Homemade Tablet PC Progress Thread. ***UPDATED***

[HotDog-Cart]

Bic, is there anyway I could do it like that guy said? Just copy the files to a flash drive or something, and then put the flashdrive to the top of the bootlist? (To make your pc boot the files on the flashdrive?)

I dont wanna dish out money for a usb cddrive

[Kurt_]

That guy says search google, it's the first result:

http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/instal ... thumb.html

[bicostp]

I dont wanna dish out money for a usb cddrive

You don't have to. Just get a USB to IDE adapter and use a regular internal CD drive. We got one about a year ago (the same as the one in the link, actually) and it's worked with just about everything. Just make sure you plug the power in before connecting the USB end of the cable.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... &CatId=470
Here's one for about 20 Canadian dollars and has accomodations for laptop and normal size IDE connectors.

EDIT: Or do what Kurt said.

[HotDog-Cart]

Kurt: Would this method work off a 1gb thumbdrive or 2gb MP3/Mp4 Player?

Thanks.

[bicostp]

You could use a 1 gig thumbdrive for the installation; a full XP setup disc is only about 700 MB. You might have to format it, though, so you probably wouldn't want to use your MP3 player.

EDIT: I tried an Eee at the local BJ's (it's like Costco or Sam's Club). It's definitely an okay small machine, but I wouldn't pay $300 for it. They keyboard's a little small, but I managed to type "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" a few times with relatively few errors. The trackpad was a little unresponsive to tapping, though it was a floor model and could have been abused. Despite its size, the screen was very readable and the dot pitch was comfortable, though like I said 800x480 isn't enough, especially when 90% of websites out there are designed for 1024x768. If the new one comes with the 1280x600 screen (or whatever it is), has between 8 and 12 gigs of flash storage, has more powerful hardware, and costs between $350 and $450 I might consider one someday. (Components only get cheaper...) But as it stands now, I wouldn't pay more than $200 for one, and that's a bit of a stretch. There, now you can't accuse me of not trying one.


Let me tell ya, it really gave me some Powerbook Duo flashbacks, even though the Duos never had screens that low-res.

[HotDog-Cart]

Well bic. Maybe you'll like the tablet version I'll make. No small keyboard (No keyboard at all, Just an "onscreen" keyboard.) No Unresponsive mouse (As it will be running a touch screen and stylus. )

Bigger screen (Not by much.)

Can an 8inch support 1024x768? If not, whats the minimum size of a screen that will support 1024x768?

(Also, I think the 8inch is a widescreen.)

[Kurt_]

You did look at the site I sent you, the one on the Eee modding. Are you sure anything bigger than a 7" will fit in there? You'd have to move/remove the speakers at the very least.

[HotDog-Cart]

Kurt, I think I mentioned: (Sorry if I didnt.)
That Im totally taking off the monitor and monitor case from the computer. and making my own case for the 8inch monitor.

Im doing that because:

1)The 8inch touchscreen is pretty thick compared to the current monitor on the EEEpc. (Like, Its about a thick as 2 cased eeepc monitors. So its pretty dam thick compared to the one in the case right now, so I cant really switch them monitors.)

2)I dont want my new tablet to really look like the current eeepc. I want to go with my own case for design reasons.

But guys, you never know. When I actually get the touchscreen and the EEEpc, I may have some way of putting the touchscreen into the eeepc's case, without making it look weird. So this design concept is all in the air right now.

Like, I could keep the tablet in a modified version of the EEEpc case (modifed as the screen will be thicker, and there will be no mouse or keyboard), or completly make a new case. OR mix the eeepc case, with another case to make a frankencase. (I'd make sure the frankencase would look pretty decent.)

[tom61]

Can an 8inch support 1024x768? If not, whats the minimum size of a screen that will support 1024x768?

(Also, I think the 8inch is a widescreen.)

It depends on the LCD itself. There are screens smaller than the EEE's screen with much higher resolutions. The Sony UX-180 has something like 1280x768 res 5 inch display. The screen was so small that I could barely tap on threads on these forums with a stylus when I was playing with one at Staples.

As for my personal preference, I'd go for an 8.9" widescreen at 1024x600, or 1024x768 4:3 8" or 9".

[HotDog-Cart]

Hmm alright. Well it seems I can "aquire" XP off my girlfreinds dad.

Which means I can FINALLY delete vista and put XP on. (I have my driver disc. *phew*)

Some questions:

1)Where can I get ntlite?
2)How do I use ntlite to "slim" down the XP installation? (Like do I run the XP installation and then ntlite will pop up? or Run ntlite first have it cut down on the xp installation?)
3)Any tips on what I should delete from the XP?

Thanks.

[Kurt_]

You can get rid of:

(Browsing through control panel)

Accessibility options, the built-in games (If you haven't developed a taste for solitaire or minesweeper from them), Automatic Updates if you can (God I hate those), Network Setup Wizard, Phone and Modem Options, Text-To-Speech.

[vskid]

1)Where can I get ntlite?
2)How do I use ntlite to "slim" down the XP installation? (Like do I run the XP installation and then ntlite will pop up? or Run ntlite first have it cut down on the xp installation?)

1. Google, its really not hard to find.
2. You install nlite (its nlite, not ntlite), then you run it and tell it where the XP setup files are (copy the files on the disc to your hard drive), then you remove the stuff you don't want. The changes are applied directly to the files, so then you just copy those to your flash drive.

[HotDog-Cart]

Hey guys. Question: How can I dual boot on my pc?

I want to boot XP and Vista.

Vista is already installed on my 150gb hdd. I want to give vista 40gb, and Xp 110gb.

How do I do this? Just go to install XP, Create a new partition, and set my HDD to give XP 110gb, and leave the other 40 for vista?

Which brings the quetsion. In the installation of XP, how do I set my HDD to give XP 110gb, and leave 40gb to the vista thats already installed?

[bicostp]

First off, back everything up.

To keep the existing Vista installation, you will have to resize its partition. I've had hit-or-miss results when resizing NTFS partitions, and you're going to need a Live CD with something like Partition Magic or cfdisk.

You could start off the XP disc, delete the Vista partition, then use the partition manager on the XP disc to make a 100 gig partition to install on. Worry about the 40 gig one later.

However, the safest thing to do by far, as long as we're talking about a desktop PC, is to add a second hard drive. Unplug your Vista drive, plug the XP drive in, and treat it like it's the only hard drive. Then hook the Vista drive back up and edit its boot.ini file to give you a menu that will boot XP off the second hard drive. (I forget exactly how to do this; look it up.)

Make sure you have an installation CD, since some OEMs just give you a recovery CD, you have a valid Windows cd key, and the install disc has at least Service Pack 1a integrated. (Slipstream SP2 onto it if you have to.) I have a Windows XP version 2002 (no service packs ) install CD and it couldn't deal with partitions bigger than about 50 gigs.

[HotDog-Cart]

Just ONE problem bic. Its a laptop. I cant de-mount the drives. I never got a CD with my laptop. All I got was vista pre-installed and a vista home premium key on the bottom.

What would I need if I want to reinstall vista in the future? A vista OEM disc? A Vista Home Premium?

I dont NEED vista. yet I'd like to keep it.