Self made computer

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harryh · #1 Post by **harryh** » Fri 05 Sep 2008, 10:34

Hi friends!
I build a new

Sage · #2 Post by **Sage** » Fri 05 Sep 2008, 17:06

That's the easy part. Now let's see you make Puppy work on a Commodore 64.

harryh · #3 Post by **harryh** » Fri 05 Sep 2008, 20:30

Sage, it was ment as info.

Harryh

Sage · #4 Post by **Sage** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 07:25

My comment was meant as a yoke! Vær så god.
Apart from a few notables, shouldn't we assume that most folks on this Forum build their own HW? Certainly, if they've been reading and
comprehending my persistent exhortations, this will be the case (pun intended)!

harryh · #5 Post by **harryh** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 07:42

Hi Sage, that’s why I did write down a list of the components I used so the forumists who might build their own HW know that these parts is working.

Harryh

Lobster · #6 Post by **Lobster** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 09:37

Glad you had a successful build HarryH
I am trying to go over to laptops
- less update potential but lower power consumption

Once I build a new computer, I tend to turn it into a Buddhist shrine
http://tmxxine.com/web/shrine/

. . . which keeps my imaginary psychiatrist amused

pigshed · #7 Post by **pigshed** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 10:30

Lobster - can you get your imaginary psychiatrist to have a word with Pizzas none existent girlfriend ? She seems to be having difficulties accepting who she is ..

#8 Post by **ttuuxxx** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 10:48

I've Built up laptops in the past, Usually like 30+screws, different sizes etc, thats the hard part remembering where all those screws went. Upgrading laptop motherboards aren't so difficult either, Actually when I replaced the one I had dropped a glass of wine on the keyboard and it fried the motherboard so i took out a 500Mhz and replaced it with a 750 motherboard Toshiba which I purchased used on eBay for $50. not bad

When I read the title of this forum I was thinking."what did someone buy one of those Heathkit Pc's from the 80's on eBay?" You used to be able to buy "Pc Kits" That you had to solider the wires, microchips, resistors, etc basic Make a PC from scratch.

Always great hear someone else likes building Pc's. I would rather build them, then troubleshoot faulty XP installs.
ttuuxxx

Lobster · #9 Post by **Lobster** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 11:04

pigshed wrote:Lobster - can you get your imaginary psychiatrist to have a word with Pizzas none existent girlfriend ?

OK but she won't listen . . .

harryh · #10 Post by **harryh** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 12:05

Lobster & ttuuxxx

So far I managed to upgrade the HDD in my old laptop, but as you say – it’s plenty of unnecessary leftover screws. And because it works with Puppy 16 quite well – I don’t dig in it.
In my younger days I was quite good in electronics but then I work with totally different things in twenty years, but now when I’m retired I try to refresh my memory and learn some new things. So maybe I some day try to fix the laptop in new shape – I got plenty of time these days.

Cheers Harryh

Sage · #11 Post by **Sage** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 13:14

Working on laptops is not a good idea, as I've said many times.
The tabs break off, the screen cover breaks at the hinge, replacement sw-mode PSU s are vastly over-priced, many components are proprietary and unavailable.
Apart from which, a brief perusal of this, or any other Forum will confirm that they are all a pile of trouble (yes, even with 'doze) to get all the drivers and SW functioning properly.
Laptops themselves are overpriced and under-powered and obsolescent even before purchase . There is scarcely an house, factory or office that doesn't have a bog-standard boxed desktop sitting in the corner, under the desk/bed/w.h.y., except perhaps in the middle of the Namib Desert, although I could be wrong about the latter.
As usual, the marketing guys have done a wonderful job of shifting this junk. Don't encourage them.

nic2109 · #12 Post by **nic2109** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 21:39

Sage is correct (as usual) about laptops being mostly a fad as they often never leave the house. But can you pack up your desktop and put it in a drawer when you've finished using it for the day?

Veering slightly off-topic I also observe that Wal-Mart have awarded their Green prize (observe the irony) to HP for the Pavilion dv6929 whose total packaging consists of a shoulder bag to take it away in. How cool is that? And how many desktops come with no packaging to get rid of?

newbie314 · #13 Post by **newbie314** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 22:08

Man, that's so funny. I bought a cheap laptop for $125 P4, 500Mbyte, no HD, OS or battery. Exactly what I was looking for. And when I put it a way the first night I placed it in the drawer of my desk (which has a PII desktop (no puppy working yet on that) and a P4 laptop (WinXP - I know. I'll repent later

)). I put it in there so it wouldn't get in the way of the family.

I'll say why I like laptops, is that the footprint on the desk is great (nice and small). I'm also too cheap to buy a large LCD screen for home so use the 14" screen that comes with the laptop. The laptop I use for work is great since my office is everywhere.

Also having small hands makes me like laptop keyboards.

The new (old) computer was bought just for the challenge/adventure of running Puppy exclusively. I may put an IDE->CF to install a harddrive. I wouldn't mind also just rerouting one usb port to the internal HD bay and put the flash there. Right now I'm running from a pen drive.
It'll be a nice computer when the family travels.

nic2109 wrote:Sage is correct (as usual) about laptops being mostly a fad as they often never leave the house. But can you pack up your desktop and put it in a drawer when you've finished using it for the day?

#14 Post by **Pizzasgood** » Sat 06 Sep 2008, 23:48

But can you pack up your desktop and put it in a drawer when you've finished using it for the day?

