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ZLPCFJWNPA

ZLPCFJWNPA:- Zany Luggable PC From Junk With No Pronounceable Acronym ... IS... a luggable in a repurposed typewriter case ...

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I've been tripping over an old portable typewriter case in my basement for ages. I hadn't really thought about it before, it was the free container of some other bits and pieces from a yard sale. Just dawned on me what a rugged little (okay not so little) case it was and I ought to DO something with it.... so yah, I'm throwing a bunch of spare PC parts into it, making a luggable, might be sort of a proof of concept for a later, possibly tidier upgrade.

The victim might be the case of a Smith-Corona Galaxie model, made in the 60s. So far, planning throwing in a MS-7255 a Pentium Dual Core E2060, HD 7450 or GT 610, some power some storage, some wiring etc.

Case is about 18" x 14" by 6" high of which there's approx 4" in the larger side and 2" in the other.

  • 1 × Crusty old typewriter case,, Smith-Corona Galaxie??
  • 1 × MSI MS-7255 socket 775 motherboard
  • 1 × Intel E2160 SL3H. It's Conroe/Core2 class, so by the time it's pin modded to 1066 bus and running at 2.4Ghz it should be as zippy as the cheapy laptops that are around these days.
  • 1 × GPU A device for pushing pixels. Possibly HD7450 or GF GT610, Want lower watts, not sure yet if low profile is going to be essential or not.
  • 1 × RAM DDR-2 flavored. While screwing around it will have disposable 512MB modules in in case of mishap, but when it's approaching full 'functionality it will get a 4GB set

View all 6 components

  • GBR, getting ball rolling....

    RW • 04/07/2017 at 13:57 • 0 comments

    Duh-cisions, Duh-cisions...



    Still standing at the crossroads of whether I want the case to remain a mostly unbroken envelope, and only have hookups accessible when it's open, OR carve holes for everything, and potentially have a structurally comprimised floppy mess that's not much protection for the poor thing either.



    Due to the curviness of the thing, I'm probably ending up with internal structure anyway. At least have a motherboard tray... think I can pull one out of a junk case that has HSF mountings I can bolt through to, which would make it a lot more reliable than plastic clips for something that gets moved around.



    So firstly gotta figure that out, maybe if I have deep side on the bottom, it'll fit standard low profile size brackets... otherwise, it might end up shallow side on the bottom and the top lifting to a case within a case as it were, kinda like it was in typewriter mode.



    A pro to having deep side on bottom is keyboard could clip inside case and be useable on lap, as well as removeable, but shallow side on bottom, it might have to store against a side/end, and only be able to be used removeable.



    Hopefully will have this figured out by the end of today, after much part shuffling and measuring... it's possible it might end up with a different motherboard, pending testing, and fit, the one listed is my most preferred one, but also have an intel board that could work, but annoyingly doesn't have a serial port. Some of it's raison d'etra will be usably fast machine with serial and parallel for assistance with other hacks...



    ... With that in mind and wanting to give it more than notional portability, I'm trying to keep the power budget under 250W at the wall. It can then run on a plug in to 12V inverter in a vehicle, and also off a power box I have for a useful amount of time. Got a bigger inverter too, but that needs battery hookup, too many amps for 12V sockets.



    Monitor at present is planned to be a TV think it's 1280x768, it's pretty crisp to read and doesn't blur too bad on movement. May, if space is an issue, rebuild a desktop LCD monitor with dead ccfl backlight to LED backlight.

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heathersnovaks wrote 02/15/2024 at 10:32 • point

https://www.texasjackets.com/

  Are you sure? yes | no

RW wrote 04/07/2017 at 14:14 • point

Due to the mid century modern styling of the case, I think it's going to end up with a kind of dieselpunk or 50s secret agent vibe, any suggestions as to enhancement of this aspect welcomed.

  Are you sure? yes | no

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