[sf-lug] Outdoor Computing

[vincent polite]

A "Make" magazine thought. How about building a base that includes a 18-24 cell lithium-ion battery? You could have a detachable photo-voltaic panel? Arms that come out of the base for a keyboard and a pad for a mouse? To reduce the suns glare, you would probably need an anti-glare screen. Including an extra fan or two might be a good idea. I think you could get a federal grant for that.

Vince




________________________________
From: Jim Cortez <jim at jimcortez.com>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2009 9:42:18 AM
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] Outdoor Computing

I have played with one, but I think the keyboard and monitor are too small.
Thanks,
Jim

jim wrote:
>    depending on what you want to do, the XO box 
> may work for you (the little green One Laptop HoH
> Per Child product). 
>
>
> On Sun, 2009-04-05 at 20:19 -0700, Jim Cortez wrote:
>  
>> While enjoying the incredible weather at Baker beach today, I found 
>> myself wanting to get some work done outside, in bright bright sunlight. 
>> So here are some brief requirements for a machine that I want to build:
>>
>>     * need to hook up to a battery of some kind
>>     * want about 5 hours of usability
>>     * need to see the screen in bright sunlight
>>     * need it to be semi-portable (meaning I can carry it to the beach)
>>     * needs to be sand proof
>>     * run Linux (Ubuntu or some derivative preferred)
>>     * have a budget of $600 (can probably machine things like a case if
>>       needed)
>>
>> The main thing is the monitor and usability. I figure the use of an 
>> intel atom board would be efficient enough. I know the OLPC has an LCD 
>> that can switch to grayscale and is visible in bright sunlight, anyone 
>> know if anyone makes a larger version of this screen? Most of the time I 
>> will just be coding, so video and full color display is not really 
>> necessary. Looking for at least a 15' screen.
>>
>> Keyboard and mouse can be wired for power-conservation, but I prefer a 
>> full keyboard for coding.
>>
>> Does anyone have experience coming up with external power sources? Any tips?
>>
>> At some point I might break down and get a 3g pc card, but in the 
>> meantime I can make due with caching any data I would need beforehand. I 
>> think the atom boards have built in wifi.
>>
>> Any suggestions or commentary?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jim Cortez
>>
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>>    
>
>  


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