I'm making my own PC Tablet - Quick Question for power

[gdawgtuk]

Here are my two outlines, not including the screens and touch screen kit, etc.

Cheap:

Mobo/Processor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=7173
Ram: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4534
HDD: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=5300

Powerful:

Mobo: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=7345
Processor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=7237
Ram: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=K24-9918
HDD: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=5300

The question I have have is how exactly would I power this? I know I can use Lithium Ion Cells, etc. But exactly how would I wire a Motherboard to a battery source?

 

[nevermind1534]

You'd need a power supply, such as a picoPSU.

 

[bic]

Just remember the PicoPSU simply passes the 12v source straight through to the system components, so it really needs to be a stable supply with adequate filtering. Also, bear in mind the desktop motherboards won't know a thing about running off batteries, so it's going to run until the batteries are used up and it shuts off without warning.

Unless this is going to be a suitcase PC, don't use high-draw desktop components. 65 watts is quite a bit of heat to deal with in a portable device, so you'd have to either build around a well-vented desktop cooler or use a loud 1U server heatsink. Intel has some low-power Sandy Bridge CPUs (35w for the G620T and i3 2100T), and the AMD E-350 platform is pretty potent for what it is.

Another option would be building off an existing laptop. It already runs off batteries (and has a built-in charging circuit), comes with a screen (or a VGA port for running your own), and is already designed to cool its internal components properly given limited space. Even a mobile Core 2 Duo will run circles around the Atom, and you might be able to find one with dedicated (or switchable) graphics. Take the screen off, remove the keyboard and its bezel, make up a support layer for the LCD where the keyboard used to be, reattach the screen, add the touch sensor, and put the screen bezel back on top. If you're creative with the packaging it shouldn't be much thicker than when you started, and if your screen is backlit by a fluorescent tube you can get the same (if not better) battery life by doing an LED backlight mod. It will also be a bit snappier if you add that SSD and max the RAM. There are kits out there for netbooks and small laptops, so you can probably come up with something for an ION or E-350 based netbook or an older 13-15" laptop.

 

[DefectX11]

I second bic. using those higher powered components is going to give you crap for battery life and lots of heat to deal with.
Have you tried looking around for a mobo that has a socket for a mobile processor? It'll use much less power and create less heat. They made them for C2D, but I haven't seen and for the core i.
another second on bic. screw atom, get C2D ULV if you want something REALLY cool and relatively fast. A laptop that has the ULV C2D is the Dell D430. There's two models that I like, the u7600 (1.2 dual core) and the u7700 (1.33 dual core). both will kick the crap out of atom, and they have a TDP of 10w. So really for that heat you could use any heatsink for that.
For example- people have been taking their Macbooks and flipping around the screen and adding a touchscreen kit to it- and hey presto, you have the tablet Apple should've released. While it is Mac, they're a great choice because the newer ones are LED backlit and have great battery life.

 

[gdawgtuk]

Okay guys, got an update. Sorry on the poorly planned parts in the first post. Now that I have spent over 5 minutes on searching, I think I got a good build. Let me know what you think:


CPU 65watts $69.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-103-955&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Mobo $89.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157273

Ram 2x4GB - 24.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557

HDD 64GB 69.99: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=547840&CatId=5300

8" screen $49.99: http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-LCD-Screen-Digitizer-Touch-Digital-TFT-AUO-A080SN01-V0-LCD-Panel-800x600-/280801151261?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41610d891d#ht_7126wt_1275

8" $22.99 touchscreen kit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Inch-4-Wire-Resistive-Touch-Screen-Panel-Digitizer-AUO-A080SN01-LCD-/280800172261?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4160fe98e5#ht_4576wt_1156

Picopsu 120watt: http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/it.A/id.417/.f

Though the processor of choice is 65watt, from what it looked at it generally runs lower than that. I wouldn't hit 65watt unless gaming. That motherboard should be able to use the E-350 at 35watts too, so worst case scenario you can just do that. The one I chose can play WoW on max settings and games like Left 4 Dead 2, etc. It would be cool to be able to just plug in a rather small tablet and get some great gaming out of it. Monitor or otherwise.

That's my point in this. A decent midrange laptop replacement in the form of a tablet. The fan on the one I chose is very small. Sadly it may be loud, but I could try to replace It. I would have the case have a space for the fan to vent out.

I found a 12 inch monitor instead of 8' which I rather do, but it's still 800x600.

Ultra low power fan less e-350 mobo/processor combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131732

 

[bic]

Sounds like you want a DIY small form factor PC, not a tablet that runs off batteries.

It looks like that 8" screen already has the touch digitizer. Unfortunately it doesn't have a driver board, which you'll have to buy to use it at all. The digitizer in both cases is resistive, so it won't do multi-touch. (Or if it does, it won't be a tablet-like experience.)

When all is said and done, you're probably going to get better value for your money with a refurb laptop or a small form factor desktop machine that can take a low profile video card and run off wall power.

 

[vskid3]

If you want something you can actually move around, your best options are getting an existing tablet (Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell, and HP are brands I would look at) or a normal laptop and modding it (flip screen and add touchscreen). Gaming on an existing tablet will be limited unless you have money to burn, converting a laptop will give you more options.
I really don't see how gaming on a tablet is more appealing than a laptop. If you really want a touchscreen, get a laptop that has one or add one.