A laptop is one of the greatest tools at the disposal of a hacker. They come in all manner of shapes and sizes with all manner of features. But perhaps the greatest limit held by all laptops is their chiclet keyboard. While certainly serviceable, a proper mechanical keyboard will always reign supreme, which is why [flurples] built a laptop around a mechanical keyboard. 

Such a keyboard could not fit inside any normal laptop, so a custom machined case was in order. The starting point was a standard Framework Laptop 13. Its open source documentation certainly helped the project, but numerous parts such as the audio board and fingerprint sensor are not documented making for a long and tedious process. But the resulting machined aluminum case looks at least as good as a stock Framework chassis, all be it, quite a bit thicker.

The resulting laptop retains three of the four modular input ports the Framework is known for, but one was sacrificed for a USB-A hub and HDMI port exposed by a custom carrier. Only one of the USB-As is externally accessible, with one used as a mouse dongle hider, and the other for keyboard connectivity.

The keyboard itself uses Kailh Choc Sunset switches, with the PCB resting on o rings for a more consistent typing experience. The key caps come from two sets of caps, with the shift and escape keys being dyed an excellent shade of orange. Sitting on the right hand side below the keyboard is a trio of rotary encoders. Using low profile encoders, the knobs blend neatly into the overall laptop, perhaps being invisible at first glance.

The rotary encoders forced a speaker arrangement redesign. Instead of siting next to the battery where the rotary encoders now are, they are attached to the top cover above the battery. This change required lengthening the speaker connector cables, but otherwise worked extremely well.

If you enjoy the work of laptop case replacement, make sure to check out this Toshiba Libretto get a fresh lease on life with a re-designed case.