How do we make this portable.

[tnelsond]

I know this is what everybody is thinking, so I'll say it:
How do we make an R-Pi portable?
Are there any good small screens (portable standard def TVs even) that we can attatch?
Do we have any foldup keyboards that are still usable that we can use with it?

[obarthelemy]

I went for a mini, but regular (non foldable) USB keyboard:the 505 listed there (30 euros) It includes a trackball, which hopefully will be recognized (it should be, trackballs and mice are really the same thing) http://www.perixx.com/interen/.....strial.htm. Perixx have a wide choice of wired, BT wireless, RF Wireless, trackball, trackpad... stuff.
I also got a foldable Bluetooth keyboard for my phone and tablet, w/o pointing device though: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/p.....lack-91033. There are plenty of micro BT mice

I've had less luck with monitors (and I don't really want one anyway). Especially since USB monitors are NOT compatible, though there might be a way to get the MIMO ones to work, they alrady do with the Plug (http://www.newit.co.uk/shop/pr.....php?cat=16). It seems http://www.carcomputer.co.uk/s.....i-monitors specialize in small HDMI monitors, but they're expensive. I love their new year's resolution though: "Liliput's New Year Resolution is 1080p" ^^

In the end, if you want portable, a ready made Efika MX Smartbook is les expensive: https://www.genesi-usa.com/store/, or there are plenty of cheap chinese knockoffs on dealextreme: http://s.dealextreme.com/search/netbook

[tnelsond]

I would think they would have a 3" portable old standard definition cheap tv screen around somewhere that could hook up to the R-Pi.

Or what if one were to hook up a portable DVD player to a R-Pi and have the R-Pi use the DVD slot as a cd drive? I guess portable DVD players are probably expensive too.

[abishur]

When you say portable DVD player, do you mean one with a screen? In the ones I've purchased, they tend to not have the ability to receive video from eternal sources nor output the DVD slot to a device. If you just mean a thinline DVD player, sure those can be found for under 50 I think.

[tnelsond]

Well, I meant the ones with a screen. I've never taken one apart so I don't know what it is like, but I figured with some hardware hackery someone could get it working.

It'd probably be better to get one of those mini black and white tv's with the radio and stuff and hook an R-Pi to that.

[abishur]

oh, that sounds pretty cool

[Svartalf]

Main problem with the portable DVD players is that they're liable to be using LVDS instead of HDMI for the link for the flat-panel and you're not going to be able to use them without a bunch of extra circuits in the mix.

Sadly, most small HDMI capable monitors weigh in at the $400-650 range (ouch!)... I'm scrounging for a cheaper price right now and I'll post an update when I'm done.

[Svartalf]

Heh... Found some that were priced a bit more reasonably...

http://www.coollcd.com/on-sale....._p693.html
http://www.coollcd.com/lillipu....._p774.html

[Cafe]

I said this in another topic: Here is an Alibaba link to an HDMI monitor with the same spec as the Lilliput:

http://bit.ly/rne7nf

Maybe a bunch of us can buy together and negotiate a volume price? Maybe the Raspi foundation wants to do this at some point (they have said they will sell branded accessories)?

[henkschuifkaas]

How about using a cheap digital photo frame? I have seen some with av-out, so maybe it also take av-in?

[Cafe]

The Haier 7" LCD TV is a good fit. It accepts AV input (in addition to coax, but we don't care about that). This is a discontinued model, but is available at Amazon.com for $50 including shipping. It is about 1" thick and weighs 1.3 lbs. It includes a rechargeable battery and a charger. (To me the battery side is very important.)

http://amzn.to/nQwO4D

Caveats: Some people have reported white(ish) screen and a few dead pixels. Overall, based on the reviews, my sense is that you will have a close to 3:1 chance you will get a piece that works. Make sure you buy it from Amazon so you can easily return a bad piece.

This item is available from other vendors for up to $100. Over at Amazon, you will also find other brands that can work: Axion, Viore, Vizio, and Coby; all priced higher. Axion appears closest to Haier; Coby is the thickest and heaviesst. Vizio appears to be the best (thinner, lighter, all around better), but is also expensive at ~$93.

