[Arm-netbook] Pass through card. Was: TODO list EOMA68 campaign

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 7:18 AM, Xavi Drudis Ferran <xdrudis at tinet.cat> wrote:
> El Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 05:34:06AM +0100, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton deia:
>
>> * i'm thinking of putting the "pass through" card on the campaign,
>>   approximate pledge amount $40 (because in low-volume expected
>>   it'll be about a $20 BOM), that would turn the laptop housing into
>>   a battery-operated screen, keyboard and trackpad for any smartphone,
>>   USB-HDMI-dongle-PC, laptop or desktop PC.  thoughts appreciated
>>   on that one.
>>
>
> Go for it !
>
> I'm not aware of the cost you would have to bring it in before the
> campaign deadline (is it finished, tested, ready?), but if you can do
> it, don't doubt.

 it's been planned for a long time, i can estimate the BOM (not a lot
- about $6 of components) it's the PCB manufacturing that will be a
bit more than usual if the quantities are small, even if it's a
single-sided 2-layer PCB

> I think SOCs are too difficult to choose. All of them have one problem
> or other.  You can't immediately have a dozen CPU cards with different
> SOCs to pick for.  But if you can have a CPU card without CPU, then
> you dodge the problem nicely.

 exactly, and it's kinda cool.

> At the same time, having the computer attached by a couple of cables
> to the laptop is still uncomfortable enough to justify buying a real
> CPU card.  So the pass through card does not lead to less CPU cards
> sold. It justs justifies buying more laptops.

 exactly.

 then again you've probably seen the USB-HDMI dongle PC connected to
motorola atrix lapdock "version 1" instructables.... you can't use the
version 2 as they DRM-locked it.

l.