Flipping Superior

With handheld consoles just like the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go rising in reputation, PC gaming has by no means been extra handy and moveable. These tiny methods pack a critical punch in relation to computing horsepower, and there are numerous choices obtainable to swimsuit all several types of tastes. Effectively, possibly not all completely different tastes — some individuals are more durable to fulfill than others. Take Marcin Plaza, for instance, who needed to play PC video games on a handheld console, however for one motive or one other, nothing available on the market match his wants.

For one factor, Plaza hates conventional controllers. And except for not liking them as a person interface, it additionally drove him loopy that the thumbsticks discovered on most handhelds get caught on every thing if you attempt to stow them in a backpack. A lot for portability, huh? Plaza has proven that he’s actually not above crying about his issues, which he didn’t hesitate to do. However crying was not the top of it — he additionally designed and constructed a handheld gaming PC that completely suited his wants.

The purpose of this venture was to construct a handheld impressed by the design of the Nintendo DS. Form of, anyway. This new model ought to fold like a DS, to cover the controls and shield the display, however it might solely have a single display, with the second floor reserved for a customized person interface consisting of a miniature keyboard, a number of buttons, and a trackpad.

Plaza has a historical past of hacking up outdated damaged laptops, which could be bought very inexpensively. This venture was no completely different — a considerably damaged Lenovo laptop computer, purchased for $50, served because the core of the brand new system. After all the elements would wish to suit right into a a lot smaller house to be a real handheld, however that was not as troublesome because it sounds. The motherboard, battery, and different elements can simply be stacked, which considerably reduces the floor space they take up.

However then there’s that pesky show. One thing a lot smaller can be wanted, however to suit the scale constraints it might must have the identical sort of interface, which was an Embedded DisplayPort connection. Since solely a single viable answer was discovered, the choice of which one to make use of was simple. However as a 12.7-inch 2880×864 pixel ultrawide display, it was fairly an unconventional selection for a handheld.

Nonetheless, contemplating that the motherboard can also be 12 inches broad, and the system flips open such that the controls don’t want to increase additional out to the aspect past the show, all of it form of labored out. Sure, there was a number of frustration concerned in making this show work with the hacked-up laptop computer, however in the long run, all of it paid off. The pc was in a position to boot into Ubuntu Linux utilizing the brand new display.

To finish the construct, a case was 3D-printed and the components have been shoved (and I do imply shoved ) inside. A customized PCB was designed to help the buttons for the keyboard and customized controller, and the present laptop computer trackpad was wired in and put in as nicely. An Arduino Professional Micro was put in on the PCB to show these buttons right into a simulated keyboard to make interfacing it with the pc simple.

The consequence appears wonderful, if not a bit on the thick aspect. It’s actually not for everybody, however might maybe function inspiration for people who need to construct their very own customized handheld that fits their very own distinctive tastes.

A customized handheld PC gaming console (📷: Marcin Plaza)

The donor laptop computer (📷: Marcin Plaza)

Assembling the brand new system (📷: Marcin Plaza)


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