Mount a flat-screen on the wall in front of the desk. Get a small case and stick it out of sight, possibly mounted to the underside of the desktop if there's space down there. Hook the computer's audio into the stereo system, so it doesn't need a separate set of speakers. Just hit the 'Aux' button to switch over to computer audio, and when done flip back to 'Tuner'.

That leaves mouse and keyboard. If you have a pair of cordless ones, just shove them in a drawer or something. Personally, I despise those. Depending on where the computer is, you may be able to just move them out of the way and tuck the cords behind the desk or something. Or if you use the whole slide-out-keyboard-drawer thing, it's a non-issue (I don't like those either).

In my case, I just leave everything out. The vast majority of the time I'm at my desk, I'm there to use my computer. Besides, there isn't really anyplace in my dorm to put my second monitor, which is a big old CRT. I keep that off to the side on top of my "dresser", which happens to be the same height as my desk so I can use it to extend my table-space.

I hate using laptops, but I keep one around for when I travel, since that's simpler than bugging people to let me use their computers. Eventually I think it would be fun to build a portable PC, that's set up to have a "travel mode" where it becomes self contained, but upon arrival can expand to have a detachable keyboard and a real mouse (the positioning of a laptop's keyboard with respect to the screen makes it very hard for me to use unless it's on a desk, and even then the screen is either too low or the keyboard is too high). I don't have the time to mess with that right now though. More important things to work on.

harryh · #15 Post by **harryh** » Sun 07 Sep 2008, 06:46

I agree with Sage & others who have there doubts about laptops. I started with a laptop in 2000 and was never happy with it – it was a disappointment in almost every aspect. And now, here I’m sitting with my “no name

Sage · #16 Post by **Sage** » Sun 07 Sep 2008, 07:37

...can you pack up your desktop and put it in a drawer when you've finished using it....

Spot our contributors who have a little woman about the house tidying things away all the damn time!
Who wears the trousers in your baronial mansions?
Laptops will eventually catch you out - believe me. Now, the new breed of sub-notebooks might be a different matter. But then, the N96 went OVERPRICED this week and does everything your heart desires, doubtless with a God Save The Queen ringtone.

nic2109 · #17 Post by **nic2109** » Mon 08 Sep 2008, 20:05

Pizzasgood wrote:Mount a flat-screen on the wall in front of the desk.

I'm struggling to comprehend the topology of this set-up. A wall in front of a desk; so the wall is between you and the desk? Hmmm..... perhaps you mean "behind" the desk?

Seriously, though. You are quite right it's possible to set up a desktop in such a way as to minimise clutter, and most "desktop" systems - even those mounted under a desk - are much better value for money and more upgradable and so on than most laptops.

But I use a laptop all the time at home. When I know I'm in for a longer session I set it up on a ream of paper to lift the monitor to a better position, plug in a keyboard (it's an Apple - the best I've ever come across) and a good optical mouse and I have a pretty decent setup. It only works 'cos I'm lucky enough to have a 17" screen laptop with 1440 x 900 display so that's as much as many flat monitors would give me. But the laptop's size is also its drawback; it weighs several kilos which is why it never leaves the house! Truly a "desktop replacement laptop".

#18 Post by **ttuuxxx** » Tue 09 Sep 2008, 01:54

I have 3 older laptops , And basically they are just dust collectors

When I used them in the past, I would plugin
A monitor
mouse
keyboard
usb splitter
and basically push the laptop to the side and use it as a desktop.
I never liked the small keyboards or little lever mouse nob thing,lol
ttuuxxx

PaulBx1 · #19 Post by **PaulBx1** » Tue 09 Sep 2008, 03:02

Maybe we should change the title of this thread to "Let's bash laptops!"

Sorry, I'm going to have to disagree. If I were using a desktop, the way I move around, it would get tedious fast. Unplug everything, haul the box out to the car, go back for the monitor, then the keyboard and mouse and various cords, don't forget any of them, etc. Let's see, should I leave the speakers or take them?

Sure, desktops make sense if you only work on your computer in one spot, preferably on a nice big desk. One with dust bunnies behind the monitor.

Maybe one of these days I will migrate everything to a big flash drive, then carry that and a boot CD instead of a laptop. Still, I like my old, underpowered (who cares with Puppy) overpriced (after 10 years, it doesn't matter) Thinkpad. It's so familiar I could use it in my sleep.

#20 Post by **ttuuxxx** » Tue 09 Sep 2008, 04:55

PaulBx1 wrote:Maybe we should change the title of this thread to "Let's bash laptops!"

Sorry, I'm going to have to disagree. If I were using a desktop, the way I move around, it would get tedious fast. Unplug everything, haul the box out to the car, go back for the monitor, then the keyboard and mouse and various cords, don't forget any of them, etc. Let's see, should I leave the speakers or take them?

Sure, desktops make sense if you only work on your computer in one spot, preferably on a nice big desk. One with dust bunnies behind the monitor.

Maybe one of these days I will migrate everything to a big flash drive, then carry that and a boot CD instead of a laptop. Still, I like my old, underpowered (who cares with Puppy) overpriced (after 10 years, it doesn't matter) Thinkpad. It's so familiar I could use it in my sleep.

Well I really don't like laptops, They never feel solid, But Everybody is different, Thats what makes us unique.
Anyways I would only ever buy 1 other laptop and its this commodore 64, Hummer game hack.
I bought 2 of these hummer games on ebay, Hopefully I'll build one in the future.
ttuuxxx
http://www.picobay.com/projects/index.html
http://galaxy22.dyndns.org/dtv/index.html
PS now thats a laptop

made out of plywood, pda keyboard, etc

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

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Self made computer

Self made computer