DIY

Asus ROG XG Mobile interface is available on ROG Flow laptops and the ROG Ally gaming handheld, and it lets users get better gaming performance with an external GPU. However, Asus has a few graphics card options available, and the 2023 dock costs $2,000. Well, a hardware hacker has managed to bring expanded support with an open-source eGPU dock.

While some gaming laptops have mechanical keyboards, they still offer relatively little travel, usually around 1.8mm, while also being rather bulky and heavy. YouTuber Marcin Plaza has solved both problems and, after a 12-hour design speed run, has built a mechanical keyboard with around 3.0 mm of travel into his 13-inch Lenovo laptop. But can this DIY project be replicated?

CheckMag The addition of a PCIe connector on the Raspberry Pi 5 opens the door for a range of cheap add-ons that can significantly increase its potency and capability, including NVME drives, 2.5 gigabit ethernet and support for running pre-trained AI models locally on the Pi. Combined with a UPS the Raspberry Pi 5 becomes a project powerhouse. Here are 5 of the best accessories for powering up your Pi projects.

CheckMag While buying the latest tech is tempting, older desktop and laptop computers are often more than enough to meet the demands of modern computing work. An older machine may require some time and tinkering to get up to par, but the payoff can definitely be worth the work and the results can be rather surprising.

CheckMag You don’t have to invest in expensive hardware to run a home server. With Docker you can run containerised applications on almost anything including PCs, Macs, laptops and even a Raspberry Pi. Ideally it needs to be on 24/7 which makes the Raspberry Pi an excellent low power option. If you are curious about Docker, here are 3 of the best containers to get you started on low end hardware.

CheckMag As technology users, we either knowingly or unknowingly hand over our data to large tech companies on a daily basis. In an attempt to get away from the overwatch of Google, I decided to try running a de-Googled phone. This is how it went.

The Rabbit R1, originally launched as an AI-powered device designed to offer a less distracting experience than a phone, got modded to run Android. This allows the device to be opposite what it was designed to be, to function like a phone. It also opens the door to doing much more than you can do with its Rabbit OS, such as running games.

CheckMag Whether it’s QNAP, ASUStor, Synology or some other pre-built brand, a NAS is not a cheap piece of equipment. With free or low cost operating systems such as TrueNAS, Open Media Vault or even Unraid is it cheaper to build your own with new or second hand parts, or buy off the shelf? Let's take a look at the pricing.

If you own a Framework Laptop 13, you can soon run it with a RISC-V mainboard. The DIY laptop maker has announced a collaboration with DeepComputing to bring a new motherboard with a StarFive JH7110 processor. It's a quad-core 64-bit chip with SiFive U74 cores, BXE-4-32 graphics, and a max speed of 1.5 GHz.

Recycle instead of dispose: A detailed DIY guide shows how the smart speaker from Sonos can be brought back to life. Afterwards, it is also much more versatile, so it's actually upcycling.

Nikon has officially launched its self-service repair website, giving users access to tools, replacement parts, and repair manuals to repair their own gear in the comfort of their own homes. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Nikon only has information for one camera lens and two laser rangefinders on the site, and there are no actual spare parts to be found anywhere on the site.

The Framework laptops are best known for their modular and repairable design. Now, the company has taken things to the next level by open-sourcing the 3D CAD files for its 16-inch laptop. This will enable users with 3D printers to make their own accessories.

The beloved MP3 player from the 90’s and early 2000’s has been brought back to life in a hardware avatar by DIY maker Rodmg using a Raspberry Pi 4B. Titled the Linamp, the device is designed like a retro-ish standalone stereo amplifier and features a touchscreen panel that perfectly recreates the user interface of the popular media player.

HowToMen on YouTube has showcased Rabbit R1, the AI-powered gadget, running Android 13 almost natively. The integrated functions also work seamlessly on this mod. Additionally, it brings Google Gemini AI assistant, which is more useful than the one found in Rabbit OS.

Spotify Car Thing will officially reach the end of support and stop being functional after December 9th, 2024. Even though the company has started to offer refunds, there's a requirement that many of the users may not meet. The hacking community has devised solutions to use the device for something else for those who don't or can't take the refund.

