Just have the sensor bar on the laptop/projector. Then stand 3 feet behind the projector. I don't get how people don't understand this concept.

Or do what I do.
Use a god damn table.
A cheap shitty table you can get for pocket change at a hardware chain (although as gamers, you all should have them for ashtrays, drinks, munchies etc at couch height at the very least), have it under the projected image and there we go.

People don't get the concept of putting their sensor on the projector becuase people tend to mount them on a wall or from the roof. Also, if you have to stand behind your projector, you better have a big ass room to do it in, otherwise the screen size advantage goes out the window defeating the purpose of a projector at all.

I was replying for the hytpothetical situation of a Wii Laptop with a builting projector. Being portable, I wouldn't see a feasable way to mount it everywhere you went.

In a typical projector situation, I'd do the same as you said.

This post is just to fix the quote tree which blames me for this long discussion. Sorry, I'm a little bit OCD.