Black UX50

[eva-01]

hello all, well i'm nearing the completion of my PRISM speaker dock and i wanted to make something different for my self so i thought, i'm gonna pimp my UX and PRISM, so instead of the usual metallic silver/grey look, i thought a nice sleek black would be cool, so here's my progress so far

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00198.jpg

these are the parts around the egde of the UX which you should be familiar with, i.e. usb cover, pen slot, memory stick slot, on/off/standby switch/ lanyard hole and the hard buttons

i bought a spare UX outer case and buttons a while ago so i didn't run the risk of screwing up my UX, that and i have other plans for my current casing ;)

so in the pic you see the bits drying after their second coat of gloss black spray paint - one more coat to go, before i started painting these bits, i sanded the silver/grey paint off by use a very fine grit sand/glass paper, then cleaned them, then started to spray paint

the colour scheme for my ux is black...... and....... black, well i have painted the 'shiney' bits of the ux, gloss black, and will paint the bulk of the casing in a satin black, which is not so 'shiney' - so the next part of my 'pimping' will involve buying some satin black spray paint (duh) :p and sanding all that paint off the casing

now the tricky bit comes with the buttons and all those little letters, i bet your wondering, " now how the hell is he going to know what he is typing with all the buttons black" or "silver buttons would look crap!" :confused: well i have a solution - its three part, first i write down what button is what letter and then spray paint them black, the second part is the clever bit, using water slide transfers - the kind you find in those aeroplane model kits - and carefully apply them where, well, applicable :rolleyes: , then the last step, the most important, is to spray a top coat of clear varnish so the transfers don't wash off

now i bet your thinking "clever sod, well we'll see if actually gets round to it, he's taken forever on his PRISM dock thingy" :p

well the proof of the pudding is in the eating mmmmm pudding, well i'm going to get some pudding, i'll post up some more pics when i finish my pudding and comlete bits

[antoinepierre]

I'll follow your painting.

I was wanting to paint my UX in red for my wife. Excepted for the keyboard.

[gman]

I'd be interested in seeing how your "project" comes out!

Do keep us posted.... and include pictures!

G-Man

[matthewsem]

It's been a couple of days now...what's the final verdict look like?
Inquiring eyes want to know.

[ixle]

I'll follow your painting.

I was wanting to paint my UX in red for my wife. Excepted for the keyboard.


You could always just cover it in vinyl : http://www.pdajacket.com/P2/Products/PDAs/UX50/ux50.htm

[eva-01]

sorry to keep you all waiting, sanding the paint off the ux takes a long time and i ran into problems with the little bits shown in my first post - the paint didn't adhere for some reason so i have to sand the paint off and start again :(

but i have managed to paint the metal body, well most of it, in satin black and i am very happy with the results :) (see smiley proves this)

well here are a few pics to show how i did it

first of all i needed to remove the paint with sandpaper, this was done so that i have a smooth surface to apply paint and so that i don't loose any detail under thick layers of paint
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00202.jpg

and here's the result - it took about 2-3 hours to finish this one
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00203.jpg

then comes the paint and heres the result
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00207.jpg

and i also sanded and painted the casing for the screen
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00206.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00208.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00205.jpg

as you can see in the pics i haven't sanded the paint off the keyboard casing, thats because its gonna take me a while to sand it all with all the little bits and the curves

i should have it done over the weekend (no promises, i'll be watching the grand prix - go hamilton and be working on the PRISM)

tell me what you guys think

[intellidryad]

Cool!

But if I were you, I'd leave the keyboard white, to have a two-tone color: black outside, white inside. But it sure is a personal preference.

[MD_Brite]

Cool!!! You may be onto something, maybe opening up a custom mod shop for PDAs, I know I'd pay something like that, maybe a metalic red or blue T|C?

[antoinepierre]

You could always just cover it in vinyl : http://www.pdajacket.com/P2/Products/PDAs/UX50/ux50.htmNo so nice but .... much easier !
;)

[Puppetteer]

So, how did it turn out? Any one have post poroduction pictures?