Mini Maker has revealed the Turbo Mini X mini PC with support for Intel's 14th gen 65 W desktop-class processors, dual SODIMM slots, and a healthy selection of ports. Besides it, the company also unveiled the StreamPlay X eGPU, featuring a custom PCIe-based connection which allows for performance that is much faster than the typical Thunderbolt 4 connection.

The original 3dfx Voodoo 4 4500 board launched in 2000 was replaced with a custom-made MXM board mounted inside a 2013 Dell Precision M4800 mobile workstation. Modder "sdz" added double the original VRAM for a total of 64 MB, and the MXM variant can now be overclocked to higher core clocks than previously possible.

With a Raspberry Pi, a speaker and the instructions on GitHub, you can easily use OpenAI at home. The freely programmable assistant can also control Spotify, smart lights and more.

Pironman 5 is a DIY small tower PC-like enclosure for the Raspberry Pi 5. It has two RGB fans, a cooler with a PWM fan, and PiP HAT+ expansion board support that allows NVMe SSD installation. There's also a small LED on the front that shows vital info. With everything in place, the overall SBC setup looks pretty much like a mini gaming PC.

Apple's latest iPad Air has upgraded to the M2 chipset as well as the same 11- and 13-inch size options as its Pro counterpart. It has also now grabbed more of the vlogging spotlight for itself - courtesy of teardown experts iFixit. The tablet was, quite ironically, found to be no lighter or easier to get into than the new Pro 13.

Modos has announced the pre-launch of its 13.3" e-ink Modos Paper Monitor with 60 Hz refresh rate. The main drawback of slow e-ink displays has been tackled with low-latency technology that enables smooth video playback. A separate Modos Development Kit with open-hardware and open-source software hackability will also be available.

Apple's newest and biggest iPad Pro has many potentially significant upgrades; however, it seems durability is not one of them. Nevertheless, the ability to take it apart and put it back together might make up for that, according to some popular device restoration vloggers. The Cupertino giant's new stylus, on the other hand, has come in for criticism as as accessory that might be as unsustainable as it is expensive.

Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is now officially the first laptop to have been torn down by iFixit in search of its LPCAMM2 module. The emerging RAM type is hailed as a more powerful, efficient and sustainable form of memory thanks to its ease of removal from its place relative to a PC's CPU - which also boosts the ability to replace or upgrade it.

CheckMag Whether its questionable privacy practices, incorrectly categorising images as child pornography, or using your data for its AI training models, storing your photos with Google continues to be a privacy nightmare. Thankfully a self hosted solution is making waves in the community, and for good reason.

Apple now makes AirPods that do not need a Lightning port to charge; however, the company seems in no hurry to do the same with its (even more expensive) flagship wireless headphones. However, as a popular device repair YouTuber has demonstrated, it is possible for a user to end the frustration and make their AirPods Max into USB-C devices with a kit that is available to buy online.

A DIY hardware modder known as YesItsKira has modded the Asus ROG Ally and converted it into a Nintendo 3DS-like gaming handheld. The secondary DIY screen even closes like a clam, just like the classic console.

Kobo offers various e-readers that can also be repaired. Instructions are available for those wishing to carry out the repairs themselves, and the corresponding spare parts can be easily purchased.

Gigabyte Metal Gear Plus ITX isn’t like the regular mini PCs. While most of them come with mobile processors, Gigabyte’s new mini PC can be configured with the latest AMD Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs. It even brings the DIY aspects that you would find in a traditional desktop computer.

Macho Nacho Productions modded the classic Sony PSP 1000 and made it gain two features found in modern gaming handhelds: an IPS screen and an HDMI port. While both require a fair amount of DIY skills, they did turn out to be worth it, as the gaming experience improved after the mods.

It is usually impossible to swap the display of one iPhone with another, thanks to the parts-pairing practices touted as the ultimate user privacy and security measure by Apple. However, the Cupertino giant has announced that it will finally repent of this gatekeeping behavior somewhat and allow those who would choose personal or third-party repair options access to used components such as displays - with caveats.

Asus recently settled a lawsuit in the UK over its unfulfilled promises of a bootloader unlock tool for its Zenfone line-up. Asus promised the Zenfone bootloader unlock tool way back in early 2022 and still hasn't delivered.

