Mini-ITX Portatil

Primero de todo me gustaria dar las gracias a todo a la gente de Mini-Itx.com, Linitx.com y otros muchos por darnos la oportunidad de hacer estos projectos. Estoy seguro de que muchos de estos chulisimos ordernadores que se encuentran en la web y se utilizan a diario, construidos por fans de mini-itx no podrian haberse podido crear sin las piezas que nos ofrecen estas empresas. Sobretodo con la ayuda y esfuerzo a la hora de disenar y crear de todos los companeros de mini-itx y su website.

Hasta ahora he concluidos varios projectos como una 'carputer' para mi coche, un Camaro del 79. Tambien un ordernador pequenito hecho de la radio de un coche de control remoto con luces intermitentes que se enciencen con la actividad del disco duro. Todas estas ideas las he sacado de otras personas de mini-itx.

Mi primer diseno para ordenador salio de la frustracion y espero que alguien pueda robar mi idea y que un dia veamos el portatil  modificable en una caja para que los usuarios puedan ensamblarlo a su gusto durante un fin de semana en lugar de pasar dias y dias en el garaje molestando a los vecinos con mis herramientas y martillazos. En el mercado hay 'bare bones' kits que algunas companias ofrecen con unos componentes similar al mio pero los precios suben a 3000 o 4000 euros o mas. La posibilidad de tener uno disenado con productos de mini-itx seria estupenda para muchos como yo, ademas de que no todo el mundo quiere un ordenador que cabe en un sobre!

La idea original de este projecto salio de mi frustracion cuando hace unos 3 anos intente comprar un portatil por unos 2500 euros y fue entonces cuando me di cuenta que con unos cuantas actualizaciones de Microsoft y un par de juegos, el orgullo de tener mi coleccion de ordenadors se convertiria en algo inservible al quedarse colgado mientras intenta bajarse el nuevo hardware con todas las ventanas en blanco.

Fue entonces que decidi crear mi propio portatil con la intencion de poder actualizar sus componentes en cualquier momento a la velocidad con que ellos se quedan obsoletos. Por tan solo un poco de dinero he creado un procesador de 2Ghz con una memoria de 1Gig Ram y una tarjeta grafica de ATI radion 9200 128Mb. Todos los componentes de este portatil se pueden actualizar e intercambiar.

El tamano de este portatil podia haber sido mucho mas pequeno si hubiera utilizado una placa base de nano y me hubiera olvidado de la tarjeta grafica externa, entonces podria haber conseguido mi ordenador mucho mas reducido y del tamano de un portatil normal, pero ese no era mi plan. Necesitaba tener la misma capacidad que un ordenador si queria utilizarlo a diario para mi trabajo o para juegos.

Para empezar, puse todas las piezas juntas, las medi e hice el diseno en una caja de carton que encontre y luego lo deje por ahi escampado en la mesa de la cocina unas semanas, lo que no le hizo mucha gracia a mi novia.

Como puedes ver, la bateria esta debajo del DVD Drive y del Morex cubid PSU que tenia de un ordenador anticuado que habia conseguido tiempo atras de mini-itx.

El 'floppy cable' (cable de cinta) es estupendo y se situa al a perfeccion en la caja sujetando la tarjeta de graficos ATI 9200.

Necesito traducir mas-----

I made my own vga cable as all the monitor cables I had seen were too bulky, this left lots of soldier blobs rolling round the floor for ages as the vacuum cleaner refused to pick them up!

With the monitor stripped I played around and made sure it all worked.

This was the keyboard that I bought; it came with a mouse integrated, a little more expensive than the USB wireless version; however I prefer a PS2 connection as it always works. The aluminium was important as I feel if I made it totally of ally, then it would reduce heat build up, much better than a steel case.I chopped about half a metre of cable out and re-soldiered the wires.

the same layout with the keyboard cut-out to allow components to fit. This was later cut away altogether, and the components taped to the underside.

Once I had welded the surrounds on to the keyboard, I measured it on the case, trimmed it and bent it to shape. You will also see the power and reset buttons which came off the same case, morex I think.These basically show the case, halfway through the welding.

The usb wireless, it was moved in to the monitor section and a plastic back screwed over it, to improve reception. But in this picture you can see it here slipped down the side of the mainboard.

On the right, a new layout =>

A view of it closed, with the plastic cover in place. he The hinges were quite a bit of work and are all hand made from sheet mild-steel and some stainless nut and bolts, welded together. The nyloc nuts give enough friction to hold the screen in place. You can also see I have a key lock switch that isolates all power with the turn of the keyswitch.

Cables and wires? The layout as it is now, although I have tidied the wires up somewhat. One IDE drive and one SATA. A 2 GHz mainboard with 1 gig of ram. You can see the fan controllers at the front, and the new Pico power supply which saves me so much room.The keyboard removed and prior to the network RJ45 socket screwed in place

You can see the speakers which I took from the monitor I dismantled and the plug and socket which is the 12v supply to the monitor.

The rest are final shots and a picture of the rear cover removed so you can see the wireless and where the plastic cover sits.

Ok, so it does look a bit ‘Rufty Tufty!’ but I worked on armoured tanks in the military and most of my spare time is spent grinding the rust of my old Camaro... my tools in the shed are more ‘industrial’ than pokey little ‘dremel multi-tool’ size. It was also my first time Mig-welding aluminium.... jeeze I could be a racing driver with all these excuses!

 The future of this project includes a new SATA drive so I can use the hardware raid, a new keyboard and top, if I can find a 'nipple/trackpoint' mouse unit, I will cut a sheet of aluminium with space for a nice ultra flat keyboard and mount the nipple nicely on the cover. I would also like to mount a 19" screen and better speakers, but I want to be careful that it doesn’t turn out to look like a desktop computer on its side!... oh, and I put a dremel multi tool on my Christmas list.

Further to this, I have just been browsing things regarding, using a laptop screen with the itx board instead of a regular monitor. I was quite happy with the monitor as it is thin, small and runs from the same 12 volts, however i was originally steered this was because of an article i read online stating that you need an expensive converter from RGB graphics interface, to the laptop screen which does not work in the same way. However acording to this article http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/78_72/products_id/396 it does not seem to be the case. I will look into this some more, but it does give a good case for using a laptop screen in you have one lying around, or you are building this project because your old laptop is just a bit too slow.

I have been toying with the idea of using a virtual keyboard, basically a laser projector which shows a picture of a keyboard in laser light, however the little keyboard projector I have is quite a tall unit, and would get in the way of the monitor. Nice idea though. Last night I found an IBM keyboard with a trackpoint mouse and trackpad mouse. it is 2 cm thick, so i think the grinder might come out again on that one. Look for some new pictures soon.

I have mounted the new keyboard, and have also added some powered speakers in to the new keyboard top to the case, it is looking nice, I will post some new pictures in a day or two.

If you would like to see some better quality pictures of the laptop prior to the new keyboard, Click Here

Here is a picture of the latest keyboard setup.....

I have also added a microphone and 1 watt speakers which are USB powered, and you will also notice, all the air vents are on the top. This is so it does not overheat when I am using it in bed or on soft furnishings. I think most manufacturers forget this design when they are thinking about laptops, like we all use them on a desk or something :-]

J

Last updated 04/02/07