Homemade Laptop

[ZN13]

I am going to try and build a laptop, one to rival Asus' 200$ laptop.

So ill probaly have a few questions and post my progress here.

To start the Q&(hopefully)A, a CF card can replace a hard drive, right?

[marshallh]

Yes, until you exceed 100,000 write cycles and the memory decays permanently. Which will only take a few months of heavy use with hard-disk based operating systems.

Try a ramdisk-based OS like DSL or Puppy Linux.

[ZN13]

That's what I was planning on using DSL(if by "DSL" you mean "Dang Small Linux")

So would it work if I just plugged in a CF card instead of an ATA 100 drive? I know it's probally a stupid question but I dont know that much about computer hardware.

[Dr. KillGood]

Just get a small laptop HDD you can find them cheep on ebay probably. It will be bigger than any ramdisk HDD.

[ZN13]

Well i really dont want to use a HDD because, correct me if im wrong, consume more power than a CF card.

[vskid]

Well i really dont want to use a HDD because, correct me if im wrong, consume more power than a CF card.

Yep, they do, they're also more fragile, so CF card based is better if its going to take some abuse. You'll need an adapter for ATA to CF, you could make your own if you want.

What are you using as a motherboard? Thats the most deciding factor when making a computer.

[ZN13]

I was going to use a Biostar but I noticed it was open box, so I found This Foxconn. The Foxconn is a lot pricier so ill keep looking.

Any suggestions would be nice.

EDIT: I kept looking and found a nice combo deal with this MoBo and this Processor. The combo price is 60$, nice.

[vskid]

I was going to use a Biostar but I noticed it was open box, so I found This Foxconn. The Foxconn is a lot pricier so ill keep looking.

Any suggestions would be nice.

Um, thats not likely to fit on any but the largest laps. Check out this place for small board/cpu combos. If you simply must use a full sized motherboard, get a Micro ATX board. Its pretty much an ATX board cut down to roughly a square.

EDIT: The one in your edit is a Micro ATX, so its a better pick than the others as far as size.

[ZN13]

The edit was probaly to late, but it is a micro ATX.

And I've looked at the Mini ITX boards before, and it's way too much for my 15-year-old-jobless-budget. I had a job, but quit. So the moral is, to pricey.

[ZN13]

EDIT: The one in your edit is a Micro ATX, so its a better pick than the others as far as size.

And Price

Does a CF card plug into an IDE? If so the board comes with an IDE/PATA cable. If that's not the case, then where could I get instructions or information for an adapter?

I know these are probally really stupid question, but like I said, I don't really know much about Hardware.

[myuusmeow]

Does a CF card plug into an IDE? If so the board comes with an IDE/PATA cable. If that's not the case, then where could I get instructions or information for an adapter?

Since then I have also learned more about CompactFlash cards, specifically that the wire up just like an IDE hard drive. Thus, an "IDE to CompactFlash" adapter is pointless. So I wired everything directly to a CompactFlash slot, as shown below. Coincidently, this slot came off the TV I used for the last Atari laptop.

So it sorta does I guess?

[ZN13]

So lot's of fun wiring! Yippee!

So I need a CF card slot...or can it just plug in to the IDE cable

*Crosses fingers and hopes*

[Dr. KillGood]

You could get like a CF card reader and hack it up for what you needed?

[ZN13]

Im afraid it might come to that, but that's quite a few wires...

On the subject of CF cards, does anyone know how to install DSL onto a CF card. I searched the wiki and could only find info on USB drives and Frugal install. Is it the same method?

And is the C compiler still included?

[Felino]

Er, like a normal HDD man, google it...