Hey allll,
FInally gaining some momentum with the "XE Book" project. Took a whilel to get the video situation sorted out.
I am using a 12" 4:3 aspect ratio (no wide screen) 800x600 flat panel display along with the LumaCode+RGB2HDMI Pi mod and the picture looks great.
This is that Aabic PAL board I found on eBay and made a USA ASCII ROm for it so only the keycaps will have the funky Arabic symbols :)
I found some pretty decent speakers and a cool little amp with volume up/down buttons so I dont have to have an alalog pot sticking out tof the enclosure. The only thing I don't like about it is on a power cycle the volume goes back to its default but that should only be a minor annoyance. I am now debating wether or not to embed the fujinet inside or just have it plug into the SIO on the back. My initial plan was to embed it and have some softkey buttons and OLED display to be able to toggle it on and off but maybe thats overkill...
Next thing to tackle is th epower management wich will be either one or two lipos, a charging circuit etc, Thinking about making it so the original DIN power jack remains as an external power source as well as the cherging input to keep it old skool. If I leave the Fujinet as an external then I will probably put a USB out on the back so you can plug it directly into the laptop. Heres some photos and a video: Video: http://sideburn.com/vid/xebook1.mov
Another "glamor shot" now that a few more kinks have been ironed out.. FIxed some warping issues, Improved the hinge tension with a TPU washer, and reworked the lid so it can take larger more powerful magnets to suck the display down better when closed. I am going to try to quit while I am ahead so i dont "fix it til its broke" before VCF Socal! 🤣
** final testing the battery, We're down to one green dot here in the photo and its been 5 hours! Once it shuts down I am going to time how long it takes to recharge while powered on.
--- If enough people were to want a kit version of this that would include the LCD panel, plastics, wire harness, battery pack, audio and power management board, nuts n' bolts, and you BYO motherboard and upgrades I think around 300 backers would cover the cost if it were to sell for $300 or so... Thats just a rough estimate But you could assume the plastic molding and production would be in the high $30K plus everything else.