[Arm-netbook] 15in EOMA-68 laptop

[luke.leighton]

hrvoje, sorry, i have so much to do i had to wait a bit to come back
and reply here.

On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 6:40 AM, Hrvoje Lasic <lasich at gmail.com> wrote:
> for sure I can help and give part of my time to this project. only problem i
> foresee is that we are very deep into our project and it takes us a lot of
> engineering time. Therefore I can work as part time and help.

 no problem.

> But even as I
> could work only this project I have no idea how much time it will take to
> finish it. generally can be quick and can be time consuming. can be job for
> more then one person or one person could be enough. never did laptop and
> have no idea. More engineering hours you spend, better product you have. I
> guess you dont want cheap looking and badly engineered laptop (more
> engineering hours you spend, better quality you have and lower is the cost).

 well.... to be honest i'm considering something where that really
wouldn't matter.  the idea we're toying with is a "kit" on
kickstarter, where we would supply, as a kit:

 * a keyboard and trackpad (these will be off-the-shelf parts)
 * a screen (optional)
 * a PCB
 * a battery
 * a hinged pair of metal plates
  - the top plate has a hole for a screen
  - the bottom plate has a hole for a keyboard and a trackpad
 * some screws
 * a Reprap-printable "mould"
 * a pair of very thick rubber (or other clear stretchy material) bands

no, really - i'm not kidding about the rubber bands.

the idea is that you *literally* make your own laptop, including
printing or making your own shell out of
whatever-you-can-get-your-hands-on.

personally i would make my own laptop out of bits of cardboard and
some silver gaffa tape because i think it's such an "in-your-face" way
to say that you *don't* have to spend a fortune to get powerful
technology in your hands.  hilarious.  a 15in laptop with a 1920x1080
LCD, cost of the materials is around $170, it's modular, it's
upgradeable, and you built it yourself out of recyclable materials.
that's powerful stuff.

but in the case of the rubber-bands, you'd put those around the shell
and each of the metal plates, to protect the edges and also to make
sure that the shell stays on the metal plates.  in fact, why even have
the screws?

so. hrvoje.  could you think of a way to make a hinged pair of metal
plates?  don't worry about the back *at all*.

actually i think, for two different clients, we need to do one 10in
laptop and one 15in laptop.  but, it scales in concept.

i thought, for the "screen" plate, if you have a hole that can take
the LCD panel, along the top and bottom edge you bend the edges back
90 degrees so that when the panel is in it will not go up or down.
then the left and right *OUTER* edges you bend 90 degrees, then 5mm
later you bend them *again* so that they come back and form a cage,
you can slot the screen in at one side, then slide it into the middle
and it won't drop out (maybe those screws are needed after all)

the keyboard+touchpad plate, you can arrange tags that lock the
keyboard into place (makes them hard to get out but that's ok).
mousepad probably best if screwed on.

heck if even you supplied a pair of hinges that had to be bolted on,
that'd be ok!!!

later on we can make it look "pretty".

later on when it goes to mass-production, we can sell with ready-made shells.

but right now, i'm thinking "what's the easiest and simplest way to
make something where people can personalise it and feel proud of that,
how can we empower them to do that?"

l.