DIY / Homemade Lap dock - take a look :)

[sunfir222]

Hi guys,

Iam a steady fan of Microsoft products and have used their mobile alternative from the Lumia 920 came out. Right now iam at the x3 elite and iam have ordered myself the lap dock aswell ofcourse. aaaaanyways, this task began right after I got my Nexdock from kickstarter.. its a fine product, but it had some things I didnt like:

720p screen with crappy picture
laggy keyboard/mouse that often just stopped working
not USB docking / two cables needed.

I started with investigating the possibility of replacing the screen with a 1080P, but that did not work. So I decided to make my own.. cant be that hard?

I work in a computer shop so I came over a 15.6inch lenovo laptop.. ordered some parts for hdmi intake and new screen.. but soon found out that the bottom of the machine had to many parts in it and I wanted ALOT of battery. I then came across an old scrapped Macbook Pro A1278... So here we are

Specs:

Macbook Pro 13.3inch unibody
Sharp 14.0inch IPS 1080P screen (eDP)
HDMI to eDP converter from ebay
3 x 8000mAh batteries for a total of about 88.8wh!!
4A PCB for load balancing the 3 x 3.7v batteries when charging and discharging
Deltaco USB C hdmi converter
Weight 1545grams

Iam not 100% done as the keyboard needs some programming and making a matrix (outsourced to a bud of mine). I have a USB-C panel mount coming in the mail so the cable dont have to just stick out of the mac (just plug in a usb-c - usb-c cable). I also have a small 30pin keyboard to pins breakout pcb in the mail. With this I can use the powerbutton on the mac instead of the cables hanging out. My hdmi cable is way to long... will replace.. Just finish the device so it works - take a look! (yes I know.. currently VERY ghetto with tape and etc - promise to clean it up!)

 

[kaktus1389]

Looks majestic, especially if other people will first spot the Apple logo and then discover it's powered by a Windows 10 Mobile device :excited:

 

[Guytronic]

Awesome effort!
Looks great so far.
Keep us in the loop with updates.

 

[daelumia]

Dope!

 

[GuarDeanne]

very interesting and clever solution!
I hope you will share your complete setup and workarounds when you have it all functional..

 

[kkaykaykay]

Any further progress on this DIY project, I'm really looking forward to updates.

 

[Asif Shadab Malick]

My God you're a genius, keep us updated! You should get this patented.

 

[Greywolf1967]

That's awesome !!!!
Just to tic off the Apple crowd in my town I would change out the Apple Logo with a light up Windows 10 logo, then park my butt in a Starbucks an hour every day

 

[sunfir222]

Hi guys!

Sorry for late reply. Having some small problems With USB-C and continuum experience on my Acer Jade.. seems like this phone just dont work that well With USB-C / HDMI converters as the Elite X3. The Acer jade primo wont even work properly With the MS Dock.. I managed to Shatter the screen on my Elite x3 while biking in the forrest. Its in for repair, but jeeeez it takes time With my current Insurance deal.

ANYWAYS

Recieved "final" parts now. HDMI - HDMI so I can ditch my cable.

Breakout for keyboard and on / off switch. (will hand over keyboard + teensy + breakout to a bud that will make the Matrix for the keyboard)

USB-C - USB - C panel Mount (having slightly problems With this, but Acer phone makes troubleshooting even more difficult).

Some pics and a video:

https://youtu.be/yZQu-mtjPF4 on / off switch working - no more cables outside of machine.

Attached is pic of battery indicator 25 / 50 / 75 / 100% same as the Lap dock I got now. My father drops by today and he has a 950 phone. Will test With that and check if usb-c panel Mount Works now.

 

[kkaykaykay]

Originally posted by sunfir222
Hi guys!

Sorry for late reply. Having some small problems With USB-C and continuum experience on my Acer Jade.. seems like this phone just dont work that well With USB-C / HDMI converters as the Elite X3. The Acer jade primo wont even work properly With the MS Dock.. I managed to Shatter the screen on my Elite x3 while biking in the forrest. Its in for repair, but jeeeez it takes time With my current Insurance deal.

ANYWAYS

Recieved "final" parts now. HDMI - HDMI so I can ditch my cable.

Breakout for keyboard and on / off switch. (will hand over keyboard + teensy + breakout to a bud that will make the Matrix for the keyboard)

USB-C - USB - C panel Mount (having slightly problems With this, but Acer phone makes troubleshooting even more difficult).

Some pics and a video:

https://youtu.be/yZQu-mtjPF4 on / off switch working - no more cables outside of machine.

Attached is pic of battery indicator 25 / 50 / 75 / 100% same as the Lap dock I got now. My father drops by today and he has a 950 phone. Will test With that and check if usb-c panel Mount Works now.

Where are the pics? Unless I'm not accessing them right (Using the WC app)

Also, what kind of monitor are you using, is it a portable one with HDMI in?

 

[sunfir222]

Hi,

The monitor is just a bare panel at 14 inch from Sharp. Its a IPS panel FHD

Since its eDP 30pin Interface I can use a:

HDMI LCD Controller Board DIY Kit for 1920x1080 2Lanes 30 Pins EDP Display Panel

This gives me HDMI in to the screen and AUDIO output aswell if I want

BR,

Haakon

 

[grahamf]

Excellent use for a MacBook.

 

[sunfir222]

oh yes people. the dock is "done"

finally managed to ge tthe keyboard to work with a breakout and teensy USB controller. I now also have USB-C connector that I just connect to my phone like the lapdock from HP. will make a small video soon and take some pictures of the back. the only USB-C hub that works for this kind of project is the club3d hdmi 2.0.

the screen is so sweet. knocks the lapdock out of the water! much more pleasant working on this dock. better color and more area

 

[rihak31524]

Hello,
first of all, this looks awesome!
I have started my own MacBook 13" to Lapdock conversion a while ago but I put it on hold.

My biggest (and to that point only) issue was the trackpad. Did you ever get that to work (especially on Android)? If yes, please hint me in the right direction.
I did read about the Teensy and getting the keyboard to work, but I didn't find anything like that for the trackpad.
I then tried to use the original Apple controller (I sawed off the part of the motherboard responsible for the keyboard and trackpad) and rewired it to a USB cable. This actually works. Well... at least on Windows and MacOS. Both the keyboard and trackpad work, but on Android only the keyboard works and the trackpad seems dead.

 

[Nicky1254]

I am amazed didn't even know what a lapdock is... Anyway, great job!