2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: NEC 286 Laptop Rides Again

What happened

2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: NEC 286 Laptop Rides Again, according to Hackaday. The sad reality is that all consumer electronics are going to be e-waste eventually. [Cory Whitesell] was determined his old NEC ProSpeed 286 Laptop wouldn’t meet that fate until absolutely necessary, so when his attempts at repairs failed, his efforts pivoted to create a retro battlestation from the stylish old machine .

That screen looks too good to be stock, but otherwise you can’t tell from this angle. Externally, it looks pretty well stock, and [Cory] has retained as much of the internals as possible.

The original power supply remains intact, with power taken off the original HDD’s molex connector. Said power drives a Raspberry Pi, which is small enough to fit inside without any gutting.