AussieBear
Guest
the art of squirt.
Not bad. I did a PC convertible project a while back for a client. Close to same form factor and concept. Lot of things you can do with G1 laptops(or DG1), but oddly, TRUE restorations are impossible.
what did you do to that convertable.. got it running stock/upgrade or some fancy mod
do you have a reliable go to site for old parts?
I just use mouser for most projects. I don't think there is a site for parts, other than used part markets/ebay.
As far as the PC Convertable project. I had a HP 200 palmtop with a destroyed shell that wound up being the 186 donor board upgrade. And I don't remember what, but I found a backlit display that was 2mm bigger that fit the bezel end perfectly. G1s are mostly frontlit. I don't do a lot of snap-in/plug-in-play or solder-10-wires type of projects for other people. They usually want something unique and not researchable on google. But, it's their dream project, likely someone who sat in front of one for 10 years, and wanted to make it special. I don't see why you need to do anything other than get it working.
getting it working is my only goal.. im not a modder, nor do i possess those skills.
building up my tech stock for the kid. hes about to turn 4, but when hes 5 1/2 -6 he'll have tons of old pc hardware to **** with.. and it wont matter if he breaks anything. just trying to steer him towards the tech tree via accessibility. once i have the parts for the t1200 and it all works ill pull it back apart and he can learn how to rebuild that.
ive already got like 10 loose cpus ranging from p4 to xeon x3470.. several mobos.. 4-5 shitty gpus, sound cards robotic kits.. raspberry pi etc etc..
i remember being 5 and having access to my bros commodore 64..games were fun but i enjoyed trying to copy codes of basic out of magazines to make game...so i figure 5-6 is a good age to start.. life got in the way for me by 8 and i didnt have acess to a pc again til i was 17.. but eh it is what it is.. hopefully he likes the shit.. if not i got plenty of bike parts ive been collecting too..
I was with you up to you typed:
If you wanted to do the restore I for a geeky art, I could kind of see it. Not my bag, but I guess it would make sense. I don't see it making any sense for kids. Well at least to to a person who has kids that older and tried crap like that.
I think it makes more sense to start with Chess. "Snap Circuits" is really good first learning tool. After that maybe an arduino. Then a Raspberry Pi.
If you just want to have him mess with hardware, you can build a modern PC (minus the keyboard, mouse, monitor) for 250-300 bucks and a OEM OS is only about 20 bucks or just use an old key. You would have a much better learning platform, at a very decent price. The reality is that I don't think most kids will be interested in a Toshiba T1200. Cell phones and Tablets are inexpensive and so many kids have access to them at very early ages.
I think chess is a very good foundation for logic and it makes sense for all kids to start playing at 6 or 7. I also like the idea of an all-in-one touchscreen that is inexpensive at an early age for kids.
I also understand the having boys and wanting things they can break, because they are boys. A computer though is pretty sturdy if you don't take it apart multiple times and I am not sure how much more someone can learn from that as opposed to an arduino (which is a lot cheaper).
Just my thoughts. Have fun with your kid(s).
Chess is a great game and never to late to learn. I am that ****** that gets all of my relatives kids a chess set between 8-10. My son like chess; not as much as I did.
Nobody plays go? Go, IMO, is the ultimate logic building game, as it may be relatable to computing.
Nobody plays go? Go, IMO, is the ultimate logic building game, as it may be relatable to computing.