Chumby Hacking By Bunnie


[bunnie] is one of the main people behind the Chumby, and even he can’t resist modding the things. He decided to outfit one with a larger LCD – using a stereo microscope to do the really fine pitch work – and a laser cutter to create a custom bezel for the finished piece. The new LCD is still a touchscreen and allows the Chumby to display 640×480 resolution over the stock 320×240. The mod requires a few parts, but the ultimate difficulty is caused by the surface mount connectors. If you’d rather have some software fun, you might want to check out [bunnie]’s Chumby wifi sniffer.

8 thoughts on “Chumby Hacking By Bunnie

  1. I may be missing something here. Are Chumbys still $200? [bunny] says in his wifi blog post ” it’s cheap enough that you don’t mind dedicating it to that application.”

    Is there a way to get them cheaper?

  2. They are $179.95 to be exact.
    But Bunnie works at the company who produces the Chumbies, so he probably gets them cheaper.
    In fact I think he’s actually the one who designed the Chumby.

  3. $180 is better, but it was still $200 the last time I read an article where it was “affordable enough” to try to destroy it for fun. I can get a modestly old laptop from eBay you could plug a wifi card into for that with a lot better resolution and programming possibilities… They should stay humble. It’s a good enough project without hyperbole.

    WRT a male called “bunnie,” it’s possible that Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions” is the source of inspiration (the movie version with Bruce Willis and the chief from Super Troopers isn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been. And Glenne Headly in undies, growwwl!)

  4. The laser cut acrylic is the part that interests me most. I’d like to do the same thing with an old laptop and touchscreen. Does anyone know where I can do something like that in the Chicago area?

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