Building a Terrible “Laptop” for Windows ME
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- čas přidán 16. 02. 2024
- Thanks pcbway.com for sponsoring today's video!
We're turning an industrial PC into the world's worst laptop. It'll be fun.
VIDEO LINKS:
🍎 Inverter I used: amzn.to/3uBzo0D
🍎 The lovely little 4:3 LCD with VGA, HDMI and composite: amzn.to/3uBzrtl
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#WindowsME #PCBuild #Cyrix - Věda a technologie
congrats
now put this laptop on your lap
Bring it to the Starbucks, set it up
Or else the legal team says we have to start calling it a "notebook," instead.
Don't threaten me with a good time.
Any computer can be a laptop if you are brave enough.
@@MK-of7qw Univac would make a pretty good laptop.
I’ve heard of laptop computers….. I’ve heard of portable computers…. I’ve heard of luggable computers. I think this qualifies as a “draggable.” 😂
Lmfao :D
Nah you need to find that ISA card
Because it’s not the worst laptop in the world without the membrane keyboard
the alphabetical order membrane keyboard at that. absolute trash. would daily drive. 11/10
The blurring of the thermal compound application had me cracking up.
Lmfao same
Second video today I see this (the other one is from LGR). Why?
@@vacajinjobecause people always complain about how others apply thermal paste and it's annoying.
@jcreazy Oh I get it, thanks. Once you know the context is funny, without it is just very weird.
He still did it wrong! I could tell!
Car batteries aren't meant to run cycles. They're great for giving enormous power for a few seconds, but if you charge/discharge the thing only a dozen times or so, it'll be broken.
You need a marine deep cycle battery.
Just let the man cook
Doing this for actual regular use sure.
Doing it for shenanigans, a used car battery is perfect!
Well, he did mention he was building the worst laptop...
I was just going to say the same thing. Lead Acid batteries should not be discharged.
True!
Pico PSU connect directly to the battery. No reason to run a whole inverter just to take the voltage back down to 12v. DC-DC converters to run other parts of the system if needed. Running a setup like this off a standard car battery is going to kill it quick you probably want a deep discharge battery for this application if you want to run it more than a few cycles on the battery. With a SLA deep discharge battery and using DC-DC converts like the PicoPSU you could fit everything including the battery inside the case.
Agree, but swap the SLA for LiFePo4.
There are full sized Psu that run off 12v problem with them are how ever they are niche and cost almost 1$ usd to the watt on power limit. lol 800$ for a 750 watt
Note that a standard PicoPSU and clones put the input 12v power directly on the PC's 12v rail. If you connect a battery this means you can have over 13.5 volts on the 12v rail which may not be desired. Make sure you get one with buck-boost conversion. I have two M2-ATX-HV I was lucky enough to find for $1 each which would work perfectly here.
This was my first thought as well, but then I remembered that the goal was to make the stupidest "laptop" ever. You don't power stupid with smart.
@@masterkamen371 I mean there's no bottom level of stupid so you could power it with a gas generator too, but that's not really the challenge, the challenge is to make this stupid thing portable, and that'd be a lot simpler and less dangerous without the 120v inverter.
This reminds me so much of those "portable TV's" of the 70's 😁
If it's got a handle on it, it's portable.
12" and smaller B&W ones are very easy to carry if well-balanced. 1980s portable computers are much less portable.
Love that you blurred out the thermal paste application, that shit ain't safe for CZcams. lmao
Would be even better if using a 12V pico power supply so could connect it directly to the battery, would be even more efficient and would last longer on battery
Thats exactly what i was saying at 2:30
You got a DC 12 volt line straight out the battery, all you need to do is some PCBWAY shenanigans to down volt to get +/- 12, 5, 3.3, and 2.8 volts DC. Way more efficient (and quiet) than upconverting to 110 AC then back down
Mount it on your wall and it magically transforms from a laptop into a smart home.
