Just an idea of mine....

Skiggy · Post by **Skiggy** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:02 pm

Hi, I had a new idea for a portable and I just want to ask a question before putting it to action. Is it possible to reinforce the circuit boards of a console with like foam or something to absorb impact from a drop?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:07 pm

Absolutely. But there are better less space consuming ways to go about this, such as pulling a Nintendo and leaving an empty space in between the board and the case. Air conducts force less than foam. Alternatively, you could make a carrying case. I just got a box that was used to ship something over to me, and put some nice squishy foam in there, and tightly packed my SNESp away in there. I purposely dropped in on the concrete when someone asked if it actually did anything. It survived unscathed. I wasn't even hesitant about dropping it. I KNEW it would be safe.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:55 pm

I'm sure most consoles that use cartridges are fairly safe, since they have no moving parts and old stuff was built tougher (usually). Its usually the disc drives and hard drives that are the ones that fail under stress.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:47 pm

I have to agree, if the console system is a cartridge based one, there is no need to have the motherboard protected from shock. The only thing you'd want to do is ensure that the cartridge is not in a position to be knocked out of the slot or otherwise misaligned to the slot's pins.

If you're going with something that is disc based, what I would suggest is put better absorbers between the CD/Disc drive and whatever it's sitting on. The PSone uses little rubber cylinders, and they work nice for when it's a console, but they lack the give for when you're moving it around. Other then that, only thing I can say is don't go out jogging with it otherwise.

Mikeyman64 · Post by **Mikeyman64** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:14 pm

vskid wrote:I'm sure most consoles that use cartridges are fairly safe, since they have no moving parts and old stuff was built tougher (usually). Its usually the disc drives and hard drives that are the ones that fail under stress.

True, although I do remember a time when someone knocked the phone base/charger from the 4' counter and I had to re-solder a capacitor because the contact was ripped off from the force. Nice, Panasonic phones too.

khaag · Post by **khaag** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:33 pm

Kurt_ wrote:I just got a box that was used to ship something over to me, and put some nice squishy foam in there, and tightly packed my SNESp away in there.

I do believe that the foam was already in there...