Here is a direct link to the Vizion model: http://amzn.to/pPn5Gr

[Willofield]

What about those little Car or Campingmonitors: http://www.amazon.de/Zoll-NTSC.....038;sr=8-3 , but i think we need one with DVI/VGA (and Adapter to HDMI) or HDMI.

[tnelsond]

I think the real problem is getting a picture frame or something that would hook up to the R-Pi. But it would be cool if we could because picture frames are pretty cheap.

[tnelsond]

On a different note, what kind of battery could we hook the R-Pi up to? Double A's, Tripple A's, Watch batteries?

[abishur]

well in theory you could use any of those, you'd just have to make sure to wire enough of them to get the voltage right and enough amps to keep the whole thing powered for enough time to make the whole thing worth while

My thought for making it work is to use a good Li-ion battery. Getting to power the r-pi is as simple as hooking a coax connector to it. The real issue with anything like this is providing the circuitry to charge the battery while still getting to use the r-pi. It would be easy enough to charge it while not hooked up to the r-pi, but that seems like a hassle to have to disconnect the battery every time you want to recharge it.

[Lob0426]

I second you there abishur. Charging it will be the problem. I have a charger for radio controlled aircraft that can do it, but I really do not want to carry around a 5 pound charger. A delta peak charger probably is not what you want for a mobile device.

[crundy]

I'd like to be able to find a laptop on fleaBay with a knackered motherboard, strip out the internals, replace it with an R-Pi, and do something really dorky like cut out whatever the R-Pi logo will be into the back, add a white (or red) panel, and an LED so I can put the MacMorons to shame in Starbucks

[Asmodeus]

Solution for "mobile monitor": (?)
It should be possible to connect a mobile or tablet with Android OS via USB. Then start a VNC server (raspberry) and a VNC viewer (android device).

[Svartalf]

Quote from tnelsond on August 16, 2011, 19:03
I think the real problem is getting a picture frame or something that would hook up to the R-Pi. But it would be cool if we could because picture frames are pretty cheap.

Biggest drawback to a picture frame LCD is that they're picking the slowest refresh rate devices they can lay their hands on- because they're low margin devices. It'd work, but it'd be kind of akin to the thing they did with the iOpener (Google for it if you don't know...) which was "okay" as an Internet Appliance, but stank overall because of the flickery slow updating display.

[Svartalf]

Quote from Asmodeus on August 19, 2011, 14:03
Solution for "mobile monitor": (?)
It should be possible to connect a mobile or tablet with Android OS via USB. Then start a VNC server (raspberry) and a VNC viewer (android device).

VNC's "okay"... I'm aiming for a bit higher target if I can for another project... Biggest problem with this is that you're tying a much more expensive and powerful device (in most cases) to the R-Pi when you do it.

[juanRIOT]

Quote from crundy on August 17, 2011, 10:26
I'd like to be able to find a laptop on fleaBay with a knackered motherboard, strip out the internals, replace it with an R-Pi, and do something really dorky like cut out whatever the R-Pi logo will be into the back, add a white (or red) panel, and an LED so I can put the MacMorons to shame in Starbucks

I just cant let this pass without commenting how it made me smile, even if its an old post.
"MacMorons."
That should be copyrighted and sold as bumber stickers. It will sell thousands.

[juanRIOT]

Why is nobody suggesting a lcd color screen module to make Raspi portable?

[Scribe]

Quote from juanRIOT on October 7, 2011, 22:18
Why is nobody suggesting a lcd color screen module to make Raspi portable?

You can buy a very similar spec'd tablet for £62! http://www.scan.co.uk/products.....android-22

I'd be very tempted to crack one open to see if any useful ports are exposed.

[Jongoleur]

A Discgo 6000?

Had one, got a refund! Deadfinger resistive screen, sluggard smartphone OS, battery life measured in milliseconds! (perhaps that IS overegging it, but not by much) Its not too difficult to crack open either, just put it down on a hard surface rather incautiously, its not that robust...

[juanRIOT]

You can buy a very similar spec'd tablet for £62! http://www.scan.co.uk/products.....android-22

Not that. That's an Ipad tablet rip off. Its in every shady tech shop in my city. by lcd color screen module , I mean this:

only 12 inches bigger and a way to attach it Raspi's HDMI?

WAIT! Seen this just now after I posted what's above.
Seems like there's a thread in here already similar to what I mean.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/?pa.....#038;t=334