Have it run Casa OS and boom
I've always thought it was a bit ridiculous to run a computer, which runs entirely on 12VDC or less, from a battery, which supplies 12VDC, through an inverter, which produces 120VAC from 12VDC, to a power supply that just immediately rectifies and regulates that AC voltage right back down to 12VDC and less. Tell me you're not wasting battery life powering the circuitry of the inverter and the power supply. What you really need is an appropriate boost and buck regulator that can provide a smooth 12VDC, 5VDC, 3VDC from the battery, even as it discharges.
I mean, the inverter is perfect for this application -- don't get me wrong.
The (I think ratified, but not common yet) ATX12V motherboard power standard means soon you'll literally 'be able to' run a computer off a car battery - it just supplies 12v to the mobo and the mobo itself sorts out the 5v and 3v stuff, as I recall.
@Beany2007FTW the 12v supply needs to be rock solid for those to work properly. You'll just need a buck/boost converter of sufficient quality between the battery and that mobo but yeah, that would have been a cleaner solution however for fooling around he did great with what he had on hand
All he needs is a picopsu, it takes care of regulation for 5v 3.3. -5 and -12v rails, just supply it with 12v strait off the battery, the only issue would be depending on the older motherboard used it might need a beefy 5v rail.
@@DavidScheibercar batteries start at 12.6 and can drop below 11.5 while still providing power. You need 12.0 for a computer.
You're trying to make it smarter, I guess you didn't get the "really stupid" point
Sean "This week we are doing a laptop" Sean's Back "Oh that's great doesn't sound to bad at all".......
Seeing the Allen Bradley again and the huge battery. I know this is gonna be a great video 😂
Furry
Looks awesome. If you're sorta kinda serious about making it self contained, maybe replace the mains/ 110v PSU with a DC-DC converter, as used to let microatx machines run off a 12v wall wart, and then stick a couple of deep cycle 6V batteries, as found in an old UPS, in the bottom of the enclosure. Also, mouse and keyboard must go via the front PS2 ports for maximum silly, if you cant make the membrane work. Thanks for the entertaining videos, this is exactly the sort of nonsense we should be encouraging 😂
0:34 - The new "i'm a professional" wallpaper just dropped!
I laghed when i saw the inverter come out cosidering you're converting the DC into AC only for it to immediately get rectified back into DC again. I love it!
please get the keyboard working. thats most of the charm this thing has.
Sean is truly a gem to the vintage computer community. if anything just for frogfind (well, and the floppy raid video).
LOL Windows Me. Got to have that lightweight, portable, easily accessible, lightning fast laptop.
And only four bluescreens an hour!
Excellent Sean. Now you just need an appropriately silly litter or sedan chair for it so that four of your loyal followers can carry it on their shoulders wherever you go.
Hello this is Anthony. It was nice meeting you today at the VCF SoCal I was the guy in the blue jacket.
I'd be tempted to remove the ATX supply and inverter and go straight to a Pico PSU.
2:23 oh hey bubs!
This is the highest form of jank. Congrats on the 100k subscribers!
This cannot be complete without the membrane stuff working!! 😶
The level of mad engineer on this channel is staggering. You’re not afraid to think “What is the weirdest, craziest, and probably fire inducing thing that I can create from this jank?” It’s the reason why this is my favorite retro channel. Keep up the awesome stuff my guy.
This was absolutely fantastic! I love the ridiculousness of this whole project had me grinning from ear to ear. Thank you for this!
This is _extremely_ silly. I'm all here for it.
This is peak 'something you'd find on a early 2000's forum coming from a poster somewhere in eastern Europe'
You forgot the most important part all luggable PCs had to have - a fancy leather wrapped padded carrying handle.
Since the MLB uses known input power of 12V, 5V and possibly 3.3V... you could skip the invertor, and just lug around a 12V Battery (Lead-acid), 5v (USB Charger) and 3.3 (USB Charger with DC-DC step down)
Totally normal computing!
That beige bezel is from a rittal control station cabinet. They look like weird beige arcade cabinets. That computer could have been controlling any kind of industrial equipment.
