My Digital Picture Frame project (DPF)

I considered purchasing one of these cool toys but had high requirements for it.

1. WiFi


2. Support Pictures via RSS with local storage media as fall back.


3. Remote Administration


4. Re-chargeable battery


5. Options for wood frames

Of course the few that actually fit these most were > $500 up to $1000. There was only one that supported RSS.

So I used an old Tecra 8100 laptop and set out this long holiday weekend to build my own. I purchased a frame and shadowbox at Micheal's craft store at a total cost of $22.

Three hours later I had produced this:




The laptop already had windows XP loaded on it so it was just a matter of:

• Setting windows to automatically login


• Loading the google screen saver which supports local media as well as RSS feeds.


• Loading up TightVNC for remote administration


• Adding nircmd.exe screensaver as a startup item.
  

When I unplug the laptop and it will run for an hour or so and then go into standby mode. luckily, (this particular laptop) when you plug it back it it comes right back on and begins charging again.

I decided I had better leave the back panel of the shadowbox to allow air flow. The laptop does get a little bit warm.

I hope this inspires you to build your own DPF!