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Building a Handheld PC

bytewelder.com

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Re: Building a Handheld PC

#11

Post by _Microft »

Since PCB manufacturing has become super cheap, they could consider having a custom L- or U-shaped custom PCB around the battery box that serves no other purpose than routing signals and power to where they are needed and solder the different boards directly onto that. That would also allow to place supports for this large PCB where they are convenient instead of having to separately mount each of these small PCBs to the case.

With less cables in the way, they might get better airflow in the case as well.

Edit: I guesstimated the size and think that they could get five pieces of such a board for less than 20€, including delivery.

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#12

Post by Grazester »

beebmam wrote: post #9
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

Raspberry Pis are accessible, in your opinion? There's been a deep shortage for years.

I was able to get one last summer. Since then it has been even easier to get, albeit this was from Germany and it was not marked up in price but from a standard electronics retailer

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#14

Post by detrites »

amelius wrote: post #7
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

It's super cool, but at the same time for many folks an iPad Mini with/without external keyboard would be a more adequate solution considering processing power.

I don't think so. It could be very tricky to modify an iPad mini sufficiently to become a piece of custom hardware that you're prototyping. Except in the case you were prototyping an iPad mini itself, which of course would be child's play.

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#15

Post by jstanley »

amelius wrote: post #7
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

It's super cool, but at the same time for many folks an iPad Mini with/without external keyboard would be a more adequate solution considering processing power.

This sort of comment is actually a rather obscure compliment.

If you make something that's obviously shoddy, nobody confuses it for a serious product. Nobody is telling grandma that her knitting isn't as practical as a waterproof jacket from J. Random Outdoorswear Company. Nobody is telling the electronics newbie that a blinking LED isn't actually of any use to anyone. Everybody has nothing but positive encouragement.

But if you start to make actually really good stuff, requiring an enormous amount of skill and experience, you instead get "cool, but actually not quite as good as the nearest commercial competitor".

If you're so good at your hobby that people are comparing you to the literal state of the art, you're doing something right.

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#16

Post by squarefoot »

Grazester wrote: post #12
beebmam wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raspberry Pis are accessible, in your opinion? There's been a deep shortage for years.

I was able to get one last summer. Since then it has been even easier to get, albeit this was from Germany and it was not marked up in price but from a standard electronics retailer

Someone eventually manages to buy a RPi, but you were that lucky one as the RPis are still almost unobtanium almost everywhere. However, a RPi is just the most famous and heavily advertised one among the many Linux capable embedded boards out there, therefore pretty much every project using one can be converted to a similar board from another vendor.

Some alternatives:

https://mangopi.org/mcorer818

https://banana-pi.org/en/core-board-and-kit/

https://pine64.com/product-category/compute-and-ai-modules/

etc.

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#17

Post by simonjgreen »

amelius wrote: post #7
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

It's super cool, but at the same time for many folks an iPad Mini with/without external keyboard would be a more adequate solution considering processing power.

I think you're missing my point. Sure, there are better handheld computers! My comment is about the ability for home hardware hackers to churn out something like this (relatively) easily. At least comparing to my experiences 20 years ago trying to produce similar.

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#18

Post by simonjgreen »

beebmam wrote: post #9
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

Raspberry Pis are accessible, in your opinion? There's been a deep shortage for years.

The Pi4 has been hard to come by, getting later. But 15 years ago there was _NOTHING_ like that. Now you can get Pis and all their clones, the odroid boards, bananas, all sorts

Re: Building a Handheld PC

#20

Post by detritus »

beebmam wrote: post #9
simonjgreen wrote: post #4

This is a fantastic demonstration of how accessible all this stuff is these days. Polish used to be the let down on DIY projects like this but 3D printers (for the case) have really moved the needle when it comes to high quality prototyping. I know this has been the state of things for nearly a decade now, but it still amazes me. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, 3D Printers, and the open source hardware community, will mark a…

Raspberry Pis are accessible, in your opinion? There's been a deep shortage for years.

Ordering these things - or, at least, trying to - is beyond ridiculous now. I've been checking three or four sites every month or so for literal years now to no avail.

I've even tried shimmying in an order with an 'educational supplier' here in the UK who apparently have 'some', but only for schools, so they won't let me have one, despite how much material I buy from them each month for my non-educational purposes. I don't blame them, of course, but I do find it weird how there's apparently a heckload of demand and no uptick in production.

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