I have light trauma from these Allen Bradley IndPCs. we had some at my work where I upgraded the PATA HDD for a PATA SSD, running Windows ME
So AC from wall, to DC charger to battery, to AC inverter, to DC power supply? 😂
AC from the wall to charge DC in the battery to run AC in an inverter to a power supply that turns that AC into DC is just perfection
Blurred out thermal paste to avoid a comment battle 🤣. Love it!
I am all here for silly projects! I'm glad to see the new and improved ME laptops being revived lol.
But don't feel too bad, I have put a "bigger-that-intended" dual Pentium II motherboard into a second one of these and I definitely am feeling the Power Supply fitment and cable management pain. Good time! If you really wanted to get carried away, it looks like that DC-to-AC inverter would fit in the bottom of the chassis, allowing you to put the back cover on. Though I'm not sure the fire inspector would approve.
Keep up the good work!
wow that is amazing screwdriver series sir
My gosh.. It just occured to me.. I wonder if the inspiration for the character Alan Bradley in TRON came from the company behind this beast of a machine...
Even having seen the thumbnail, I still laughed when you chonked the battery onto the table. This is definitely one of the best stupid-cool projects I've seen in quite awhile.
you find this amusing because silly shenanigans like this are absolutely amusing
For VCF, you could swap the car battery (which, as others have pointed out, aren't really designed for the kind of constant load you're putting on it) for a Li-ion power bank and a DC-DC converter to get 12v.
1989: Apple: It's a luggable!
2024: Action retro: Hold my beer!
This is about as smart as the AVGN having a gas generator powering a Dreamcast just to have a wrist watch.
haha this looks like Frankenstein, Happy Weekend at all, many greetings from brunswick in germany and please stay safe 🙃
2:03 Ah I see the Bubble Bobble version of the GameRoom classics bar top. I have a pair of the GameRoom Classics PVG Tech Neo Geo systems. But I converted one of them into a full JAMMA RGB Pi system. Much better emulation and sound than the original hardware.
Zappy Zappy
"Imma Professional" My Wifey was looking at me like I'm an idiot for Laughing so Loud LOL
On no account must you use pixelated heatsink compound! The inter-pixel cooling is abysmal. 😉👍
DIY but not worried about the Y? Hell yeah ;)
And here I thought you wanted the ISA slot for period-accurate sound
If you actually want to lug it around, there's converter boards that plug into the ATX motherboard connector and allow you to use a single DC power source to run everything. Change the battery into a LiPo pack and you're golden.
8:57 Love that it was running ScanDisk, because of course Windows ME didn't shut down properly. Only way it's safe to shut off is when it BSOD's.
I work on a some Allen-Bradley devices, we call them HMIs or Human Machine Interfaces. The new ones are completey touchscreen.
But I never worked on one as old as that.
All the fun of a wall ATM without the cash. I had an XJ it was terrific fun to hack. Cruise control just plugs in with a steering wheel and clockspring swap. The connector under the hood is like an automotive USB. I believe it was early CAN Bus. The light on the dash already has a bulb too. Wasn't able to get the junkyard heated seats to work, probably open in the seat itself. Also rewired a Grand Cherokee seat for the driver's side cutting out the memory module. Oh yeah and a powerlock button inside the cubby hole by the rear hatch. 2 wires all the way forward to the passenger footwell and the switch was from an Explorer rear tailgate area. Scion Pioneer stereo, with aux headphone drilled into the face. Had to cut the dash a little to fit that. It lasted longer than the factory radios, 3 or 4 of them, and it had a key on/off sequence to hack the faceplate to say anything.
Action retro meets Styropyro
Sean: "This power supply is hanging on by a thread."
OCD subscriber "Hey that was 3 threads!"
Can't wait to see it at VCF East! What a wild contraption
this pc is cursed! installing ME is basically a war crime lol
Hilarious! Where can I get on the waiting list for one of these? 😂😂
There are power supplies with 12V DC input, as mentioned, you should use one for endurance and for the battery health (since it isn't deep cycle)
The casing was made by Rittal, a German manufacturer of enclosements for industrial use.
I loved the blur on the thermal paste application lol
X Marks the spot!!!!
Hahaha the blurring of the thermal paste pattern cracks me up.
I would use some detachable monitor speakers but great video!
