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Spread all over this website are awe-inspiring, beautiful builds. People make 3D printed computers, or cases from brass, wood, and other great materials. We take high-performance computers and rebuild them into something even better.
But sometimes--just sometimes--it can be just as fun to build something stupid. I built everything with cardboard as a kid, and I still use it for some prototypes, as it's such a workable material. But why keep it just as a prototype material? 🤣
Enter the cardboard laptop, the second fully-functioning cardboard laptop in existence (as far as I know). It runs Fedora Linux, with a KDE Plasma desktop environment.
The internal components come from an HP ProBook 650 G1, which is a modern computer by almost no one's standards. Surprisingly, it actually runs reasonably fast once I installed Linux--fast enough for it to be quite usable, even for internet tasks. I got it for $20, and turned it from the picture you see above to this:
And after about a month's work (crazy it took so long, but there were reasons), it became this:
I ended up adding a cardboard strap to the back, because this thing is closer in size to a slim briefcase than a laptop. But I think, for what it is, it turned out pretty well! 🤣
See the full build video here (no, I'm not doing this for YouTube views. This was a project I genuinely wanted to share and thought was pretty funny. The link is here for those who want to see more about it):
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 26/07/2026 1:46 pm
lucilletea and marcdraco reacted
My man, that is AWESOME. I'm humbled. I have trouble making a cat tree. At least a cat tree that the cat judges safe enough to mount.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 26/07/2026 2:12 pm
Topic starter
Thanks! Yeah, it took waaay longer to make than I would have thought. Partially that's because I ordered a crucial part from AliExpress that malfunctioned, and spent a week or so figuring out why the computer wasn't working. Then I had to wait some more while I ordered a new one--shipping speeds these days are roughly on par with tectonic plate movement.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 26/07/2026 2:19 pm
marcdraco reacted
The shipping logistics is superb nowadays - it's the customs that slows it all down but some times it feels like it would be easier to nip to the local beach, grab a bucket of sand and start purifying the silicon. 🙂
But the amount of "paperwork" is astonishing since countries are all slapping each other with tariffs and stuff that have to be processed and it takes time. I sent a board out from the UK to USA - it came back about six months later - because the Dr. had married and the service didn't have the previous name. :/
Right, let's sort out that impedance issue.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 27/07/2026 8:52 am
Topic starter
🤣 That sounds like the sort of ridiculous story that one hears about in comedic biographies. These days it's not too hard to believe though.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 27/07/2026 1:47 pm
marcdraco reacted
I honestly wish it wasn't true but I live very near a major port and that thing is non-stop. Seem like 24/7 but I can't be sure. Seems like it.
But DHL can get stuff to ME - that is my front door - in about four days. They did in three once but that was a fluke.
Now if @we-can can attest to utter nightmare we had moving one from there to part of the Eurozone. You'd not believe the red tape!
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 28/07/2026 3:06 pm