Dreamcast Laptop

THON · Post by **THON** » Mon May 28, 2007 4:14 pm

Hi everyone,

I have a Dreamcast and a Gamecube (the Gamecube is about to get worthless to me because of the Wii's backward compatibility). I want to start my first portable, and after weeks of thought, I decided to make a Dreamcast Laptop. Why you might ask? In my wholesome opinion, it is the perfect system to become a laptop (besides the C64 DTV); it has internet capability (sorta), and a mouse and keyboard. It's also relatively small. I realize all of this is available for the ps2, but I don't want to go out and buy a slim one.

Anyway, I've been reading about how to run it off of batteries, but none of the posts have really helped me. I understand I need to use a Gamecube PSU, but how would I connect it to the Dreamcast? And afterwards what would I do? Pictures are much appreciated!

Thank you

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Mon May 28, 2007 4:40 pm

What do you mean how do you connect it to the dc? Just take out the dc psu and replace it with the gc one then hook up the batteries to where the 18 or 12 volts or whatever it is would go to in the psu.

THON · Post by **THON** » Mon May 28, 2007 5:22 pm

Sounds simple enough, could someone please draw me or show me a diagram of where I would connect the batteries?

-=FamilyGuy=- · Post by **-=FamilyGuy=-** » Mon May 28, 2007 8:21 pm

looking at your Dreamcast with the controller pcb in front of you, the psu pins are from left to right :

3.3v ; 5v ; Ground ; Ground ; Ground ; 12v

Ground pins can be bridged

3.3v can be feed with 3v and it works fine (i did it with my picopsu)

-=FamilyGuy=-

THON · Post by **THON** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:26 am

Sorry, I'm a complete noob at things like this (I just started practicing soddering). Are you telling me I connect the 3.3 to a couple AA batteries? What do you mean by bridged?

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:57 am

2 AA's would work, but they wouln't last too long.

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:57 am

Sorry, doublepost...

Post by **Sparkfist** » Wed May 30, 2007 2:28 pm

It's suggested that you use the RC 7.2v 3000mA batteries, by setting them up in series and going into the PSU. The only other way to go is to use a Li-ion battery, however if you go that way you should use a different PSU, namely one that has a voltage step-up so you can take the lower voltage and step it up to 12 volts.

AAs are not bad but they don't have a high capacity. Something like a Dreamcast will consume about 1 amp an hour and then take into account the weight of the batteries to give you at least an hour of play. Best to use the Cs that are in the RC 7.2v 3000mA pack, at the least. Again Li-ion would be a good choice but requires a whole different PSU.