I believe they make ATX power supplies that take a 12V input, so you could bypass the inverter :)
Using a PicoPSU would run just from the 12V of that battery - no converter needed.
I chuckled through this whole video.
I would love a case like that to throw a server into, even if i have to replace the lcd.
HAHAHA. This is why I watch Action Retro. Thanks man.
Finally, a "laptop" to take into RETAIL COFFEE SHOP to write my screenplay while all the mums with prams give me evils
This truly puts the Lug in luggable!
This build reminds me of a bit of computer humor that was circulating in the late 1980s or early '90s about a fictitious Burroughs portable mini or mainframe system. It was basically a mock advertisement that compared the made-up Burroughs machine against its major competitors at the time, which, if I remember correctly, consisted of an IBM mainframe, a VAX, and an IBM PC (per the "ad", of course). The fake ad included a feature comparison table, as was customary at the time. My favorite entry in that was "Fits in a briefcase: IBM Mainframe - no; VAX - no; IBM PC - no; Burroughs - yes*" and in fine print, under the table: "* Large briefcase required". Your build is funnier, though, because you actually made it real! I'd be interested to know how long it runs on a charge.
This is a Cyber-Deck on steroids.. Love it!
Want to See the Convention, and the Reactions
I don't know if that power supply is silly and unwieldy enough...could you use Compressed-Air Energy Storage, or perhaps a treadmill driven by a small ungulate?
‘e puts the Ugh in Luggable, lol.
I REALLY wish I could find that machine or just the case. Oh the fun I could have with it...
this is peak Action Retro right here rofl
My nose favourite part of DIY is the why, as long as "not" is swiftly followed up after it
Just get yourself a hand truck and you've got an awesome mobile gaming setup! 🤣👍
Don't you hate when your dying gazelle goes " _brrrrrrrrrrrr_ "
Computer parts will run DIRECT current from a 12v battery. Mobos can handle up to 15V, or as little as 10V. Some of them do not have the voltage regulators to get the 5V or 3.3V lines up and running though. So a separate, step-down circuit, usually just the 5V line is all that's needed for boot logic. No inverter or power-suck-lie necessary! Do not try this at home either. But I run lots of junk this way, on my boat. Where nothing bad ever happens.
You're living my dream, bro
maybe if you can make a few Li-Ion battery packs to stuff into the chassis and mount the charger in there also
I used computers just like these at a machine shop I used to work at in Aston, they ran windows NT! Now that I am a software developer, I want one of these so I can take my remote work to the coffee shop!
I've scrapped several bad PanelViews over the years. Wish I'd taken the time to repair them repurpose them. Employees would have had a great time with these... Well, still have 2 that were just replaced as they were running Windows XP. Might have to "improve" them.
I love this channel
Was thinking about how the PicoPSU 12V-input power supplies exist, then realizing it would make it less worse.
If you shop around ebay (and salvage lots...) for an EPIA-5000 (or a nano-itx budget depending) and a DC-DC converter you might have just enough space to mount the battery INSIDE the PC... Or just jam pack it with LiIon cells for "the worlds largest fire hazard portable" :D
You have earned my subscription
I love the "official" Windows ME disc ;)
Rather than use an inverter and a standard big box power supply, you should look into a DC to DC PSU. There are such devices that can supply up to 300W for quite cheap, and they're *TINY* in comparison to a full size PSU. Combine that with a smaller marine deep cycle battery, and you can probably fit it all inside the industrial PC's chassis AND be far more efficient, probably giving you just as much battery life on a much smaller battery.
You should try manually modding windows 98 se by swapping out it's version of ms dos from windows Me
Powered a modern laptop off of lead acid & an inverter once. It lasted just as long as the laptop's internal li-ion & when the lead acid tipped over, it was bad.
I came for the absurdity of it all. I was not disappointed.
2:24 Bubbles jumpscare
2:30 why do that when you can have a pico atx power supply and directly hook it to the car battery
10:00 HEY! I have those speakers! XD
If I saw this at a lan party I would at first say "da fuq?" then laugh a bit, then geek out over it.