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PC TV?

I have a TV hanging on the wall of my kitchen. It’s nice, but it’s not a computer. How can I get a microcomputer glued to its back panel with Bluetooth connections to a keyboard and mouse? I was thinking about stripping down an old laptop, attaching its working parts to the back of the TV, and using a wireless mouse and keyboard with it. It would need Wi-Fi, as well as Windows.

—Gary Dent

THE DOCTOR RESPONDS: The problem with stripping down a laptop is that its parts have been custom designed for that specific model and manufacturer, and the case designed around it.

While some laptops are easier to disassemble than others—Google your manufacturer and model with the words ‘service manual’ to find a detailed manual— there’s still the question of what to do with the bespoke components inside. You won’t, for example, be able to rehouse them in a standard or mini form factor case; in fact, you’d almost certainly need to build your own custom case designed for the components you’ve plundered.

Long story short, the costs, expertise, and time involved in such a project—with no guarantee of success at the end of it—are prohibitive in the Doc’s eyes. Depending on the size of the TV and the strength of its mount to the wall, you could consider simply fixing the laptop behind it with the lid permanently closed.

If you go down this route, you’ll need to disable any power controls such as sleep or shutdown associated with closing the lid, plus configure it to ignore the built-in display in favor of the TV. Then pair an external wireless keyboard and mouse to it via Bluetooth and hey presto: a clunky, but working PC behind the TV.