[LupeValenz]

I agree, I'd like to see the finished product, an all black UX50 would be very sexy indeed. :)

[Puppetteer]

I actually wanted to paint it black, and paint the metal rim a dark shade of chrome or black

[johnj2803]

any news on this one? :D

[MD_Brite]

An update would be nice, despite what everyone of those so-called "experts", Palm OS is not dead yet. With color and custom ideas like this, it gives us something to be excited about. A good question, if this project turns out to be successful, are you going to take custom orders?

[DanT]

...now the tricky bit comes with the buttons and all those little letters, i bet your wondering, " now how the hell is he going to know what he is typing with all the buttons black"...

Exactly! That was my question when you bought the parts from me 4-5 months ago. Tough project, eh? I certainly won't do it myself, too much trouble.

[eva-01]

Sorry for the lack of updates, i've been busy with work and my UX50 projects have taken a back seat and i haven't been able to find time to finish them but i do have a few pics of the progress. I have managed to paint most of the casing except for the side bits, so i assembled it with the original silver colour ones and this is how it turned out.


http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/Image000.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/Image001.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/Image002.jpg


The most time consuming part of painting the UX casing is that its very hard to get it perfect in a home environment due to one thing - lint. These little floating bits of fabric, dust and general crap land on the wet paint and ruins the paint work. So you have to sand off the lint affected area and paint again, i've had to do this about 5 times now on each of the parts and i've finally got it so that all the peices are clean, smooth and lint free. I will not be taking any orders to do this for others as its a real hassle to get it right and really time consuming, and the spray fumes really stink up the place and if you dont have enough ventillation, can give you a serious headache.


Now the keyboard is probably the trickiest part of this, but i have come up with a solution. It involves sanding the paint off the keyboard so that your left with a transparent letter-less keyboard. Then, you apply rub on letter transfers to the appropriate key and let that dry. Then apply the paint over the letter transfer. After the paint is dry, you peel/scratch away the transfer, thus you are left with a black keyboard with transparent letters. This means that when you turn the keyboard backlight on, you can see what you are typing. Well that's the theory any way.

I will type up a step by step guide when i have finished and have time for all those that endevour to modify their own pda.

[JAmerican]

Wow! That's amazing! I'd never be able to do something like that. Nice work.

[eva-01]

Thanks JAm, when i get some time i'll take some better pics and post them up

[B612-UX50]

Now the keyboard is probably the trickiest part of this, but i have come up with a solution. It involves sanding the paint off the keyboard so that your left with a transparent letter-less keyboard. Then, you apply rub on letter transfers to the appropriate key and let that dry. Then apply the paint over the letter transfer. After the paint is dry, you peel/scratch away the transfer, thus you are left with a black keyboard with transparent letters. This means that when you turn the keyboard backlight on, you can see what you are typing. Well that's the theory any way.

I will type up a step by step guide when i have finished and have time for all those that endevour to modify their own pda.

Eva,
for the keyboard why don't you try an alternative solution?
for example if you show the (original silver) keyboard to a plastic model maker (usually works for the industrial designers) they can give you a hand with economical solutions like hot vacuum forming.
They usually take the original piece, make a positive dye (from resine) and with the same type of transparent film (you have also very economical color pigmented solutions) they produce the new ones with the vacuum forming.
plus you can use the same positive (ofcourse depends on the quality of the resine) dye up to 100 times. If you do not want to use pigment-colored films, it is also possible to print (also with your personal computer+printer) on the transparent film before the hot vacuum process (it will be more economical & logical, because you can also print the letters on it for eliminating the painful, costly, low durable & manual letraset process). by this way you can control/create different color & tranparency options (including black) on the background and infinite letter (font) options as well.
ofcourse if you print the letters in mirror effect on the back side of the transparent film, you can leave the printed face inside (on the bottom) and this will prevent rubbing the letters with the daily usage by time & it will last longer.

