Chumby hacking by Bunnie

Posted Apr 8th 2008 10:36PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: handhelds hacks, misc hacks

[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 640x480 resolution over the stock 320x240. 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.

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

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?

Posted at 9:24AM on Apr 9th 2008 by joey y

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.

Posted at 5:16PM on Apr 9th 2008 by Henkie

3. I always thought bunnie was a female for some reason. I'm sure it had nothing to do with his name.

Posted at 6:19PM on Apr 9th 2008 by jproach

4. $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!)

Posted at 9:55PM on Apr 9th 2008 by b0at

5. 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?

Posted at 11:10PM on Apr 9th 2008 by nap70

6. In case ya"ll didnt know it, Bunnie is the one who originally hacked the unhackable xbox. He loves to hack in to anything and is DAMN good at it!

Posted at 4:58PM on Apr 11th 2008 by wilson

7. fwiw and iirc, his nickname dates back to high school at least. from the Vorpal Bunnie - i.e. Monty Python holy grail
cheers :)

Posted at 8:44PM on Apr 11th 2008 by t0m

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