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Ben Heck's New C64 Laptop

Ben Heckendorn doesn't know what he's doing to me with all this awesome.

Benjamin J Heckendorn is a villainous individual. From where I'm sitting, it would seem that his purpose in this life is to craft gorgeous-looking and highly covetable custom video-game hardware that is both too rare and too expensive for me to actually own, while also providing a near-pornographic level of detail into the build process. I don't think I can quite articulate how badly I want one of his Xbox 360 laptops to call my own. Actually, I suppose I can: badly, but not badly enough to pull together Heck's regular asking price of $5k. That's how much I paid for my car , and that was nearly a decade ago. I haven't got a DIY bone in my body, so even in my imagination, the premise of me building one of my own results in either electrocution, hundreds of dollars in broken, disassembled electronics, or some combination of the two.

Heckendorn continues to taunt me with his latest , a second revision on his existing design for a Commodore 64 laptop. Beyond just shrinking the C64 into a "portable" form-factor, this thing has got some modern technology that you won't find in a stock Commodore, including an SD-based storage solution, as well as USB and Ethernet ports. While the majority of Ben Heck's custom work is done on commission these days, this particular project is going to be auctioned off for charity. It's hard to badmouth a charitable cause without coming off like a complete jerkburger, but it digs at my covetous brain to know that this sweet piece of business will likely end up costing more than it would normally. Does that make me a bad person? Most probably, yeah. 
 

28 Comments

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

interesting

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mordi

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Edited By mordi
@Kaido said:
" On a vaguely unrelated note, who loved the sound a C64's keyboard used to make? "
Not me. But I love the music that comes out of the screen when playing a C64 game.
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Andrwmorph

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Edited By Andrwmorph

I have pretty much every c64 game on my PSP Fat.

Its even more portable!

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Cerza

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Edited By Cerza

Like everything else he makes, I want one!

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DavidSnakes

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Edited By DavidSnakes

That man is a damn genius

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End_Boss

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Edited By End_Boss
@JackiJinx said:
" Does the 360 laptop red ring? "
Oh yes.
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slinky6

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Edited By slinky6

and i thought his portable SNES was awesome.   This is a whole new level.

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phlegms

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Edited By phlegms

Dude what!?

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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik

Daddy want.

Man, that guy is just a juggernaut of invention. I'd hope it has a built-in reset swtich of some description on there, though. You'd hate to louse up your spankin' new C64 lappy using the paperclip trick.

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pomeroy

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Edited By pomeroy

See this is why I want to go into electrical engineering...

so I can do shit like this and know what it is I'm doing!

Also, I'm too young to realize the appeal of the C64 laptop, but I imagine it's something similar to the lap360.
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Nat3TheGreat13

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Edited By Nat3TheGreat13

Amazing!

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KillaMaStA

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Edited By KillaMaStA

I bet the 360 laptop would red ring even faster than the average xbox.

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CaptainScarLeg

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Edited By CaptainScarLeg

Ben Heck continues to be awesome.

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Winternet

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Edited By Winternet

Don't worry Ryan. You're not the only one. Oh god, that is a beautiful thing.

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insanejedi

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Edited By insanejedi

Can it run Crysis?

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Kaido

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Edited By Kaido

On a vaguely unrelated note, who loved the sound a C64's keyboard used to make?

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JackiJinx

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Edited By JackiJinx

Does the 360 laptop red ring?

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MattyFTM

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Edited By MattyFTM  Moderator

*Drools*

There should be an age gate on this news story. Under 18 year olds shouldn't be allowed to see pornographic pictures like those.

*Continues Drooling*

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ZeroCast

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Edited By ZeroCast

5K? Seroiusly? I also would love some portable 360 but that number is way over the SANE budget of ones salary.


  

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Keyser_Soze

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Edited By Keyser_Soze

Retro-chic.

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ArbitraryWater

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Edited By ArbitraryWater

I would give large amounts of blood for that laptop. And then I would pass out and die. But I would die happy.

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TwoOneFive

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Edited By TwoOneFive
@TheHBK said:
"

I want me a ps3 controller thats in a 360 controller case.  Please put more of these out!

"
yes. 
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TheHBK

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Edited By TheHBK

I want me a ps3 controller thats in a 360 controller case.  Please put more of these out!

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Edited By sparky_buzzsaw

Dear God... it's... it's... beautiful!

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CoolWiener

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Edited By CoolWiener

Good Stuff! I wonder if it comes with an internal battery....

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Lashe

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Edited By Lashe

Absolutely adore this guy's stuff! Man's a genius!

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Ryan

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Edited By Ryan  Staff
Benjamin J Heckendorn is a villainous individual. From where I'm sitting, it would seem that his purpose in this life is to craft gorgeous-looking and highly covetable custom video-game hardware that is both too rare and too expensive for me to actually own, while also providing a near-pornographic level of detail into the build process. I don't think I can quite articulate how badly I want one of his Xbox 360 laptops to call my own. Actually, I suppose I can: badly, but not badly enough to pull together Heck's regular asking price of $5k. That's how much I paid for my car , and that was nearly a decade ago. I haven't got a DIY bone in my body, so even in my imagination, the premise of me building one of my own results in either electrocution, hundreds of dollars in broken, disassembled electronics, or some combination of the two.

Heckendorn continues to taunt me with his latest , a second revision on his existing design for a Commodore 64 laptop. Beyond just shrinking the C64 into a "portable" form-factor, this thing has got some modern technology that you won't find in a stock Commodore, including an SD-based storage solution, as well as USB and Ethernet ports. While the majority of Ben Heck's custom work is done on commission these days, this particular project is going to be auctioned off for charity. It's hard to badmouth a charitable cause without coming off like a complete jerkburger, but it digs at my covetous brain to know that this sweet piece of business will likely end up costing more than it would normally. Does that make me a bad person? Most probably, yeah.