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Kent was impatient at having his Chumby Guts laying loose on the table, so he took to the box that it came in. This is a good way to see what the casing process entails and considering what it will ultimately need before committing to a proper case. Think of it as a Chumby case sketch model. Some of the other possibilities we've heard are cigar box Chumby and Teletubby embedding (called either TeleChumby or ChumbyTubby). MAKE Flickr pool member Pauric posted a set of photos showing how he gutted his first gen Chumby and installed it in a nice wooden case.
How are your Chumby Guts doing? Post up some Chumby photos in the MAKE Flickr pool, and send us some tips in the comments.
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In the Maker Shed:
You guys are ripping people off selling kits for $139 when they can buy one that is put together, has all the same parts and is battery powered for $99. Nice guys.
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This kit is not the same as the ready-made version.
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Yes,
Buy a new, or used Chumby for $99.99!
Have the fun of tearing it apart.
or....
Buy the new Chumby Guts complete with instructions and build it up.
I tear things apart all the time and love it, some people are not as comfortable with the "hardware mining" as I am.
Taking a butter knife as a pry bar may be an option, but to really take apart something to re-purpose it may not be in every persons comfort zone.
I think the Chumby Guts from Maker Shed are a first time, DiY, win/win project, that is in the grasp of everyone.
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What I'm saying is why should a kit cost more than a finished product? Especially $39 more.
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Most likely due to the cost of parts. They may be the exact same parts as those found in the manufactured Chumby, but the kit parts are probably bought in much lower volume and assembled by hand, increasing the final price.
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Well, you're wrong. You aren't comparing the same things. You're comparing the Chumby guts to the Chumby One. They are not the same. Chumby One is is 99$, as a limited offer it seems, and they aren't actually shipping yet. Also it can take a battery but it doesn't come with one. You have to buy that separately.
The original Chumby is still 199$ (seems a lot though I must admit) so 139$ for a kit is a good price I think. The very fact that they even make it available is amazing. I can't think of many companies who do such a thing actually.
Also anyone buying the guts is likely to be a smart person and they will know what a Chumby is and what it's for and will most certainly know what it costs. If they make their own decision to buy one then that's their, informed, choice. I don't see how Maker Shed can be accused of ripping anyone off here.
I got a notification mine shipped the other day and I can't wait for it to arrive!
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If you don't want to go for the Chumby Guts kit, you can definitely find one to buy intact used. Hack it and make it the way you want. The one linked to on the post above http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauric/sets/72157600064752283/ shows one way of doing it.
What I see from building and boxing my Chumby Guts is that there are loads of ways to do it. This is an open question, one that everybody can answer differently. If you start with the box, like Kent did, you get to go through the process several times. Each time you build a kit like this you will learn a bit more about how things do and don't go together.
By sharing your photos like Kent and others in the MAKE Flickr pool, we can all learn from each other as we experiment.
When I was thinking of it, I figured the price was pretty good, and I didn't have to worry about wrecking some pristine object. You don't have to buy the Chumby Guts kit, and even if you don't, we'd be happy to see what you come up with. If you do get the kit, you too can wonder why they didn't include the two screws that hold the switch riser onto the speaker bar. I found some screws that fit, Kent didn't use the speaker bar at all, and ewee used electrical tape: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewee/sets/72157622726592624/ By having a collection of a bunch of people using the same set of parts in the kit, we can all inspire, support and help each other through the common issues of the project.
Make it your own!
Chris
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As Chris said:
"By having a collection of a bunch of people using the same set of parts in the kit, we can all inspire, support and help each other through the common issues of the project."
I had my "Guts" sent to work so I could get my hands on it during my one hour lunch break. I was able to plug all the parts together in a few minutes and had it up and running by the end of the break, and jumped when the Chumby talked to me. I did not expect it to work out of the box and yet it did, no programing no download, it talked to me.
The body for me is the hard part, making wiring is not.
So I hope to see more body configurations posted by all you guys and "inspire" us all....
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This reminds me of something I either read or heard, which said that Henry Ford would use the boxes that car parts (or perhaps materials?) came in to the assembly line, tear them down into planks, and use the planks as floorboards in his cars.
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