[Arm-netbook] Housing idea: screenless laptop

Hi,

It occurred to me that for blind people, who use a screen reader such as Speakup or Orca, a laptop housing without the screen or the touchpad would be quite convenient. And if this housing used the same battery as the regular laptop housing, it would last longer because there's no screen.

To the engineers on the list, how difficult would it be to modify the current laptop housing to remove the screen and touchpad? I suppose there are two ways to go about removing the touchpad: either it could just be replaced with empty space, or the keyboard could be moved to the front. In the latter case, how much smaller could the housing be made without removing anything inside (battery, space for a USB dongle, etc.)?

Matt