The thing about computer parts is you can put them in pretty much anything these days. Well, if you know what you're doing. Otherwise you're liable to fry a few circuit boards here and there.

But one industrious hardware hacker decided that he liked the look of his old school stereo system enough to keep it around, even though he had a plans to use slightly more high tech components in his media center setup. So he crammed an Athlon XP 2500+ processor, 2 250 GB hard drives, 1GB of RAM, a DVD burner, and a dual tuner TV card in there. Oh yeah, and to top it off he fit a BenQ 15-inch monitor and some USB ports in the top.

The whole thing powers a video projector and a set of bookshelf speakers. The analog clock display on the front of the unit shows the current time, songs playing, and weather conditions.

[via Gizmodo]

I'm serious. If you buy me this totally awesome R2-D2 with a DVD projector, iPod dock, MP3 player and a bunch of other awesome things, I will pay you back by doing chores around your home. I'll rake your carpet. I'll vacuum your lawn. I'll wash your kids and take your truck to the zoo. I'm not sure how much it costs, but can you really put a price on my happiness? Yes, you can: it's however much this R2-D2 thing costs. And it even comes with a Millennium Falcon remote.

"But, Adam," some of you might be saying, "I never agree with anything you write, why should I buy you this gadget?"

If that's the case, record yourself on a DVD complaining to me. Then send the DVD along with the R2-D2 DVD player thingy. I promise I will watch the DVD and respond to you*. Besides, when I watch the free DVDs studios occasionally send to me I need something better to watch them with than my regular old TV. Let's all work together to make this happen.

[via Boing Boing]

*"Watching the DVD" can mean looking at the disc without ever actually putting it in a DVD player.