Mad Science!

[Dngrsone]

Well, maybe not really.

What do you do when you have a crapped out HP G72 but you don't need another laptop?

You turn it into a 17" tablet!

I pulled the keyboard and top plate with the touchpad and tossed them. Then I took apart the lid, turned the display around in the hinge brackets, and now the display lies flat against the base with the mainboard.

I will likely put the lid back around the display, after rerouting the wifi antennas, camera and mic wires, and I am going to have to hack the power button into the bezel of the display mask.

This model is too old to have had a touch display available for it, but I did add a bluetooth module to the laptop (the motherboard was provisioned for one, though G72s don't have that option) and a wireless mouse/keyboard combo works just peachy.

This particular machine was abandoned by my youngest because the power jack got all buggered up. I repaired it, but there is no mount for it left in the base of the laptop (the hinge on that side is going to have to be affixed in a more permanent fashion, as well.

I'm thinking 5-minute epoxy will be involved somewhere in the process.

I suppose I could get a new jack (it is modular), but it's fine for the mo.

 

[BikerEcho]

Cool project.
This might not be worth it, but you can add the touch features to a laptop without a tough screen.
There is this unit you can attach to the side of the screen. Might add a little extra bulk to it though.

It's called Touch8 digitizer. There properly are similar products out there, this is just the one i have heard of.

 

[Dngrsone]

Thanks, BikerEcho! Part of this project is the zero expense involved (otherwise I could have just bought new plastic), but it doesn't hurt to look.

Besides, how many 17" tablets are out there right now? Not to mention this thing will run Windows or Linux without any issues whatsoever.

*** Edit: found this, which appears compatible with Linux even; $126 is not terrible...