Date   : Thu, 07 Jul 2005 17:06:01 +0100
From   : Richard Gellman <splodge@...>
Subject: Re: Compressed Model B

Jules Richardson wrote:

>Driving a laptop's VGA display from a beeb might be tricky; I'm not sure
>how easy such panels are to interface to. Heat dissipation and power
>comsumption are likely to be big problems if you're using period
>components.
>  
>
Ye-es... lets gloss over that for a moment (googles liberally for 
circuit diagrams)...

>I've got about 20 of them in a small cupboard; does that count? ;-)
>  
>
20? Pah... Clearly you have never looked in a school cupboard :)

>Did you want to power this off a laptop battery? What about utilising a
>laptop's 3.5" floppy drive? Or can you give the whole case footprint
>over to beeb circuitry? 
>  
>
I was thinking of retaining the floppy drive, and possibly the hard 
drive and battery (I may "develop" a smaller battery as the beeb 
requires less power, giving me more circuit room).

At current I have two spaces: 15x15x3cm, and 15x12x3cm. There is also a 
16x12x1cm space above the thin floppy drive, but that would be tight.

>Whereabouts are you? If you're near Cambridge, I've got an old 486
>laptop about to hit the bin - backlight's dead, the floppy needs heads
>cleaning at least, but it has an 800x600 screen. Battery long gone
>(although I think I still have it). No hard disk. 
>  
>
Portsmouth houses my being. If your 486 can beat my P100 AST laptop on 
space, I might take a trip through the country...

--- Richard