With a reasonable bargain with the modeller, you can balance the time - quality - dirt factors during the production period and increase the life expectancy of the keyboard considerably. :)
(ofcourse it is useless to say that you can produce different configurations and sell them on the internet -ex:your site or ebay- and also create a self sustaining budget :rolleyes: to use for your challenging research on UX50 -speaker-casecolor-etc.)
you can even take orders for personalised keyboards. :D

PS: I see yellow rings -of a laser pointer- next to UX in your photographs, are you studying on a new project (like integrating laser pointer in UX to use it as a IR/BT remote controller during the presentations? :cool: )

two questions for the platform:
1) Anyone had problems with the keyboard of ux?
ex: peeled-off letters, teared keyboard, broken letters
2) If you have the broken (damaged) keyboards can you describe the damage?

[antoinepierre]

1) Anyone had problems with the keyboard of ux?
ex: peeled-off letters, teared keyboard, broken lettersNo.



(too short)

[eva-01]

Eva,
for the keyboard why don't you try an alternative solution?
for example if you show the (original silver) keyboard to a plastic model maker (usually works for the industrial designers) they can give you a hand with economical solutions like hot vacuum forming.
They usually take the original piece, make a positive dye (from resine) and with the same type of transparent film (you have also very economical color pigmented solutions) they produce the new ones with the vacuum forming.
plus you can use the same positive (ofcourse depends on the quality of the resine) dye up to 100 times. If you do not want to use pigment-colored films, it is also possible to print (also with your personal computer+printer) on the transparent film before the hot vacuum process (it will be more economical & logical, because you can also print the letters on it for eliminating the painful, costly, low durable & manual letraset process). by this way you can control/create different color & tranparency options (including black) on the background and infinite letter (font) options as well.
ofcourse if you print the letters in mirror effect on the back side of the transparent film, you can leave the printed face inside (on the bottom) and this will prevent rubbing the letters with the daily usage by time & it will last longer.

With a reasonable bargain with the modeller, you can balance the time - quality - dirt factors during the production period and increase the life expectancy of the keyboard considerably. :)
(ofcourse it is useless to say that you can produce different configurations and sell them on the internet -ex:your site or ebay- and also create a self sustaining budget :rolleyes: to use for your challenging research on UX50 -speaker-casecolor-etc.)
you can even take orders for personalised keyboards. :D

PS: I see yellow rings -of a laser pointer- next to UX in your photographs, are you studying on a new project (like integrating laser pointer in UX to use it as a IR/BT remote controller during the presentations? :cool: )

two questions for the platform:
1) Anyone had problems with the keyboard of ux?
ex: peeled-off letters, teared keyboard, broken letters
2) If you have the broken (damaged) keyboards can you describe the damage?


Thanks for all the info B612, i'll look into it, and using transparent film to transfer all the letters at once looks to be a hell of a lot easier than my method. Thanks for sharing :) . I haven't started on my keyboard yet


PS. those rings are for a laser pointer, i'm just messing around with it at the moment, i'm trying to set it up so i can send audio over laser beam

PPS. i have a lot of other stuff not shown in the pics that i am currently workings on, 3 to be precise, another portable speaker amplifier for a freind, a projector and a hifi/media player

I haven't had any wearing of my keyboard

[Tomcatt0]

Wow. So, how much would this cost if I had you paint mine to black?

[eva-01]

Wow. So, how much would this cost if I had you paint mine to black?

I'd rather not take requests/orders as it is time consuming if you don't have a clean environment to paint in. But it isn't all that expensive to do yourself. I used a small can of black satin Hycote to paint all the casing in three coats and there is still a little left. Plasti-kote paint, for some reason didn't wan't to adhere to the casing or dry properly for some reason :confused:

Anyway, the paint cost me £3 and the only other cost was the 600 grit glass paper, which i got for £1. BUT, i still haven't got round to putting the letters on my keyboard and that will probably cost £3-5.

So all in all, if you like the two tone black and silver and don't mind not knowing the f second function of the keys, it should not cost you more than £5/$10

I'll get some more pics up later this week and also start writing up a step by step so other people can attempt to do this themselves. I'll also try to fashion a 'clean room' environment so i don't get the bloody lint on my paint work.

I think the trickiest part of this is taking apart your UX, and i may write up a step by step guide for that aswell.

