Well I've been thinking about power for a bit. My current plan is to use a clip-on camcorder battery, which must be removed for charging in some sort of hack-ola charger. The power supply will not charge the battery. Not the best solution, but I can't find a smart charger with enough oomph to power an N64. Relatedlyly: Will pumping 8.5V into a protection circuit blow it up? Will it destroy the battery? I'm asking because I have an 8.5V PS2 adaptor. Car power becomes a problem now. I mainly play in the car.

Obviously I need a case. I've considered vacuforming, IntoPlay, even the N64 shell and looked at a few commercial enclosures. I think I'm going to use a ZN-40 for a few reasons:
1. Tough (hopefully) to take my abuse.
2. It's cheap and easy (in comparison to some other cases).
3. It's a nice balance of not too big or small.
I'm going to try to build this thing tough and nice-looking. That means screws wherever possible, a minimum of glue. Most likely it'll be hacked together like everything else I build and look like a Shockslayer tribute.

An early concept is coming soon(ish)!

EDIT: Here's the early concept!

Here's some notes:
1. Nothing is to scale.
2. The dots below the screen are buttons for brightness and volume.
3. I screwed up the buttons. They should be arranged like a genesis 6-button, with start underneath and to the left.
4. I have no idea what Dpad to use. SNES maybe?
5. The second analog stick is for something I call FPS mode. In goldeneye I like solitaire, with my right hand on the stick. It makes sense if you are used to PC gaming. So I'll wire up a second stick on a switch. It was originally going to be combined with a C-stick but I gave up that idea. Too much switching to do, and it would suck in a lot of games.
6. There will be L and R buttons on the back with a Z button below each. I'm trying to think what trigger I want to use for that.
7. Underneath will be separate screen and console power switches, headphone jack, LOB64 port, and power jack. Oh and the FPS mode switch too. A/V and controller connections will be provided via a LOB64 adaptor.
8. I'm abandoning the removable jumper/expansion pack idea. I'm going to integrate an expansion pak as soon as I can find one.
9. The big white square should be a PSone screen.
10. I may or may not put in rumble. If I get a new controller I will consider a controller-peripheral-port-thingy, but I ripped the slot off of this controller.
Keep in mind that this is an early concept.

Rather than using the (yawn) ZN-40 or similar; if you want a case for free, how about using an empty PSone case - fill in the vent holes on the backing, and the holes in the sides; would give a good case base; flat backing. Just an idea for a frankencase - the PSone casing is plenty big enough for an N64 board and system. Maybe not ideal, but free and a bit different?

I don't think I'd be able to find an empty PS1 case where I live- and there's no way I'm paying for one. I know a ZN-40 is boring and overdone, but remember this is my first (big) project. Besides, I like that sort of style, I think it's called "industrial" or something like that.

I had thought about sending you my PSone console case backing for free (just postage cost) as I don't need it, but looking at it, whilst the N64 board sits nicely inside, the case backing is only about 20mm thick and would need more work done on it than it is worth the time; so not such a great idea!

Making cases yourself by vacuum forming costs money and you are clearly on a budget, so the polycase you mentioned is probably the best way forward on reflection. The other option is to use a couple of sheets of perspex and build up some sides, like I did on my early projects - you have a chance to make something different if you want to and can make it as thick or thin as you need the system to be. If you don't have perspex, how about the bottom flat areas of plastic boxes or bins, or similar? That is a potentially free case, with a bit of work.

If you saw how bad the other stuff I built, you'd understand. I build like crap. And I'm worried about weight. Those are great suggestions, I'll keep it in mind if the ZN-40 idea fails. I've considered the IntoPlay case but I don't think I can fit the N64 buttons on. My next portable will probably be way more creative.

What is Perspex anyway? Is it acrylic, polycarbonate or something completely different?

Alright, here's the second edition concept!

More notes, for your enjoyment.
-The colour will actually be black. The grey is for clarity.
-I have no idea of scale because I don't have a ZN40 yet.
Top:
-grey thing on the left is a headphone jack
-a few vents, for exhausting
-the middle thingy is a poorly drawn out of scale cart slot
Front:
-left row of stuff- control stick, Dpad, speaker holes
-I'm considering a SNES d-pad.
-The four tiny buttons are for screen control.
-The YAP64 jewel will also be a power light. It will glow blue.
-The mini-stick on the right is for "FPS mode", which I've explained a few posts above.
-I have no idea what stick to use. PSP disc? Cut-down c-stick?
Back:
-I may extend the button thingies into grips, but probably not. Then again it will give me more clearance.
-There is an L button, R button, and two duplicate Z buttons.
-circle thing=cooling vent
-the thing below the vent is a raised section for expansion pack clearance
Bottom:
-The thing on the far left is the power jack.
-Left row of switches: screen power, console power, FPS mode
-more vents in the middle, I'll probably leave them out
-LOB64 port and switch, which will either be master/slave or external/internal P1.

A few new questions:
1. What's good wire? I've heard that ribbon cable actually sucks. I've heard that controller cable is good. I'll probably use my own discretion here. But I need a list of stuff to avoid at all costs!
2. I think I need TWO TI cards, one for the console (obviously) but one to make a car adaptor as well.

Of course they will fit, designed to!

As you ask, two examples, to correct scale, using the buttons from an official N64 controller - superimposed them over photo of my portable. Obviously the controls on the PSone pic are not relevant.

Illustration only:

option 1



option 2



Not sure which scenario I will use in my N64 portable yet.

The buttons on the official N64 controllers slope, which is not ideal on a flat surface, however there are some controllers like the SuperPad which have flat buttons on a flat surface - I have a couple of these and will use one.

Speakers can be at the top, or holes lowered; on the left middle, joystick, bottom left d-pad.

Perspex - yes, acrylic - just a flat and strong sheet of plastic. Don't use polycarbinate as you can't spraypaint to it easily.

Wow, the IntoPlay case always looked smaller to me! How strong is it? Does it flex a lot, rock solid, or somewhere in between? Will shipping kill me?

I would recommend putting one R (right), one Z (left) and two L (both sides) buttons. In almost every case, you hold normally your fingers on R and Z so they are the main buttons.

Ribbon cable does have its difficulties, the biggest of which is that it sometimes breaks inside the insulation. It still may be making contact, until it is moved just right. I've never had that happen personally, but whenever I do use it, I use clip-on leads on my multimeter when testing my connections. That allows me to jiggle the wire and see if the connection fails.

Personally, I by far prefer it to controller or video cable for small applications. I think it's great that I can have all the wires on a cart or other port laying flat and organized. I take the precautions to make sure faulty connections aren't caused by invisible breaks in the wire, and it works great for me.

the worst part about stranded ribbon cable is shorts. I'm having lots of problems in my portable with shorts. (guess why I'm buying an n64 from you tibia )

if you want to scale it, just go look at mine!

Oh, and you better go with a Zn- 45 if this is your first project, + your mockup designs are near impossible with the cart slot like that.

SS

Two L buttons? On both sides?! That makes no sense! You're going to have to explain it to me.



I don't have any clip on multimeter leads. I'll probably use something other than ribbon cable. But it depends what I have/can get.



How do you get shorts?! Is the insulation breaking?



I don't want to go with the ZN-45, it's too big to hold comfortably. Most likely this portable will have a gigantic lump on the back with the N64 and cart slot inside. Not the nice slim portable in the concept pics.

You haven't held one, have you? Or you have tiny hands.

SS

Never held one, going by dimensions. Either I read them wrong or I have issues with imperial units.