On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 12:42 PM, Allan Mwenda allanitomwesh@gmail.com wrote:
Just gonna ask here coz I'm too lazy.
:)
How hard would it be to repurpose one of these cheap $200 macbook clone things with intel atoms to take an eoma68 card instead? I can already imagine the rockchip one in it :)
yeah me too. ok, repurposing of existing casework comes up as a recurring theme, quite a lot: i was one of the people who believed, back when this project started, that it would be practical and perfectly reasonable. so i wrote it up as one of the updates, "laptop comparison". ha, cool, i just encountered this:
https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/the-opposite-of-the...
i'm redoing that PCB you can see at the end of that one, except it'll be coloured green.. :)
this was the one: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/laptop-comparisons
and... ah. that's strange... i didn't add the bits about the impracticalities of sourcing the components.(which are flat-out impossible in the anticipated quantities). that _was_ the whole purpose of mentioning the update. duuUuh :)
ok so _somewhere_ i have a critique of the strategy which utilises pre-existing casework: it's a comprehensive fail, pure and simple.
why?
well, if you get some existing casework, it's likely to be at least 1 to 10 years old. the company that made the connectors - SPECIFICALLY for that SPECIFIC laptop case as SPECIAL ORDER ITEMS will have a unique relationship with the designer of the laptop.
conversations between you and that supplier would go something like this:
you: "hello! we want to make a PCB based around a proprietary laptop case! please give us 100 of your connectors!"
supplier (very puzzled supplier): "hello! glad to hear from you. are you a representative of the company whom we signed an NDA with whom we have multi-million-dollar supply contracts?"
you: "errr.... no? i just want 100 of your $0.10 connectors that you made 10 years ago"
supplier (who is probably trying to be veery diplomatic by now): "10 years ago? you want to give us $10 for some parts where the tooling's been destroyed over 9 years ago and it would cost us $100k to remake it, and it's a proprietary (copyrighted) design as part of one of our unique client contracts??"
... you get the general idea, allan? :)
even if it's a common design, as i've found out already, you need a *personal* connection - someone who *actually* has worked with that casework and knows *all* of the components *and* suppliers, has a good relationship with them, and is prepared to risk that because you're *guaranteed* to order at least 1k and preferably 10k units...
.all of this should give you the general impression that it is a f*** of a lot of work and risk for almost zero return. it's similar to the hilarious "how i made a $3 toaster for $1800" ted talk, which is well worth watching.
https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch...
l.