HI
I am almost done with my wooden couchtable with an integrated HTPC.

(please move this, if i chose the wrong forum)

The table includes a touchscreen and a transparent silicone keyboard, which both disappear when you fold the Display down.

at each edge of the table, i mounted a blue LED in a transparent plasticbox.






under the flexible keyboard, there is a blue cold cathode light.
Display and keyboard are framed by plastic plates.

When the Display is down, you can use the table just as a regular furniture, but still have the pc on for listening to music or watching movies on the second screen (a Tv, should be a beamer soon).







A few more details to fix and the table is ready for Paint.
I think it'll be a smooth white on the plate and clear wooden table legs.

Needs more drink holders.

Let me be the first to say JESUS CHRIST THAT IS COOL!

I agree... that is an awesome table. I have had a very similar idea except mine was going to have an infinity mirror surface.

thankyou. but could you explain your idea? can't imagine...

instead of it being on the wall like it is in this photo....imagine it as the top piece to your coffee table....



You may have seen a mirror like this before, with points of light that seem to lead off into infinity and beyond. Well, maybe not infinity, but it seems like it's at least 5 feet deep. This 60"x36" Infinity Mirror from Light Energy Studio adds a whole new dimension to that decorative item that's graced bachelor pads, whorehouses and cheap bars for decades. What's the trick? Three little letters: LED.

As soon as LEDs get involved, lots of possibilities open up, including the ability to create crazy light shows in millions of colors. Using the included software on your PC, you can program your unique creations into a keypad controller with eight presets. If the whole thing gets too dazzling for you, you can dim its LEDs, too.

nice! makes me think of my first try with the LEDs in my tables corners.
One of them turned from blue to green without any reason.

Such a fully coloured table would look awesome, but i'd wonder how to integrate the TFT without distroying the concept.

Did you ever start the project?

yes. i built one in woodworking in high school. but that was another life ago...and it was not a projector...just a coffee table. I sold it. I was using xmas lights instead of leds....

i stairstepped several layers of chaser lights between the mirrors ...it was incredible... i built it for approx. $100 and sold it for $300.

Thats the sweetest table ever. What the spec like? Also how big is that LCD? Really nice job it looks amazing!

Thanks. The hardware isn't that powerfull, but enough for everythng i need: movies, music, Internet and minigames:

AMD sempron 1800+
500mb RAM
80GB HD, shoud be more soon
GeForce 5200 FX, (because of passive cooling)
MSI K8T with onboard 5.1 sound
4 speakers, 26W
Mini-silikone keyboard, lightend by blue cathode
CPU is cooled by Sonic Tower
Display: Samsung 10'' Touchscreen (from a Car-mounting-monitor)


10 inches are not big, but if you consider the distance between user and display, it seems as big as a regular TVscreen at the other end of your room.

Not bad my old computer had an AMD XP 1700+ in it and liked it better than the P4 in my other computer which was running at 2.8ghz. I would get a little faster processor, AMD's are really cheap over at tigerdirect.

yes, some parts will be upgraded if my budget allows.
i just wanted to get things done as cheap as possible.
but btw, if i order new hardware, i wouldn't do it in the US, 'cause i live in OldEuropeGermany,
as my nickname should tell :-)

Amazing, if I had built something like this I'd make sure anything with liquid in it were'nt put on top of it despite it's still considered a coffe table.

thats the point. i dont want guests to be afraid of using the table as a furniture. so i made sure that nothing liquid can reach the electronic parts. the slots in the table are protected by silicone and invisible plasticborders.
hope it will survive (first tries made the table seem drunken-compatible).

Very, very interesting!

sluts? ...oh SLOTS..I see. For a split second I thought you had some silicone implanted pro's living in there dress up in plastic undies sucking up any liquids that may PENETRATE the table...

sorry,...just riding on fmerrill's comment..hehe

ok, that was a funny mistake. but i had to correct it, sorry no more slut here, just me and the table...

In the same train of thought, I would be concerned of accidental activation and or damage to your switch panel. You could probably reduce the risk of that happening by simply recessing the entire switch panel so the PB's were at the same level as the surface of the side panel of your table.

However, not to diminish the fact that you have done a great job integrating all the components into one bitchin unit, including outstanding lighting.

very tastefully done!

Joe

the switch panel is in front of the side's level, but beneath the level of the table's legs and the the edge of the topping plane. So you can't accidentally touch the buttons without hurting your knee. Additionally, the 'dangerous' powerswitch is not very 'easy' to click, just getting in contact with it won't be enough to make it switch.
the other buttons would only turn lights or the sound on/off. In two weeks of using the table, nobody ever got any trouble with the switch panel.

But there are still some other problems. The graphic card won't work with my TV as a second screen right now, the touchpanel froze several times and my girlfriend keeps playing zuma all day :-(

If somebody wants to see this 'old' project in action,
here is a small demonstration video i made:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=nE7_pMQvzFk

lol, you never know, my tv's used to be held up by a group of midgets (garden gnome looking things). Odd, I got a warning for missing a letter in shifts when the above language is bieng used.

AWESOME

that sis just to cool. I want one