Hailrazers's 2nd Dreamcast Portable -- The Dreamweaver

[hailrazer]

Well I have been commissioned to make a Dreamcast Portable.

So far this is the plan :

Case - Datamax Case -- Frankenmodded - I love this case
Case color -- Black (requested by buyer)
Batteries -- 7.4v 9000mAh Lithium Polymer
Screen -- Zenith 5" Psone.
Controller -- Official Dreamcast Controller
Vmu slot included
Headphone jack
A/V out


I will be posting here to keep the buyer up to date on the progress and to get his input on the direction he wants to go.

Feel free to give any opinions. (Most will be ignored) Joking

[joeyjoe9876]

good luck mate, i'm starting one in the upcoming months. just looking for a good enough case. even though i may just vac-form one

[hailrazer]

Behold my wonderful Paint mock-up skills :

[samjc3]

yay! another beautiful DCp on the way! this has been a hell of a year for the DC!(09/10)

[argelfraster]

Cleaned it up a bit.
Can't wait to see some progress

[crimsonnight]

Hi guys, I'm the guy who's commitioning this ^^

Case looks awesome, only thing is, does it have room for the VMU, with the screen viewable from the front and everything? Think it would look better if you could make the buttons/joystick all one colour if possible as the grey's sorta outdated; what do you think?

I was saying to Hailrazer... it's easier just to copy and paste it from the PM actually:

"I'm guessing it would be tricky, but would it be at all possible to charge the VMU from within the device? (that was my main gripe with the dreamcast - the VMU's rediculously short battery life, and it would be perfect to get this problem solved). I was thinking something like I have with my wii/xbox controllers (kinda hard to explain... is it called induction charging?) but when you replace the battery pack with a rechargable pack with two external contact points, then when it's placed in the stand (touching the other two contact points) it charges... does that make sense? This isn't the exact one I own, but it looks like a clear picture of what I'm trying to say: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rechargeable-Ba" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 601&sr=8-7 - do you think something like that might be possible with the VMU, if not can you think of any other solution as I'd love to get this issue resolved."

Do you guys have any idea on how we could replace the normal VMU battery pack with a rechargable version - either so it has to be externally charged but preferably so that it uses the device's power to charge itself (using something like the method I said above) or so that you can charge them other at the same time with a single cable?

Also from what I understand there isn't - but does anyone know of a way to make the OS boot .ISO files instead of discs as obviously this would significatly decrease the size of the device (could repalce the optical drive with an SDHC slot?)

I greatly apprecaite everyone's input as I'm obviously totally new to this, so cheers ^^

Grant

[hailrazer]

Well I could put the VMU up top but it would have to stick out a bit.



And if you want one color sticks/buttons , I could use the AstroPads sticks/buttons, but just use 4 buttons like the normal Dreamcast Controller:

[crimsonnight]

yeah that'd be good for the buttons - could u possibly move the buttons down one side so that you could slot the VMU down one side without it sticking out?

[hailrazer]

yeah that'd be good for the buttons - could u possibly move the buttons down one side so that you could slot the VMU down one side without it sticking out?

I guess I could move the buttons on the right down halfway and have the vmu slot in the top right hand corner. Have to see how much room is there and I that would make it to awkward to hold and play.

[crimsonnight]

what if it was the left side - the PSP's stick is pretty far down isn't it? If not, possibly another case?

[hailrazer]

what if it was the left side - the PSP's stick is pretty far down isn't it? If not, possibly another case?

The part side would be next to impossible with the stick and d-pad there. And with any case you will have that problem. You want the case to be as small as possible not huge

[crimsonnight]

I know what you mean, but it's ur dreamtrooper case that gave me the inspiration for it - it looks like there's a perfect amount of space in the bottom middle for it?

[samjc3]

what if it was the left side - the PSP's stick is pretty far down isn't it? If not, possibly another case?

the psp's stick is far down, yes. and awfully uncomfortable, as well. enormously painful, for me at least. i cant even play one.

[hailrazer]

I know what you mean, but it's ur dreamtrooper case that gave me the inspiration for it - it looks like there's a perfect amount of space in the bottom middle for it?

Well I can use a Lazer Doodle case if you want but I wouldn't be tabletop put the vmu in the middle bottom because of the way it plugs in. The plus in is at the top of the vmu, but you flip it over when putting it in the controller. So that is the way it would have to slide in a portable, from the top. If you want a Lazer Doodle case with a vmu in the middle it would have to be hardwired in there.

Ahhh the joys of portable making, for every solution there are 3 more problems

[neverused]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it might not be elegant, but if you led mod the screen and remove the inverter, you may be able to at least squeeze the VMU lcd above the PSOne screen. This post may help as a reference or inspiration for moving the VMU around as well as a comparison to the PSOne screen.