It’s hard to come across smartphones that feature physical built-in keyboards these days. However, the DIY hardware community has kept the concept alive. One of the latest projects is called Fairberry, and it aims to let you attach a proper BlackBerry keyboard to any modern phone.

Creality is now offering a new 3D printer. The model is said to be characterized by high speed, powerful component cooling and easy maintenance. A display is installed and is designed for easy operation.

The Remi Pi is a new single-board computer. Depending on the specific application, the model could also be an alternative to a Raspberry Pi and allows the connection of various sensors and actuators.

CheckMag Batocera has been around since 2016 but has reached a level of polish unmatched by its competitors. Great background music, boot animations and box art. Combined with the power of the Raspberry Pi 5, there’s never been a more pleasing, easy or cheap way to enjoy retro games.

Nothing wants the community to collaborate on a custom Community Edition of the Nothing Phone (2a), with four design stages over the span of six months. The tech startup imposes no limitations on submissions, and the community will vote for which ideas get to go through to production.

A YouTuber named TommyB has built a DIY gaming handheld using a Framework laptop motherboard. This board currently has a sale price of $300, and it packs an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU. With a 3D-printed body, a battery from Framework, an 8-inch touchscreen, and a custom-built controller, the project is nearing its final state.

Becky Stern, known for making DIY tech project tutorials, has made a cat TV for her feline friends. It's powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 and can automatically loop cat-friendly videos from YouTube on startup.

CheckMag The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a fantastic piece of hardware, especially since Samsung moved to Wear OS. However, the battery on these devices seems to be all over the place. Turning on the battery saver can work, but doing that disables features, so here’s how to get consistently great battery life out of your Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, 5 or 6.

A DIY modding group named KittenLabs has managed to run GTA Vice City on a wireless router. The model used is the TP-Link TL-WDR4900, which comes with a PowerPC-based CPU with WiFi chipsets connected through PCIe. With some modifications to this PCIe slot and a lot of software tweaking, it was possible to connect an AMD Radeon HD 7470 to it.

CheckMag Microsoft has historically monopolised the PC gaming space with Windows, but with increasingly invasive ads, bloat and data collection, many Windows users are looking for an alternative. Thanks to the Steam Deck, Valve and community projects like Proton GE, Linux is becoming a more viable option for gaming.

HMD has unveiled the plans for its "evolution" into a "multi-brand" tech OEM at MWC. They involve a summer of 2024 full of new releases, that for the next Nokia smartphone and "iconic device" included. The company also has something "for Barbie fans of all ages" in the works.

Framework laptops are best known for having a fully modular design that you can repair and upgrade without facing any limitations. But all that modularity comes at a cost, as the systems are much more expensive than offerings from other brands with the same specs. But that changed with the B-Stock Laptop 13, the brand's first notebook under $500.

CheckMag You might ask what use a gaming PC is without a monitor, but the ability to store your PC in any room in the house and play games using any device you can attach a controller to does have its benefits. If you have a solid network connection you can even game from it while on the go. Forget the PlayStation Portal, here's how to use devices you already own to play games remotely.

There are a good number of single board computers (SBC) out there that have reasonably capable hardware. But to use them, you need to connect the board to a couple of things, which includes a monitor. Well, UUGear wanted to make things a bit easier by attaching a 5.5-inch touchscreen display to its Vivid Unit SBC.

The new BD790i motherboard comes pre-installed with a top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 7945HX mobile APU for $519. Users can add up to 64 GB DDR5-5200 RAM, speedy PCIe 5.0 SSD storage via 2x M.2 slots and a dGPU on the included PCIe 5.0 X16 slot.

Overclocking master Der8auer tears into the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G with impressive results, netting a 25 °C reduction in operating temperatures and a massive jump in performance, bringing it close to the performance of the Ryzen 7 7700X.

Waveshare is offering a new HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5, which is intended to simplify use in particular situations and provide an alternative power supply option. Expandability is still a given.

The A70 Pro from AtomStack is an extremely powerful laser cutter, which is able to cut various materials accurately. The power can also be adjusted particularly easily.

52Pi is offering a new expansion board for the Raspberry Pi, which is not only intended to expand the single-board computer in terms of high-quality playback of audio content, but also includes an M.2 slot. Sensors and actuators can still be used as usual.