Update - New mod! I have a NEW ArcadeDock X1 and guest blogged for Lenovo! Watch the YouTube video here.

And now... back to our regularly scheduled case mod...

Ahh, another 3 years has passed since my last mod. My how time flies! Let's see... since the last mod, my wife and I created a human, and now have a 2nd human in dev. And let me tell you, when modding and being a father, modding comes second. That's just life!

So why am I modding again? Lenovo! That's why. They contacted me and asked if I'd like to be a guest modder to help get their new site going. The theme of their site is, "What's your idea of fun?" (legal fun, kids!).

Umm, that's nice, so what is it?

It's a docking station for your laptop! Once it's docked, you can play video games on it just as if you were at the arcades :)

Shout outs:

First and foremost, a big thank you to LENOVO for contacting me and bringing me out of retirement. This old has-been modder had a great time working on this mod! So again, Lenovo, thank you for making this possible. Second, a shout out to Brent over at EMDKAY.NET who basically held my hand through the buying process of the ready-to-assemble cabinet. And do you see that awesome flame styled marquee? That was courtesy of jbensch at deviantart. He really is the Deviant King of Flames.

So after seeing this, you're probably saying, "oh, that's no big deal. All he did was buy a cabinet and slap some stickers on it. What's the point?" Well, JOKE'S ON YOU! That WAS the point of this. Modding doesn't have to be inventing time travel or warp engines; it's about taking something and changing it to suit your needs. What I did here was take a ready-to-assemble kit and modify it to become a docking station for my laptop. And yes, I want all of you to see this and say, "PSH, I could do that, too, if I had the time." That's what I'm going for anyway. SO... just be quiet and look at the pics, k? :)

If you watch only one of the in-the-making videos make sure you scroll down to DAY 7 PART 2 (sideart howto) because that'll give you a glimpse at "the real me" and how fun modding can be :)

Finished Photos

Video of the Finished Arcade Dock

Playing Photos

















In-The-Making Videos

Day 1 - Introduction, Sales Pitch, tribute to xzibit!

Day 1 Photo





Day 2 - First fit test, decide to slim down the cabinet.

Day 2 Photos





















Day 3 - Cabinet slimmed! A little control panel work.

Day 3 Photos













Day 4 - Brackets and laptop cooling pad installed.

Day 4 Photos





















Day 5 - Super long video of me sanding stuff and being stupid :)

Day 5 Photos









Day 6 - Keyboard tray finished. Clicks open and closed.

Day 6 Photos





















Day 7 - Painted all bare wood edges. How I'm doing the side art.

Day 7 Photos





















Day 7 - PART 2 - THE GOOD PART - SIDEART HOWTO.

Day 7 Pt2 Photos

























Day 8 - Joystick Control Panel artwork

Day 8 Photos





































Day 9 - Joystick panel art. Joystick cable protection.

Day 9 Photos





































Click here to see other strange and unusual computer cases made by envador

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