Awesome Computers

It’s easy to find an original Apple Macintosh on eBay, but it’ll look used. Kevin Noki built a new replica of Apple’s 1984 computer from scratch. He started by measuring the case from a Macintosh Plus, modeling its parts, then outputting them on a 3D printer. Inside, it runs a Linux thin client running a modified version of the Mini vMac emulator.

Inline skating expert Ilia Savosin previously showed us how he gets around on office chair wheels. Now, he’s back and rolling on some other office equipment. In this brief but entertaining video, Ilia grinds some rails with computer keyboards, an LCD screen, and a laptop beneath his feet. Here’s a closer look at his keyboard skates.

The Atari 400 Mini emulates all of the classic Atari 8-bit systems, including the 400, 800XL, and Atari 5200 game consoles. The modernized system has an HDMI video output and USB controller inputs. It comes with 25 games, including Berzerk, Millipede, Miner 2049er, M.U.L.E., and Star Raiders II, and you can load more via USB. An Amazon UK exclusive.

This unique coffee table has a built-in 43″ touchscreen and tilts from a flat to an angled display. The Nxtbl’s 4K screen is backed by Android 13 and has HDMI, USB-A, and USB-C connectors. It has a waterproof, scratchproof, and glare-resistant tempered glass surface and works for gaming, computing, watching videos, and Zoom calls with an external camera.

ViridianChase created this unique gaming computer that looks like a tank. Its case is built from metal with a digital camo pattern and tempered glass windows. It has 13 LED-lit fans, six of which simulate tread wheels. In addition to its fans, it packs NZXT Kraken 360X water cooling, an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, and an ASUS STRIX 6700XT graphics card.

As part of his home workstation revamp, Ideal Idea wanted a computer case like no other. The idea? Build a PC that doubles as a kinetic sculpture. He made the case from laser-cut wood panels and created two interchangeable faces. An Arduino and a stepper motor control the mechanisms. The ripple design with the hexagons is fantastic.

Most portable laptop stands are made from plastic or metal. This one is handcrafted from bamboo wood. The trio of wooden bars fit together to place your laptop at an angle, improving ergonomics and your posture. It offers two height positions, and comes with a carrying pouch so you can keep it in your backpack or bag.

Technology advances quickly, so the difference between today’s gadgets and those you could buy in the 1980s is dramatic. That said, the decade did give us early cell phones, portable tape players, VCRs, and personal computers. Twenty-something YouTuber Liam Thompson wanted to see what it would be like to live using only tech from the ’80s for a week.

In general, electronics and water don’t mix. DIY Perks shows how it’s possible to build a water-cooled PC that can be submerged underwater. He started with power-hungry PC components, then built a water-tight acrylic and copper case with copper cooling pipes that flow water around the pricey computer inside. The finished system looks incredible.

We rarely need to print things these days. But for the first 40+ years of personal computing, printers were commonplace. And they were some of the most frustrating pieces of equipment ever. The book Shitty Printers catalogs and rips apart some of the worst offenders, from cheap home inkjets to menacing tractor-feed machines.

The whole point of a laptop computer is that it’s portable. That didn’t stop makers Evan and Katelyn from building a laptop that’s so ridiculously large that you need two people to carry it. It has a 43-inch display, an oversize keyboard and runs on batteries. They should try and borrow Glarses’ giant keyboard.

The first portable computers weren’t exactly compact or lightweight. DIY Perks’ briefcase PC follows in these footsteps, but the payoff for the heft is a high-end gaming PC with a wrap-around 144Hz triple display, a 16-core AMD Ryzen 5950X CPU, an NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU, 64GB of RAM, and a premium audio system with a subwoofer.

The 1980s gave us computers that shared a case with their keyboard. Pentaform’s Abacus returns to that by attaching a tiny Windows computer to its keyboard. It has an Intel Cherry Trail CPU with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0/3.0, Micro SD, and HDMI 2.0 outputs, as well as a trackpad and a 40-pin GPIO connector.

Chinese company MetalFish is making a PC case that has a working aquarium on its top level. Underneath the watertight fish tank, the Y2 chassis has an aluminum base that can hold a Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX board and a 1U/Flex power supply and comes with rainbow LED fans. If you think this is a crazy idea, check this out.

Clockwork’s compact uConsole computer was created for indie game developers and programmers. Its mainboard has swappable cores, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-A, USB-C, Micro-HDMI, headphone, and MicroSD connectors, and the kit includes a 720p 5.0-inch IPS screen and a backlit QWERTY keyboard with game controls.

Nerdforge previously built a computer that looked like a medieval house. Now they’ve gone in the opposite direction by creating this awesome work of art – a gaming PC that looks like a neon-lit cyberpunk city. After finishing the exterior, they flew from Norway to Canada to let Linus Tech Tips trick out the insides of the rig.

Do you suck at first-person shooters? Kamal Carter might have the solution. He built a servo-controlled robotic rig that moves a mouse exactly where targets are by scanning the screen for specific colors. It cheats quite well in the FPS trainer AimLab, but it’ll need more work to be accurate in a real game.

Long for the startup sound of your old Macintosh? Or perhaps the squeal of a dial-up modem? Save the Sounds’ Museum of Endangered Sounds offers an online soundboard where you can enjoy the sounds of retro technology any time you’re feeling nostalgic. Try playing them all at the same time for fun.

The latest Mac for creative pros is small, but faster at most things than a Mac Pro. It can be configured with a 10-core M1 Max or 20-core M1 Ultra chip, and has multiple USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, and USB-A ports for connectivity. The 27″ 5K Studio Display has a 12MP camera with a 3-mic array, 6-speaker audio, and more.

Apple released its first Macintosh computer back in 1984, running one of the earliest graphical user interfaces for personal computers. The guys at Nobel Tech put together a retrospective of every version of the Macintosh operating system, from its first public release, System 0.97 to the latest version of macOS 12, Monterrey.

Razer is showing off a concept design for the ultimate computer desk. It has hot-swappable, magnetic modules for a PC and touchscreen displays that act as input devices for gaming, streaming, and creative work. It also has modules for wireless charging and mug warming, and pairs with a 65″ or 77″ OLED display.

Synthesizer maker Teenage Engineering applies their stripped-down aesthetic to a small form factor PC case. The orange sheet metal kit comes flat-packed for easy assembly and has room for a mini-ITX motherboard, an SFX power supply, and a dual-slot GPU up to 180 mm. Computer components not included.

Martina and Hansi from Nerdforge needed a new computer for editing videos. Rather than go with some off-the-shelf PC, they built a completely custom system that looks like a medieval fantasy house. The structure is wood, covered with miniature bricks and foam accent pieces. This thing both runs Windows and HAS Windows.