EeePC Touchscreen Retrofit

Adding touch screen capabilities to your computer is really not very expensive, but it’s a huge amount of work to get everything looking the way that it should. [Deadbird] wrote up a step-by-step guide that will help you install touch screen hardware and get your netbook put back together just like new.

The hardware comes in two parts. There’s the transparent film that covers the screen and the driver board that reads the inputs. The film itself has an adhesive layer on the back that sticks to the LCD panel. But to install it you first must remove the panel from the bezel. You’re also going to need a place to house the driver board. [Deadbird] somehow found enough room inside the case for the controller, but he had to remove the keyboard and motherboard to set it in place. This translates to a complete disassembly of your eeePC. But if you’re used to touch-sensitive devices, and have ever found yourself touching an LCD monitor and wondering why the computer is not following the link, this may be worth it to you. You can see the final product in a clip after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K8Q_fybGP4&w=470]

24 thoughts on “EeePC Touchscreen Retrofit

  1. Cool, my parents love the idea of a touch-screen pc so I wonder if I could make one like this for them :)
    Also, if this could be hooked up to an uC it could make for some wicked projects!

  2. I’ll take “old news”, yes quotes, as to the first commenter it was obviously new news, over a site that hasn’t been updated since November 9th, 2010. That site would be yours, by the way.

  3. I enjoy netbook hacks.
    This one is done very nicely, even if it isn’t the “freshest”.

    I recently bought a Dell Duo convertible, and while it already has a great capacitive touch display, I’d love to add an internal Xbox 360 Wireless controller receiver to mine for emulation gaming.

    I’ve already upgraded the wireless card, but that’s pretty standard stuff nowadays too.

  4. Hi everyone at HaD and everyone who left comments.
    To reply to John Avitable yes, this is a pretty old trick but somehow not very widely known compared to the amount of EeePC sold.
    The reason why I published this tutorial is to encourage people to step into.
    Anyway, feel free to leave comments and/or questions on my website, I always answer if needed.

  5. Not really as hard as they make it sound, just pay attention to what you are doing and don’t lose and screws. I did this to my acer aspire one back when they came out.

    Now I have been trying to find a panel for my 16″ laptop, but have been unable to find one at 16″, only 15″ and 17, they seem to have skipped 16′ alltogather :(

  6. Nice hack and everything but remember this is resistive screen, which many people may hate.

    Also over time, your screen will probably look like a scratched up mess because they cant make it out of glass like a capacitive screen.

  7. :(
    i just googled usb touchscreen digitizer
    9-usb-touch-screen-digitizer-diy-mod-kit-for-asus-eee-pc-900-umpc-laptops-18490-and-might-as-well-add-a-few-extra-dashes-here-because-it-isnt-long-enough
    but i want 1 that’ll work on my big ole’ crt monitor
    found some 18.5 inch LCD monitor addons for $130
    with the prices of these things i might as well get a touchscreen monitor on ebay
    nice job though on the mod, very clean and professional

  8. @Frogz: this.

    “Adding touch screen capabilities to your computer is really not very expensive”…err…what’s “not very expensive”? I consider something that’s more than a third of the original cost of the computer to be a little more expensive than “not very expensive”.

    But then again, I’m pretty middle-class.

  9. Anyone have any idea if they make ANY widescreen resistive panels? Trying to mod-out an HP DV900 laptop for my disabled friend. It would greatly help him use his laptop as he is a bit frustrated as it is that he cant solder, and generally “hack and mod” the things he used to. I feel like a hack such as this could benefit him greatly. and what better thing to do than hack AND help :) “PS: a google sarch didnt turn up much”

  10. @darkarmyofone check out Ebay they have plenty. Just use “widescreen touchscreen” as the keywords. Although most of them are intended for desktop LCDs. This might cause some problems because the ribbon cable would be too short to place the controller board inside the base of the laptop.

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