Post
by glassjoe92 » Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:37 pm
I have a lot of systems lying around. All of which are too bulky to make portable. But my N64 just broke, so maybe it will have a change in heart, it's actually my little brothers but w/e. I'm in the same boat as you as far as making any sort of portable.
Some things I DO have experience with-
eBay- a website where you hook an account up to a paypal account, you find a product for a reasonable price (watch out for obvious scams, like a screen for 99c.), also look out for shipping prices, that's where a lot of people get you. Also, make sure the item isn't broken! Read the whole product description, and if you still don't know, never be afraid to ask! You don't really ever want to bid on something until the final minutes of it, otherwise you're just raising your own price. There is a time limit on all eBay items, say I posted something at a price of $5 and it had $3 shipping, after a few bids it will go up $x.xx each bid, until finally it ends up $25 on the last few minutes, these are the minutes where prices seem to boost. Especially if a lot of people are bidding. I know this because I sold 4 copies of Vista Ultimate starting at $100, and for 5 days they didn't move AT ALL, then the last 10 minutes I had over $800 in my paypal account! Though, if you ever sell on eBay, they take off a percentage of the money you make, and so does paypal. So you lose a small amount. I ended up paying about $50 of that back to paypal and ebay. Also, watch out for reserves that people set, some people may not sell something until it hits a target price, which is not shown until it is hit. SO- if you bid on an item and are the final bidder by the time time runs out, then you just made your first eBay purchase.
Paypal- hooks up to your bank account and you can transfer money to and from your account for a small fee. Great for online shopping or small business owners.
Even though I'm still a BIG NOOB,
The reason you want to cut the wires so low is so there is no circuit crossing, or shorts in your device, touching wires can really screw things up! I like to stick a SMALL layer of hot glue over my FINAL soldering job. That way, they are separated by a non-conductive substance so there is basically 0% chance of short circuits.
I hope to start a portable of my own soon! Good luck!
Hope this helps.
Mine are usually in the way when I'm trying to do some tiny soldering and get hucked across the room. I rarely use them, but for some reason whenever I clean I get the urge to put them back on my desk incase I ever need them (which is never 
)
Nothing that is a show stopper, though!
