Xbox One X Gets Aluminum Laptop Makeover

While many a gamer was willing to brave hand-to-hand combat this Black Friday just to get a few bucks off of Microsoft’s premium-tier game console, [jomega] was already cutting his to pieces from the comfort of his own home. Not dissuaded by the system’s fairly high sticker price or relatively limited modding scene, he decided to transplant his Xbox One X into an incredibly slick laptop-style aluminum enclosure.

Turning a game console into a “laptop” is hardly new, Ben Heck has been doing it for over a decade now, but in general they tend to look pretty clunky. With a few exceptions, the builder’s goal is not so much to make the final result look sleek and professional, but simply to take their favorite games on the go. But from the start [jomega] wanted something that would not only allow him to take long walks in the park with Master Chief, but look gorgeous doing it.

One of his goals was to make the final device thinner than the original system, so the first step was to assemble virtual representations of the Xbox’s principal components in CAD to find the most efficient placement for everything. Long before the first pieces of aluminum were cut, [jomega] already knew where each part and screw was going to end up. The time he invested in planning out the build in CAD more than made up for itself when it came time to assemble the final product, and also means this design is highly reproducible should he decide to build another one on commission.

Even though the final system seems impossibly thin, no hardware or functionality had to be left out. Even the optical drive, which on the stock console is something of an afterthought to begin with in an era of digital downloads (rumor has it the next Xbox will drop optical discs entirely), has been retained. Special consideration did need to be given to cooling the 4K powerhouse though, and [jomega] warns that running the system with the case open or the fans off can have dangerous consequences.

Thanks to the Xbox One’s wireless capabilities (for both Internet connection and controllers), there’s a notable lack of ports on the case. This made the design a bit easier, as [jomega] really only needed to have a connector for the AC power cord in the back and a couple of holes for the system’s power, eject, and controller sync buttons. He did add in a USB port for convenience, but even that could be skipped to make things easier.

In the past we’ve seen some rather husky Xbox 360 laptop builds, and at least one attempt to build a more slimline version, but this latest entry in the long line of portable-ized Xboxen has set the bar very high.

26 thoughts on “Xbox One X Gets Aluminum Laptop Makeover

  1. Sorry but it dosnt resemble the xbox one x AT ALL.

    *makes a square aluminum custom desktop. Laptop system… calls it an xbox one x laptop system. Oh the legendary xbox one power cable port”…… yeah … no dude. Freaking lame. Anyone else agree?

    Dude made a custom case laptop…. err.. desktop replacement…. laptop = portable. Wheres the battery packs etc???? … exactly!!! Its not a laptop. It’s a glorified desktop any 10th grader or younger could design or build.

    1. 1) It’s not supposed to resemble the Xbox One.
      2) It does look like a laptop. Have you ever seen one?
      3) Laptops are portable. So will this Xbox One laptop. And it’s funny because the desktop I’m building doesn’t fold like a laptop does.
      4) You’re right. Any 10th grader could design and build this. Especially if they knew the parts they were dealing with and figure out where to put it all.
      5) Why does he need to show you battery pack if he’s only showing off what he’s accomplished?
      6) Fuck out of here you troll.
      7) I bet you couldn’t build this.

  2. Naaa. If i want to play games on a small screen. Then i would buy a laptop or use my pc. I want to play games on a big screen. Not a small screen. Come on. We are going backwards people

    1. I absolutely disagree. If you have to travel and don’t have access to a big screen, that is an amazing case he made. What you should be asking about the screen is if it is 4k HDR compatible.

    2. The whole point is to have an xbox that you can shove in the laptop sleeve of your backpack and bring where ever you want (assuming you can plug it in somewhere). The next step would be to include an HDMI spliter so you can output to either the laptop screen or an external monitor. Planes, trains, and cars usually have power outlets now, this would be perfect to bring on long trips.

    1. I wouldn’t exactly call it small. Then, to be fair, you also need to fit the power brick in your sleeve as well as a monitor and all the cables. You could argue that most hotels have TVs, but about 10-20% of the ones I’ve been in don’t allow the HDMI ports to be used (I always bring a Chrome Cast wherever I go).

      This assembly is actually quite nice and I’m half tempted to repurpose my Xbox One (not X) for travel.

  3. Forget the X Box. This is a sweet case without it. It would be a great start for your own bulky home-made laptop. Think of the battery life I could have packing in as many batteries as I can and a Raspberry Pi 3 into that thing. It could run silently all day. I’d have to find a keyboard and some kind of touchpad, but that sounds doable. I could even do something crazy like set up an internal kvm and switch between multiple Raspberry Pi’s. That would be double cool and I’ve never seen anyone do that.

  4. I would love to see this just as a standalone case without the monitor and all the Hdmi and USB plugins. It makes a more fitting looking HTPC by the TV. You could always buy an HDR 10.6 inch, 13 inch, or 15.6 inch USB powered display from Amazon with built-in sound if you need portability.

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