If you've been agonizing about whether to get a Playstation 4 or an Xbox One, there may now a third way. A modder by the name of Edward Zarick has crammed both consoles into one portable machine. The PlayBox is the laptop of every gamer's dreams.
Zarick has previously created separate portable Playstation 4 and Xbox One laptops called, respectively, the Playbook 4 and the Xbook One. He's also produced what he called the Xbook Duo, which is an Xbox 360 and Xbox One hybrid laptop. His most recent creation, however, trumps all of those.
The PlayBox was created at the request of a customer, Zarick explains on his website. It fits a Playstation 4 and an Xbox One into a laptop form factor, with a chunky base to contain the guts and a 22-in Vizio screen. The components for the two consoles are kept apart, with the Playstation installed on the left and the Xbox on the right. It only uses one power cord, however, and only one of the consoles can be powered on at a time by way of a switch at the rear.
"I use a smart HDMI splitter that allows the system to automatically select the input on its own, then sends that information to a HDMI splitter so you can use the internal 22-in screen, or your own big screen using the HDMI out on the back," Zarick tells Gizmag. "There is also a PCB that is custom designed by me inside that controls the screen's power and volume buttons."
Elsewhere, the PlayBox has working ethernet ports and Wi-Fi for both consoles. Zarick couldn't find a way to extend the USB ports of the Xbox to the outside of the case and he says the capacitive power button of the Playstation is a little temperamental due to interference from the Xbox. The device turns on with no problems using the controller, however, and other than those two issues it's reported to work faultlessly.
"There is no part of the PlayBox I would change," Zarick says. "I'm not too sure if there would be any other way to get all of those components to fit in there, plus I believe it is one of the best built units I have ever made. I'm proud of it and wouldn’t change a thing."
The PlayBox project was started in December last year and took about a month to complete. According to Zarick, that included about three weeks of tinkering and reconfiguring to just fit all the components in. "Lets just say that every part in there is in its specific place for a specific reason," he says. "It may look like a complicated mess, but I assure you it is not."
In the video below, Zarick provides an overview of the project.
Source: Edward Zarick