[Puppetteer]

I'd rather not take requests/orders as it is time consuming if you don't have a clean environment to paint in. But it isn't all that expensive to do yourself. I used a small can of black satin Hycote to paint all the casing in three coats and there is still a little left. Plasti-kote paint, for some reason didn't wan't to adhere to the casing or dry properly for some reason :confused:

Anyway, the paint cost me £3 and the only other cost was the 600 grit glass paper, which i got for £1. BUT, i still haven't got round to putting the letters on my keyboard and that will probably cost £3-5.

So all in all, if you like the two tone black and silver and don't mind not knowing the f second function of the keys, it should not cost you more than £5/$10

I'll get some more pics up later this week and also start writing up a step by step so other people can attempt to do this themselves. I'll also try to fashion a 'clean room' environment so i don't get the bloody lint on my paint work.

I think the trickiest part of this is taking apart your UX, and i may write up a step by step guide for that aswell.

For the love of god, please post that step by step! I'm taking apart my UX to paint it, and I'd rather not break it.

[eva-01]

I have finished taking pictures of the disassembly of the UX and will have a step by step guide posted tomorrow along with some better pics of my black ux50 - some will be quite interesting

[eva-01]

More pics.......... can you see whats wrong in some of the pics? :D

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00215.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00216.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00217.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00218.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00219.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00220.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00221.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00222.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00223.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00224.jpg


http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00225.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00226.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/eva-11/black%20ux50/DSC00227.jpg

[necroflux]

Lol you had me actually looking through each picture for scratches, small mistakes, etc.. when I came to the pic with the upside screen I felt quite the fool (and laughed out loud haha).

But still - nice work, looks incredible. I assume flipping the LCD won't be too much work?

[eva-01]

Well there are a few scratches, it needs a few more coats of paint in certain areas, but you're right, the screen shows up inverted, it'd nothing to do with the screen, its the hinge mechanism, i think i must have insterted it wrong. Oh well, it shouldn't be too difficult to put right, i have to take it apart again anyway, i still have to finish painting the camera cover and some other bits. Glad you enjoyed the pics :)

[DanT]

..., the screen shows up inverted, it'd nothing to do with the screen, its the hinge mechanism, i think i must have insterted it wrong...:)

I've been there and done that. :) :( ;)

[eva-01]

Glad to know i'm not alone. I've posted up a step by step guide to disassemble the UX here (http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141508) for all that want to know.

[antoinepierre]

congratulations, very nice job !

[Puppetteer]

Hmm...is the back light for the clie yellow, or is it the keyboard plastic?

I want to back light my UX in either Green or blue...mabie paint the keyboard blue, then go about with your pealing decals idea, leaving a black/gray keyboard with blue keys which backlight to a green tint.

[eva-01]

Thanks antoine. I don't know about the colour of the leds, but you could easily change the colour by using different plastic filters between the keyboard and the leds.

I might try this for myself :) . Blue would be really cool.

[VaioRepair]

lol, i started a thread, asking about the technical specs of the lights. i already know they're orange SMD's, i'm just not sure on the size (in mm), voltage, or what level MCD output. if i could find out, i could go about ordering new (i'd like blue also, lol), and move on to making a prototype light rig. I've already got want i want to do mapped out, and i know how to do it....i just gotta figure out what parts to get.

at any rate, putting colored filters between the SMD's and the rubber on the keypad isn't going to do anything but make your UX not fit together quite right.....you gotta change the SMD's (all 30 or so of them) on the board. as i said, if i could find out exactly what ones sony used, i could get something comparable in another color, and make a prototype

[eva-01]

Hmm, replacing all of those tiny smd leds is going to be a bit tough, but if you've got the skill to do it, that would be an awesome mod. But using plastic film filters about 0.1-0.5mm thick won't cause any fitting problems, BUT it may affect the tactile feedback of the keypad and the filter may not even work in giving you the right colour. Well i'll have to try this out to see if it does work or not.

Sorry i can't help with giving you info on the size, voltage and luminance.

