DIY Couch Gaming Platform
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,571 words · ~7 min read
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are you a slave to the tyranny of uncomfortable desk chairs do you long
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for the freedom and comfort of couch gaming but are you plagued by uneven
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surfaces for your mouse and keyboard do the current Solutions either provide you
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with diminutive peripherals obviously designed by smaller than average gnomes
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that are unusable for your large mey man Paws or come with a price tag so
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exorbitant that you'd have to sell a kidney to purchase it well LTT has your
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back Plucky consumer in this short video
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we'll teach you fabrication secrets that
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the big gaming companies don't want you to know and help you build a gaming
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platform that will let you dominate noobs in Comfort while retaining each
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and every one of your sweet juicy organs
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if you haven't seen nerd Sports yet check it out all the episodes are
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available now for free over at youtube.com/ channelsuperfun let me
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introduce what our team of uncertified Engineers is referring to as the markv
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knee based peripheral support system or
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couchwood it features a conveniently located 10 keyless mechanical keyboard a
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large mouse pad for enhanced FPS gameplay a phone charging dock and a
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built-in beverage holder if you'd like to download the plans for this gaming
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platform or see a detailed step by step
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check it out at the link to the Forum in the video description so the first step
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of constructing this Marvel was to measure and cut out the top surface we
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wanted to ensure that we had a large enough play area for even low
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sensitivity Gamers since one of the objectives in building our own couch
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gaming platform was not just to save some money but also to fill some of the
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gaps that we saw in the design of the commercial products that we've reviewed
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there's a slightly smaller Bridge portion across your knees and then an
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equally large surface on the other side that serves as a counterweight and a
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convenient snack holder with that finished we immediately
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went into cutting and attaching the small wooden components that will hold
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your keyboard phone and beverage in place we chose to attach these fixtures
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right away for very technical reasons that I'm not going to bore you with and
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certainly not because uh long-term planning is one of the DIY team leaders
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personal development goals for 2017 that being said those of you at
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home who want to put this together might go for the cowards route of doing this
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step last so that you don't potentially damage the extruding pieces while
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attaching ing bulkier bottom components the exact positioning of the keyboard on
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the platform is pretty flexible it's totally up to you and this is by Design
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so you can arrange its location to be whatever is most comfortable for your
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right hand the large gangly limbs of the
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lead designer on this project uh dictated its current placement here but
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for the more fun-sized uh members of our staff you might prefer to have the
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keyboard and mouse a little bit closer together the two bottom boxes on either
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side exist to hide cabling and provide a measure of stability so that the surface
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doesn't uh tip around while you're using it we built these out of 2x4s for a
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solid weighty body but if you're afraid that your frail and feeble thighs can't
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handle that sort of intensity you can really choose any materials you want a
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1x3 would work just as well once all the
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Wood Construction is complete make it beautiful we went with a dark Dusky hue
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applied in smooth even tones to
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accentuate the natural beauty of the uh
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plywood but uh just make sure that you drill your holes for your cables before
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you apply your wood stain or you will be forced to go back again and do touch-ups
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again thinking we're pretty good at thinking ahead well there's a reason
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they call them smart goals right once your woodstain is dried you can lock
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down your peripherals the mouse pad is attached firmly to the surf surface and
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to avoid the aggravation of the bumpiness that would normally result
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from gluing it down we opted to use screws and washers in the corners our
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keyboard of choice was a Corsair K65 but
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the couchwood is also capable of accommodating larger models if that's
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what you're into or really pretty much anything by gluing the wrist rest in
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place you'll not only saave off the eventual onset of carpal tunnel syndrome
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and maybe splinters in your wrist but you'll also stop the keyboard itself
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from sliding around a USB hub on the underside of the surface provides
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connections for the keyboard mouse and phone charger and once you have the
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cabling all locked into place you can screw the bottom boxes into the top
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surface to keep all that nonsense out of sight now naturally you wouldn't want to
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rest this on your knees for an extended period of time as is so you'll want to
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add some sort of cushioning to the underside anything goes here but we
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opted to attach a half cylindrical foam exercise roller as it provided the
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gentle firmness and soft support of a compassionate
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lover Okay Tyler uh we're going to have to talk about your
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scripts um and if you've had a passing flirtation with yoga the odds of you
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having one of these lying around or something like it are pretty good
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although if the only downward facing dog that you know about is Snoopy then you
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can order one off Amazon at the link in the video description so at this point then it's
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time for us to attach a 10t USB cord to the platform and get to gaming so in the
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end the couch would cost us $138 in materials to put together though
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it should be noted that 75 of it went
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directly towards the K65 mechanical
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gaming keyboard so by using a budget
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keyboard or simply one that you already own the cost of this project can be
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comfortably kept under 70 bucks in
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comparison the Sova retails at 185 the
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lap dog at 135 with no keyboard and the
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Razer turret at 120 with a keyboard and mouse that I wouldn't consider
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acceptable for gaming either of them so all told then the construction process
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took just under 4 hours split into 2 days to allow for the wood stain to dry
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and while it's weighty the couchwood sits comfortably on your knees and the
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large surface provided a full range of
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mouse movement as well as a lot of flexibility because building it yourself
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you don't have to do it this way you could put the keyboard over here which
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is probably what I would do you could shorten the drink holder and the snack
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holder you could make the mouse pad smaller and that's something that an
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off-the-shelf solution just can't do
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while it lacks the ability to be tucked you know neatly out of sight for a more
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discreet look in the living room all told it's a sturdy enough Battleship of
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a platform that can accommodate a full gaming experience so if that's what
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you're after well it can be done for just a few bucks have you heard of using
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a VPN to browse the internet but never really gotten around to looking into it
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well you don't have to because with tunnel bear using a VPN is as simple as
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heading over to Tunnel Bear's website Linked In the video description the
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download even like starts automatically so you just install it and boom that's
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it with tunnel bear turned on once you press the little button your internet
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connection is secured and to the websites and services that you use
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online you appear as though you are a different person from an entirely
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different country tunnel bear also has a top rated privacy policy and does not
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log your activity and if you kind of want to go ah you know could this
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possibly be as simple as he says you don't quite take my word for it that's
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fine because all you got to do is head over to tunnel bear.com and try it with
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the first 500 megabytes for free then
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you can save 10% if you decide to go unlimited at the link in the video
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description so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do
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but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff that we
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featured at Amazon in the video description also linked down there is
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our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community Forum
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which me drink some of this water which you should totally join now
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that you're done doing all that stuff you're probably wondering what to watch next so maybe check out the reviews on
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the commercial lapboard products that we'll have linked uh up there I hope