Nilay from Engadget took a little road trip to visit Benjamin Heckendorn, gadget modder extraordinaire, in his natural habitat: Suburban Madison, Wisconsin.

Ben, a graphic designer by training, gives plenty of insight into his design philosophy—he calls the process “whoring it up”—and there’s plenty of oddmod eye candy to longingly gaze at, but let’s cut straight to it: this is kind of disappointing. Why? Because for every interesting new fact we learn about Ben Heck, a myth is shattered. Fantastic myths, these were! For example:

• He doesn’t wear goggle at all time; in fact, I doubt he wears them almost ever
• He—Herr Benjamin Heckendorn—doesn’t have a German accent, at all
• He favours printed tees over stained labcoats.
• His house hasn’t been modded into something unlikely (unless his house was originally much bigger? Obvious question, Nilay!

At any rate, to quote the great [subject of any MTV Cribs episode], this is where the magic happens. [Engadget]

There’s a storage nook for the power cord, front slot-loading Blu-ray drive, and an Iron Man Arc reactor-inspired fan grill. He also says it could have been made smaller, but he wanted to keep the big 17-inch display. Sexy! (More pics once Ben uploads them to his site).

As Ben notes in the video, it’s really the vintage Atari keyboard that sells this thing. The clickity clack is unmistakable, soothing and flashback inducing all in one—he even managed to get the thing to pop up at near the same angle as the original!

Some more specs, courtesy Ben’s web site:

– Base unit is Atari XEGS motherboard, as usual.
- XE 130 RAM expansion built-in.
- Uses MyIDE circuitry and custom OS ROM to use a 2.5″ PATA hard drive. Very fast! You can check out Mr Atari’s site here.
- Large 15″ screen, similar to the C64 laptop but this one is better looking and shinier (obviously important)
- Uses original, new-old-stock Atari 800 keyboard. This is probably the best keyboard in the history of computing, so it was worth including, despite the complications (see story)
- Flush-mount cartridge slot.
- Amazing old-school styling!

Oh, and there’s the classic Ballblazer too:

[Ben Heck via Technabob]

Though he’s gutted the same Gateway 1775W laptop with 17-inch (1280 by 720) display, he writes that this design is from scratch, and has the following new features:

• Built-in Ethernet port, finally.
• Built-in WiFi adaptor, as usual.
• Digital pushbutton volume control rather than a clunky knob. Different, better sounding audio amp
• Flush-mount DVD door and side panels (such as the memory card slots)
• IR sensor for the remote control.
• Two user USB ports.
• More air holes!
• Jasper motherboard.

Check out the video for more.

[Benheck via CrunchGear]

It is very similar to the first C64 laptop I built, with the key difference being it uses the newer 1541-III Ultimate SD-card based storage solution / disk emulator. USB and Ethernet ports for this device are open and available on the front of the unit.

Want it? You’ll need to wait until the auction goes live. All proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society, so really, it’d be a good deed to buy it. Right? [Ben Heck via CrunchGear]

We were a little more technically impressed with Ben Heck squeezed an Xbox 360 into a laptop case, but his new Commodore 64 laptop scores at least a few points for nostalgia.

The laptop houses original Commodore 64 hardware, including less convenient throwbacks like the cartridge reader and keyboard (though the keyboard has been chiseled down a bit). Upgrades include the new 80stastic case, a slew of LEDs, one Nokia LCD, two speakers and an SD slot to load game images.

Oh, and another neat factoid: The laptop uses a Gamecube power supply. [benheck via Kotaku]

Aside from the modified disc tray and 3.5 hour battery pack, the Dream Tablet also boasts external A/V connections, so you can always hook it up to a TV should you be so inclined. Sloppy Ben Heck apostles should take note, as this tablet follows the two core precepts of console modding:

1.) It is usable, and somehow better than the original
2.) It will not be confused for a homemade dirty bomb if you take it out in public

Know these, and you shall go far. [Mod of the Week via Kotaku]

Heck took apart the kick pedal that came with GH4’s drum set and used the piezoelectric switch in it, McGuyvered it into a little chamber with a diaphragm and added a tube that uses air to hit the switch. Voila, instant breath-controlled pedal!

Want to help a friend in need? Heck’s posted the way to do this mod on his [website. [Hackaday]

Dubbed the PSOneP and created by a gentleman by the name of gamefreak11, this handheld Playstation is constructed mainly of balsa wood. It has a lid that houses the screen that flips up, and the most ghetto looking controller ever built into the bottom. But hey, it works, and that’s certainly more than I can say about any portable console I’ve tried to cobble together. So kudos to you, gamefreak11, for knowing that the beauty of a portable console is not skin deep. [Ben Heck Forums]

The Sixtyfree Lite-R features a 5-inch screen, headphone jack, C-button stick, and the smallest case we’ve seen yet in a portable N64 mod. It’s got all the buttons on a traditional N64 controller, which is no small feat, and manages to evoke the same toy-like plasticky design aesthetic as the original console. The only caveat? No batteries. The case is too small to hold an internal battery, although SifuF notes that you can clip an InfoLithium battery onto the back in addition to the standard 7.2v supply it was designed for. TThis is one incredible job. [Ben Heck Forums]