I'm wondering if it might be possible, at some time in the future, for the X16 team to make a laptop version of the X16 powered by AA batteries like the similar models of the 80s. It seems to me that it should be possible to do so, especially with the gen 3 model. I think it'd be a grand thing.
Maybe a little red LED somewhere on the deck or screen bezel to tell the user that their laptop needs a change of batteries.
Just a thought.
X16 laptop?
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ahenry3068
- Posts: 1134
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Re: X16 laptop?
Not a laptop but I'm doing this..
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Re: X16 laptop?
Yeah, that's something that could be easily accomplished with the smaller size of the Gen-2 or Gen-3 board. Especially the Gen-3 board. It might even be possible (with some minor tweaks) to fit that into one of the Raspberry Pi based laptops, like the PiTop or the CrowPi L.encw wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 10:04 pm I'm wondering if it might be possible, at some time in the future, for the X16 team to make a laptop version of the X16 powered by AA batteries like the similar models of the 80s. It seems to me that it should be possible to do so, especially with the gen 3 model. I think it'd be a grand thing.
Maybe a little red LED somewhere on the deck or screen bezel to tell the user that their laptop needs a change of batteries.
Just a thought.
Personally, I've been thinking of something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Maxfree-K3-Mecha ... B0CGCNTJNY
I like the super-wide screen, and I've been pondering building a text-only UI that would work well on a screen like that.
Re: X16 laptop?
1920:720 is 8:3, which mean it could fit two 4:3 displays side by side.
Re: X16 laptop?
That K3's a bit interesting, it reminds of me of a very modernized version of the Tandy Model 102 (that is, if the K3 had an actual processor inside). My eyes have gotten to old for that kind of small screen, so as long as an external monitor could still be attached.
I've wondered if an X16 could be retrofitted back into a Compaq SLT 286 case (which also has a PS2 and VGA port, so it may be easier to retrofit). Might even use its internal VGA (but grayscale only; the external pins could be a color display).
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threa ... iew.76067/
Not sure if it can fit a PR production board, but definitely an Otter-sized board.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of battery life ahenry ends up with, with the system and screen running off that.
I've wondered if an X16 could be retrofitted back into a Compaq SLT 286 case (which also has a PS2 and VGA port, so it may be easier to retrofit). Might even use its internal VGA (but grayscale only; the external pins could be a color display).
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threa ... iew.76067/
Not sure if it can fit a PR production board, but definitely an Otter-sized board.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of battery life ahenry ends up with, with the system and screen running off that.
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ahenry3068
- Posts: 1134
- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2023 9:57 pm
Re: X16 laptop?
Very good battery life off the USB Pack powering the X16 board (>6 hrs).
Acceptable battery life on the Invertor (powering the monitor and Bluetooth Transmitter) but I could have hoped for better. Approaching 3 hrs with a 4ah Ryobi battery driving it. I'm going to look into opening the monitor and bypassing the AC.
Re: X16 laptop?
All that's missing is an LED countdown timer that stops at 1 second.
Re: X16 laptop?
I still really like my Lenovo Ideapad 100e (Gen 1) when it comes to the hardware design and its size, because it has several exceptional features for such a cheap device (paid $260 CAD for it new 4 years ago).
What I Like:
- Solid plastic chassis that doesn't flex anywhere. Built like a tank!
- Rounded corners and edges make it friendly to carry, hold, and type on.
- Mostly normal sized keyboard that is pretty nice to type on for a laptop (especially a cheap one).
- 10+ hours of battery life (Celeron n3450 and a poor 1366x768 screen probably helped there).
- Real mouse buttons!
Given the low volume, it would be too expensive to contract a company like Clevo to build them. However, I think it's within the bounds of reason to find existing hinges, screens, and keyboards to combine with a resin printed chassis to make a durable X16 laptop. Custom pad printed laptop keys would be awesome, but label stickers would be fine.
Anyway, I agree it would be neat to have an "all in one" X16 in the form of a laptop, with all the benefits of that size, shape, and form. As an end-user of just X16 software, I would totally prefer this over a desktop machine.
What I Like:
- Solid plastic chassis that doesn't flex anywhere. Built like a tank!
- Rounded corners and edges make it friendly to carry, hold, and type on.
- Mostly normal sized keyboard that is pretty nice to type on for a laptop (especially a cheap one).
- 10+ hours of battery life (Celeron n3450 and a poor 1366x768 screen probably helped there).
- Real mouse buttons!
Given the low volume, it would be too expensive to contract a company like Clevo to build them. However, I think it's within the bounds of reason to find existing hinges, screens, and keyboards to combine with a resin printed chassis to make a durable X16 laptop. Custom pad printed laptop keys would be awesome, but label stickers would be fine.
Anyway, I agree it would be neat to have an "all in one" X16 in the form of a laptop, with all the benefits of that size, shape, and form. As an end-user of just X16 software, I would totally prefer this over a desktop machine.
Re: X16 laptop?
I still say someone on this project should contact Framewok. If we can get a version of Phase 2 or Phase 3 motherboards to work with the 16" chassis, it would mean that it would work with the monitor without the need for interpolation. The only things it would need would be 3mm speaker/headphone jack(s) Super NES 7 pin controller jacks, and possibly user Port breakout dongle, preferably through the SNAC protocol.