Starting my ultra-portable PC project (PCp?) update Nov 26th

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 6:34 am

How are you going to see the screen? You should see if you can because the resolution isn't all that great.

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:52 am

640 X 480 isn't too hard to read...

Some control panels for some video cards let you go down even lower than that. (Man, this makes me wish I had a PSone screen

)

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:56 am

Are you sure the resolution is that good. If it is and it is easy to make a vga adapter for it I may be making a new screen for my old desktop.

Then I would have more space on my desk.

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:00 am

Some mobos can output composite or s-video, such as laptop boards or mini-itx-es. (sadly, my pc can't do that, so I had to get a converter box.)

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:58 am

I didn't think of using composite. I should go to a used computer store and get like an 8 mb video card (it would go in my old pc that has 2 mb video) then hack the audio out on the pc to go to the screen.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:08 pm

Stick a GB magnifying glass above the screen. It distorts a little bit, but makes it a lot bigger.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:17 pm

I hated those magnifiers, and the little light deals.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:28 pm

Yeah, GBC was the king of cheap gimmick junk (say that ten times fast!).

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:04 pm

I said it like 'cheap jimmick junk' the first time I tried, I'm so pathetic.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 3:07 pm

vskid wrote:Are you sure the resolution is that good. If it is and it is easy to make a vga adapter for it I may be making a new screen for my old desktop. Then I would have more space on my desk.

Keep in mind you have change the output of the VGA using PowerStrip in Windows, or changing X11 settings in Linux to 15kHz horizontal refresh rate to use the screen off a VGA port. Looks rather nice from what I've heard on mp3car.com forums. 640x480 on a 15" monitor doesn't look very good, but on a 5" screen it looks amazing, due to the fact the pixels are smaller and closer to together the smaller the screen is.

SgtBowhack wrote:
Unidentified Assilant wrote:Instead of a horizontial approach, go vertical (ala Gameboy), put the screen at the top, the controller below that and then have a USB port at the bottom where the keyboard can plug in or something, thats what I may do if I do a portable pc.
Yes. That's what I said about half a dozen posts up (but in a much less succinct manner). Good to know someone else thinks that's a good idea though

I considered vertical, but didn't really like the idea.

nos_slived wrote:You should have the mobo and stuff inside a box with a flip up locking lid, then mount the screen on the top of the lid, and have a solid connector from the controller to the box so you can hold the whole thing up by the controller. Then you could have the keyboard on hinges, mounted upside down inside the case, and when you need it, flip up the lid, flip the keyboard out and use it. Hey, I just thought, you could mount the keyboard right to the connector between the controler and case.

If I'm reading what you said right, that would be huge. The motherboard is 8"x7.75", and a 15.5" x 8" open handheld would be rather hard to handle. However, it does give me some ideas, I could have the keyboard under the screen, and then have the screen tilt forward and slide back to reveal the keyboard. Tilting forward the screen would be great for video viewing (one of the main uses I plan).

SgtBowhack · Post by **SgtBowhack** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 3:44 pm

Honestly, I don't see how you're gonna get away with it not being vertical. The motherboard and its heatsink is going to limit you greatly as to what you can do with shape and still have it reasonably comfortable to hold.
I think the sliding screen would be an amazing idea if you could get it working. I'm looking forward to see what you come up with. If you have any concept drawings, might be cool to put up.

Unidentified Assilant · Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:43 am

640x480 looks bad on a 15" monitor... and I tried 320x200 on a 19" Monitor!

My new Graphics card supports 320x200 up to 2048x1600 (which is too big)

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:25 pm

I've just hit my first major snag on this project, two critical connectors are out of stock at Digi-Key.com, which the only place I know to find them. Probably going to delay the project a bit.

Unless, of course, someone happens to know where I can find a 8-pin and 16-pin 2mm (.087") IDC crimp-on connectors.

FDSMAN · Post by **FDSMAN** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:32 pm

you could use this for the cd rom
http://www.electronicsplaza101.com/elec ... 27989.html

and this for the floppy drive

http://www.epinions.com/Floppy_Drives-- ... ir_att__~1

hope you can now make it

and if you get it done, can you please make a how-to?

FDSMAN · Post by **FDSMAN** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:13 pm

sorry for double posting but the first website has better prices if you go back and click on floppy dirves