[Arm-netbook] The opposite of the EOMA-68 laptop

[David Boddie]

I'm more of a desktop user these days but even I can see the benefits of
a modular laptop design. It was something highlighted to me during my recent
reboot of my old laptop:

http://www.boddie.org.uk/david/www-repo/Personal/Updates/2016/2016-08-07.html

One thing that is highlighted very early on the EOMA68 campaign page is the
cost of getting a laptop fixed. Part of that is the need to return to a
single vendor or support company for repairs, especially when a laptop is
within the warranty period.

It's not always the case that you get everything fixed at zero cost under
warranty, and there are always time costs and secondary expenses associated
with shipping a broken product back to the vendor.

Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to show the inside of a laptop
that probably blows through the EOMA-68 laptop's power budget several times
over - just check out that cooling solution! ;-)

David

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

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

Post by David Boddie
I'm more of a desktop user these days but even I can see the benefits of
a modular laptop design. It was something highlighted to me during my recent
http://www.boddie.org.uk/david/www-repo/Personal/Updates/2016/2016-08-07.html
One thing that is highlighted very early on the EOMA68 campaign page is the
cost of getting a laptop fixed. Part of that is the need to return to a
single vendor or support company for repairs, especially when a laptop is
within the warranty period.
It's not always the case that you get everything fixed at zero cost under
warranty, and there are always time costs and secondary expenses associated
with shipping a broken product back to the vendor.
Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to show the inside of a laptop
that probably blows through the EOMA-68 laptop's power budget several times
over - just check out that cooling solution! ;-)

i know, man... :)

you joined quite recently, i don't know if you've seen these:

http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/EOMA68_Libre_15.6in_Laptop_partially_assembled/
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_prototype_progress_26sep2015/
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_LCD_operational_14dec2015/

and although it's low-resolution, the video here gives a full walkthrough:
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/Component_walkthrough_pre_assembly/

... bit of a difference, eh?

l.

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

tell you what, david: i have an idea. would you like to do a "guest
update"? basically pretty much exactly what you wrote, but published
on crowdsupply?
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 3:58 PM, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68

Post by David Boddie
I'm more of a desktop user these days but even I can see the benefits of
a modular laptop design. It was something highlighted to me during my recent
http://www.boddie.org.uk/david/www-repo/Personal/Updates/2016/2016-08-07.html
One thing that is highlighted very early on the EOMA68 campaign page is the
cost of getting a laptop fixed. Part of that is the need to return to a
single vendor or support company for repairs, especially when a laptop is
within the warranty period.
It's not always the case that you get everything fixed at zero cost under
warranty, and there are always time costs and secondary expenses associated
with shipping a broken product back to the vendor.
Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to show the inside of a laptop
that probably blows through the EOMA-68 laptop's power budget several times
over - just check out that cooling solution! ;-)

i know, man... :)
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/EOMA68_Libre_15.6in_Laptop_partially_assembled/
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_prototype_progress_26sep2015/
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_LCD_operational_14dec2015/
http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/Component_walkthrough_pre_assembly/
... bit of a difference, eh?
l.

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[David Boddie]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
http://rhombus-

tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/EOMA68_Libre_15.6in_Laptop_partially_assembled/

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
http://rhombus-

tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_prototype_progress_26sep2015/

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
http://rhombus-

tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/PCB1_LCD_operational_14dec2015/

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
http://rhombus-

tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/Component_walkthrough_pre_assembly/

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
... bit of a difference, eh?

Yes, quite! I've actually seen all of those before, I think. L-shaped circuit
boards seem to be something that all laptops need to have! Very shiny!

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
tell you what, david: i have an idea. would you like to do a "guest
update"? basically pretty much exactly what you wrote, but published
on crowdsupply?

Sure, if you think it would help. Let me know if/how I can improve the text
and I'll get to it!

David

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

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

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
http://rhombus-

tech.net/community_ideas/laptop_15in/news/Component_walkthrough_pre_assembly/

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
... bit of a difference, eh?

Yes, quite! I've actually seen all of those before, I think. L-shaped circuit
boards seem to be something that all laptops need to have! Very shiny!

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
tell you what, david: i have an idea. would you like to do a "guest
update"? basically pretty much exactly what you wrote, but published
on crowdsupply?

Sure, if you think it would help. Let me know if/how I can improve the text
and I'll get to it!

hm i noticed it's quite long, something like the Cedrus one was 500
words. would you be happy to do something instead that _references_
what you wrote, then includes one of each of the photos, mentioning
the stark contrast and summarising the difficulties that you had
opening the laptop? even well less than 500 words - say only 2 or 3
paragraphs - would be absolutely fine.

crowdsupply's web site used markdown so you can put references in
with [name](url), images they do differently, with {name_of_image} but
ref them by the URL and i'll let joshua's team to know to pick them up
and substitute them in.

l.