[VaioRepair]

yeah....you might be right about the fitting issue...however, since the SMD's are orange, and not white, any color filter you fit to the keypad is just going to make it fuguly, unless you use something like red, that's in the same color spectrum....but then again, red's not all that attractive. staring at red for long periods of time will screw up your eyes, but since the keypad lighting isn't on for very long at a time, it shouldn't be a factor.

there's gotta be some way to find out what SMD's are used...i mean, i COULD use a multimeter to maybe get the voltage, and i could guess at the physical size of the lights....OR i could just brute force it, and buy a sample SMD of every type available, and see what ones work, and go from there..

you're right about one thing though...replacing them is going to be a *****, and it is very delicate work...i'm pretty sure i could pull it off though...i'm used to working with tiny japanese electronics.

i'm actually building a custom model UX50 from the ground up, from parts (some from ebay, some from dan, so he already knows what i'm doing). When i get further along, i'm gonna start a thread for it.

[eva-01]

I was thinking about red backlight, that would be cool, like Darth Vader's own personal UX50 :D . You're right it will probably be straining to the eye.

A multimeter is probably you're best bet for the voltage, although before you do that, look through the parts centre, i think i remember seeing loads of specific codes for parts in there, which may give you the info you need.


EDIT: Found it, look throught the following link and see if you can find it http://www.partstore.com/Model/Sony/Sony/PEGUX50.aspx

[VaioRepair]

wasn't there. great thinking though.

I'm probably just going to go the brute force route.

[Puppetteer]

oh, by filter, I didn't mean a sheet of paper. I meant painting a thin, translucent coat over the keyboard, then painting a black coat to see the keys.

If you do manage to find/replace the lights, I'll be VERY willing to pay you to replace mine for white ones!

P.S. Red seems nice...might just go with that...

[VaioRepair]

yeah, colored film, like the kind used in the colored lights in high school theater classes...red's about all that's gonna work...BUT it will lower the amount of light transfered into the keypad, it might also hamper proper operation of the keypad.

If i can make light replacement work, i might be willing to take a limited number of orders for the procedure, seeing as how it is going to be VERY delicate, tedious, and time consuming work. Depending on how much of a pain it is to do mine, it might not be cheap.

[VaioRepair]

Sorry about the thread hijackage, eva....i'll try not to make a habit of it. I just don't see the point in starting a thread prematurely.

just wanted to give a quick heads up. I've confirmed that i CAN in fact remove the SMD lights from the keypad circuit film, also confirmed that i can get the solder pads completely cleaned off, and ready for installation of replacement units. now i just need to pick up samples of SMD lights, and see if i can actually get them installed, without destroying them.

If this works, it should look fantastic. Hey eva...if i can make this work, would you be interested in having different colored backlighting on your keypad?

EDIT: I'm also toying with the idea of using either thin EL rope, or custom cut EL sheet, tied directly into the main power bus, and disabling the onboard keypad lights through prefs. the EL lighting would then be controlled through a very small switch installed in a specific place, so it can't be hit by accident. This way, you control when the backlight is on, and how long it's on for. The only drawback to EL lighting is it's somewhat limited lifespan. However, the advantages would be brighter, more even lighting of the keys, and the obvious ease of installation, as opposed to removing, and installing 35 VERY small lights.

In addition, i could also install a small pressure switch instead, so that the custom lights are only on when the UX is open, so in theory, it's only on when the keypad's actually being used, otherwise, it'd probably be in tablet mode. but then again, what if you're using the keypad when it's broad daylight..you wouldn't really need the lights, and that would take time off the lifespan of the EL material....slider switch might work better...aw whatever. What do you guys think?

[Puppetteer]

The EL rope sounds like a good idea...If only I knew what EL rope was. As far as the switch goes, you could place a switch close to the record button, or the 3.5 jack, that way, the likely-hood of it getting switched is slim, but it is accessible when the UX is in use.

[MD_Brite]

Real beautiful work here, are you considering puting this work as a business, I think that there might be a market out there for it.

[VaioRepair]

The EL rope sounds like a good idea...If only I knew what EL rope was. As far as the switch goes, you could place a switch close to the record button, or the 3.5 jack, that way, the likely-hood of it getting switched is slim, but it is accessible when the UX is in use.

exactly what i was thinking. I've gotta find a small enough switch, as there doesn't seem to be so much as a millimeter of wasted space anywhere inside the device. i might just need to forgo convenience, and place it elsewhere.