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

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:29 pm

Use the edit button.

cennar · Post by **cennar** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:36 pm

never Edit: Ever!

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:54 pm

LOL

. Stonners are HI-LARIOUS! Seriously

.

FDSMAN · Post by **FDSMAN** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:12 pm

so what are you going to do about power? as in long term usage

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:40 pm

FDSMAN wrote:so what are you going to do about power? as in long term usage

Considering either one of those large capacity Sony InfoLithium or a PSOne battery. It'll be able to run from an AC adapter at the very least if want to use it and the batteries are dead/low. It may not be able to charge it's own battery, though.

FDSMAN · Post by **FDSMAN** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:21 pm

hey! you could use this to hold the cd rom and the floppy,has to be slim though , i guess it would strengthen the case http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 59578&rd=1

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:24 pm

Small update, since I found out that to get the connectors I need from Digi-Key, I have to meet a minimum order of 1,500 pieces, I decided to look for alternate sources. I managed to find the online store for Advantech (maker of the main board I'm using), and ordered the wiring kit for a compatable (hopefully) model of motherboard.

I'm not sure if the kit has USB though. If it doesn't, I may cram in a small USB 2.0 card on a 90 degree PCI riser card.

May be a while before it gets here, as it may be shipping from Taiwan.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Tue May 10, 2005 2:57 pm

Still no ship notification on the cable set, sent them an email today, and hopefully I'll hear something back soonish.

Edit:
Got a reply:

Dear Sir,

Your order is currently on back order for shipping on 5/19/05.

Regards,

Cliff

Gah. 9 more days...

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Fri May 13, 2005 12:59 am

As soon as I get digital camera I'll have some new pics. I made a non-functional prototype out of cardboard. Revised some of the design. Hands-on with the prototype helped hammer out some things (like the layout of the buttons for the mouse/trackpoint).

Problem is how to incorporate the keypad... not really usable in the center. If I used a vertical layout, I could use it just fine, but the way things are, it'd put a fair bit of weight on the wrists.I could use it rotated, and just type sideways, as I've done with my Zaurus when I had it. A big kludge, but workable. I may swap it out for a larger keyboard, though, as there's a small-ish PS2 keyboard that might just fit inside the case without making it much bigger.

I decided not too use the gamepad in the first picture, too much circuitry all over the place, so no remotely easy way to tear it into parts to redistribute. I think I may go with some resistors (what the older PC joysticks/gamepads are in reality) and a PC joystick to USB adapter.

As far as optical drives, I think I may only use them to install games, which means I won't need them very often, so I'll just network it to my main rig. I haven't used floppies in years, so a floppy drive is a non-issue.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:47 pm

Score!

I found at Wal-Mart a 5400mAh 9V Li-Ion cell, intended for portable DVD players, on clearance for about $30. These things used to be about $80! To add to the sweet score, I found a pretty nice 48 hard-shell CD holder that is the right size to hold the guts of my uPC for $20!

madc0w · Post by **madc0w** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:26 pm

NICE!!!!! thats a great deal on a battery. whats your battery life gonna be???

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Tue May 17, 2005 9:01 pm

Not sure yet, but I just ran the screen for over an hour, and it only took the battery down one bar (out of five), so I'm guessing at least an hour for everything, probably closer to two. Three if I'm really lucky. I could be overestimating power consumption, though.

I'm probably going to LED mod the LCD, not for power consumption, but for heat. The screen got farily warm when I had it enclosed and running in the prototype cardboard case.

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Wed May 18, 2005 2:24 am

thats retty good

Unidentified Assilant · Wed May 18, 2005 11:30 am

good luck, I'm getting hints from you!

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Wed May 18, 2005 9:57 pm

Sweet! Shipping notice on the wiring harness today! My Ultra-Portable could be coming together real soon.