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[David Boddie]

Post by Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
hm i noticed it's quite long, something like the Cedrus one was 500
words. would you be happy to do something instead that _references_
what you wrote, then includes one of each of the photos, mentioning
the stark contrast and summarising the difficulties that you had
opening the laptop? even well less than 500 words - say only 2 or 3
paragraphs - would be absolutely fine.

I'll send you something off-list.

David

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[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

Post by David Boddie
I'll send you something off-list.

thxdavid.

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Se

[Christopher Havel]

@ David -- by my eyes, that actually looks to be an incredibly nice, clean,
and tidy production. I have a spare motherboard (ignoring busted audio jack
and one questionable USB port) for my trusty ASUS 1000HE netbook. I was
thinking of desktopping it until I saw just what a mess it would be simply
hooking up a power button... the power button PCB connects to the
motherboard with a tiny flat flex cable (FFC -- the little white fiddly
cables in laptops that like to tear) and the pin pitch is frightening, at
best... never mind rigging in a new cooling solution, since the original
"heatsink" is the keyboard underlay! And so on.

May I ask how you handled that very issue (power button) yourself? Is video
out automatically handled by BIOS or did you have to twiddle something...?
Is it still hooked to the old battery? etc.

You can email me off-list if Luke gets ornery ;) but I'm rather curious as
to the full implementation and all.

[Christopher Havel]

...actually, somewhat more on topic. You want a laptop that's a real PITA
to get into? Try the HP Compaq tc4200 and tc4400. Mom's had both. Ugly,
slow, bothersome, nasty machines. There may be others with the same chassis
and its fatal flaw... I dunno. I hope not!

They wouldn't be so bad if they weren't "convertibles" as I call them --
they have a single doofy swivel hinge thing for the lid that lets them
become a nasty bulky tablet instead of a nasty bulky laptop. The problem
isn't the hinge itself, *per se* -- but rather in its implementation and
how the whole thing goes together. The WiFi card and half of the RAM is
under the keyboard, and to get under that keyboard, you have to pull up the
power button bezel...

...which inevitably breaks in half right around that freaking hinge,
because that's basically how it's made. There is no other way into the
system as far as I've been able to figure out. You can't get the hinge out
of the way till the bezel (and keyboard, IIRC) are out -- the connection
for the LCD cable is under there somewhere. Forget it. You have to damage
the freaking thing to get it open.

I just put electrical tape over the broken bezel to hold it together... but
my god, a laptop where you have to literally break the casework to get into
the dang thing, geez louise. (If you can't tell, I'm trying REALLY HARD not
to swear here. I could paint this email bright blue with four-letter words
on that particular chassis' point of idiocy, but I'm in polite company, so
I'm trying to restrain myself.)

As Luke Skywalker said upon meeting the Millennium Falcon -- "What a piece
of junk!" Alas, the Millennium Falcon is a far superior machine... and I
say that as a Trekkie ;)

I guess the upshot is that it's not a "nurse, get my scalpel" iMac... ;)

[David Boddie]

Post by Christopher Havel
@ David -- by my eyes, that actually looks to be an incredibly nice, clean,
and tidy production. I have a spare motherboard (ignoring busted audio jack
and one questionable USB port) for my trusty ASUS 1000HE netbook. I was
thinking of desktopping it until I saw just what a mess it would be simply
hooking up a power button... the power button PCB connects to the
motherboard with a tiny flat flex cable (FFC -- the little white fiddly
cables in laptops that like to tear) and the pin pitch is frightening, at
best... never mind rigging in a new cooling solution, since the original
"heatsink" is the keyboard underlay! And so on.

I think I may have been a bit harsh on the old beast. Samsung did a pretty
good job of integrating everything on the motherboard. It's just a shame that
they had to include everything except the kitchen sink. It's not like I have
to deal with multiple boards strung together with cables. The board, once
extracted, is self-contained.

Post by Christopher Havel
May I ask how you handled that very issue (power button) yourself? Is video
out automatically handled by BIOS or did you have to twiddle something...?
Is it still hooked to the old battery? etc.

The power button is a simple push button at the top-right of the motherboard.
The top part of the board was covered by a panel with a grille that sat on
top of the fans and plastic covers for each of the buttons (Internet, e-mail,
user and power). Video out is handled by the BIOS. I haven't connected the
battery - the board doesn't seem to need it. I also left out the CD/DVD drive
because I think it no longer works. Oh, and the speaker outputs aren't
connected to anything. I think I unplugged the soft-modem at some point in
the distant past.

Post by Christopher Havel
You can email me off-list if Luke gets ornery ;) but I'm rather curious as
to the full implementation and all.

I'll risk it for now. ;-)

Really, what you see in the pictures is all there was to it, unless you want
to see pictures of the inside of the case. The only thing I added was the
black CompactFlash adapter that plugs into the IDE slot. Feel free to ask me
more questions privately if you want.

David

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