Oct. 16, 2014 | Alec
Sick and tired of playing your PlayStation 4 in the living room? Uncomfortable in front of the TV? Well, what if there was a 3D printed solution for all your PlayStation related discomforts? Recently, the Florida-based electrical engineer Ed Zarick revealed his PLAYBOOK 4, a 'laptopified' PS4 that can be played in the comfort of your own desktop.
Zarick is the mastermind behind various other 'laptopifying', having previously designed a similar concept for the Xbox One called XBOOK ONE which are reportedly quite a hit. And as he explained, he has responded to popular demand with his latest creation:
Everyone, due to popular demand, here it is… The PLAYBOOK 4! The first Playstation 4 laptop! I had a lot of requests if I had plans to make one, and it seemed to happen quicker than later! I had some time in between XBOOK orders to get this one made! It came out awesome and really does look sharp!
So what is it exactly? Well, the PLAYBOOK 4 is basically a custom-made laptop casing and screen that is a bit more bulky than most laptops you see around nowadays. That's because it's completely filled with all the hardware of a regular PS4 plus a laptop screen. And just like a regular PS4, it's a cool and powerful plug-and-play machine, but then for your laptop. Somewhat ironically, however, you can still plug this bad boy into your TV for a traditional PS4 gaming experience.
To construct it, Zarick has made extensive use of 3D printing, Laser Cutting and CNC machines. Evidently, large parts of it his PLAYBOOK 4 have been custom made, especially the casing. He noted that similar to that of his Xbox One Laptops, they were constructed using two Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printers. For those, at least, the following parts were 3D printed:
I am printing the corner pieces, brackets, custom component mounts and such that I just wasn't able to do before. This has been HUGE in making the XBOOK ONE. It is giving me the opportunity to create things I just wasn't able to before. […] I can now design the whole thing digitally and see what will fit and what wont. This also helps out tremendously for measuring parts. I sat down with Autodesk Inventor and drew up all of the parts and starting creating the XBOOK ONE. And then I was able to send each machine the parts it needs to make and then amazingly enough, everything matched up perfectly my first go!
In the case of his PS4 laptop, he revealed that numerous parts can feature in various colours, suggesting that many of these parts have been created with a 3D printer. 'It is all pieced together using glue, screws and chemical cements to form the main body, just like the XBOOKs, These are sturdy and very strong.' he stated. 'Now I still must say these are not "toys" and should be treated with care, but they won't fall apart on you that's for sure!'
However, the only thing that is somewhat intimidating are the prices. Rather than open-sourcing his designs, Zarick offers reconstruction services. You can either send in your own PS4 for transformation which will cost you $1095 plus shipping. Buying a brand-new machine from him will cost you $1395 plus shipping instead.
While a very very cool 3D printed modification in every way, this suggests you'd need to have a very particular opinion about TV screen gaming to buy one of these PLAYBOOKS.
Check out this cool YouTube clip about Zarick's creations:
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Why? Just buy a powerful laptop that looks better, is better at running games, and functions as a computer too.
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