Now you can 3D print your own Raspberry Pi-powered laptop

Pi Top
A tasty slice of open source DIY?

Ever fancied building your own laptop? Following the launch of the world's first 3D-printed laptop, which houses a Raspberry Pi micro-computer inside, that dream is now a reality.

The crowd-funded Pi-Top can now be ordered for £180 ($249) after its makers smashed their $80,000 funding target, raking in $128,000 at the time of writing. It doesn't come with a Raspberry Pi itself, however, so you'll have to pick one up separately for around £25 ($30).

Created by Oxford University engineering graduate Ryan Dunwoody and KCU Law graduate Jesse Lozano, the Pi-Top comes with files for printing a case using a 3D printer, along with a screen, keyboard, battery and other components. Additionally, an injection-moulded laptop case is included for those without the necessary machinery to create their own.

Its makers are pitching the Pi-Top as a starting point for people to learn how to build their own hardware projects using a Raspberry Pi, components and open source software.

Slow cooker

You can pre-order a Pi-Top kit via its Indiegogo page, but you'll have to wait until the kits are shipped in May 2015 to get your hands on them.

The Pi-Top first caught our attention back in September when its makers demonstrated the printing of a prototype Pi-Top case, a process that took around 160 hours to complete.

The news marks another tasty treat for Raspberry Pi fans following the launch of the new Raspberry Pi Model A+ board, a low-power, low-cost variant of the diminutive computer priced at $20 (£13, around AUS $25).

Kane Fulton
Kane has been fascinated by the endless possibilities of computers since first getting his hands on an Amiga 500+ back in 1991. These days he mostly lives in realm of VR, where he's working his way into the world Paddleball rankings in Rec Room.