My First Portable - The N65

Includes but not limited to: SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Gear and I guess the Virtual Boy.

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Snipeye
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My First Portable - The N65

Post by Snipeye » Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:40 pm

I've been inrigued by the idea of an N64 portable for quite a while now, spent a lot of time reading and preparing, and I'm wanting to actually give it a shot. Of course, I've got a few questions...

1. Starting with nothing but tools (soldering iron, solder, wire, vacu-form table, etc), how much would you estimate it will cost if I buy everything as cheaply as possible?

2. Where would you recommend buying materials? I know I can get an N64, maybe an expansion/rumble pack, and MAYBE a decent controller from a local thrift store, but I very much doubt I'll be able to pick up the batteries, a Psone screen, etc.

3. How many Wh does the N64 use? I know it depends on the game, so I plan mostly on using it for Smash Bro's (Nothing quite like good ol' N64 Smash...) I want to know how many hours of use I can expect depending on the batteries I buy...

4. Hey, that's important, too! What kind of batteries would you recommend? I'm not worried about exploding Li-Poly or Li-ion, so if those are best, I'll go with it.

5. For a first portable, how long (assuming I have all required materials) would it take to assemble?


Thanks for the help - any pointers you can offer will be much appreciated.
Last edited by Snipeye on Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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blaze3927
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Re: My first portable

Post by blaze3927 » Sun Oct 03, 2010 6:06 pm

screen- $25-$60
N64- $10-$30
Case- free - $20
controller- $2 - $80
Batteries & charger- $20 - $50
misc components & wire- $10 - $30

and you most likely will fry a n64, probably a screen, and maybe some batteries.
some people end up spending $400 on these things :\

ebay, radioshack, digikey are your best bets
i like these batteries very much: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-3500mAh-Lith ... 2c573b97b8 although you can now get higher amp hours for less but i havent used them so cant guarantee there not fake.

i think the n64 takes 2.7A on the 3.3V line and like 500mA on the 12v line, search the stickies and do the math :mrgreen:

anywhere between 1 days ( very lucky and very experienced) to 60 plus hours of work.

Bes bets:
*don't try to make it too small to start off with, make it small but with room for comfort
*try to keep each component separate, so when you put it all together and your screen/batteries/n64 dies ts an easy swap.
*Be very careful when wiring the n64, if you short something you'll most likely kill the board.
*plan your case well.
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Snipeye
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Sun Oct 03, 2010 8:42 pm

Alright, thanks for the info - how much juice does the psone screen use?

As for those batteries - they look alright, but I don't see dimensions anywhere.... It'd be nice to know how big it is.

I do plan on designing my case intelligently, but i don't plan on even starting that until I have all the components, so I know exactly how everything will fit.

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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:34 pm

Sorry for the double post, I have another question...

I was wondering if there is any other type of screen I could use that accept composite video input? I have a couple of speakers I could use, but I have no clue what other kind of screen would work... the psone screen is looking like the most expensive part, and I'm trying to keep it a low budget project... (well, as low as I can, anyway)

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Re: My first portable

Post by markus » Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:01 pm

Well, yeah, the psone screen is a nice sized screen fornot too much $, or, if you don't care for having a small screen, maybe pick up a 3.5" screen off ebay. Those are fairly cheap ($20-$35) and they take composite, so yay.
those are my suggestions
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Snipeye
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:40 pm

I've found a few screens that looks to be about right, if you guys think that one might be more likely to work than another, please point it out. Screens:

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-5-TFT-LCD-Color-S ... 19bfefd91b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apex-PD-450-Portabl ... 3cb14c58d3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Coby-TF-DVD5000-5-P ... 1c161917ce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Snipeye
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:14 pm

:D

Found a lot more, need more opinions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Look-Nice-Used-GPX- ... 45f5c26cfa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Look-Craig-7-LCD-Po ... 45f5c28b46" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Initial-IDM-1731-Po ... 4aa5177c4d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Durabrand-DUR7-Port ... 35ace28f30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUDIOVOX-PORTABLE-D ... 35ace11e0b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dynex-DX-PDVD7-Port ... 43a21957b9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/GoVideo-GVP-7811-Po ... 45f5cb7c32" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Snipeye
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:30 pm

Wow, triple post.

Anyway, I think I'm going to end up going with this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-3-5-Inch-Car-T ... 3f03aaf169" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Because of power reasons. 3.5" should still be enough (not for multiplayer, but whatever), and it uses roughy 1/6 the power when compared to a 4.3" widescreen LCD. It's coming together... slowly...

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Re: My first portable

Post by blaze3927 » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:51 pm

3.5" is perfect for handhelds, 5" restricts you to a larger sized portable*.
*(unless your sifuf)
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:59 am

Lol - I looked at my iPod screen, I figured 'That's big enough,' - I don't need a massive screen to play n64. And this has a really good resolution for it's size, so I'll have a good quality screen. I just don't know if it's backlit, meaning I'll get to do some... interesting modding if it's not.

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Re: My first portable

Post by blaze3927 » Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:57 am

it is backlit, but you can led mod it if you really want to save some power.
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Re: My first portable

Post by Snipeye » Fri Oct 15, 2010 7:56 pm

Alright, I ordered the parts a while ago, and I have a question:

The speakers I'm using take 3.0v, so I got a resistor to set the pwa8080wah or whatever (you know what I'm talking about) to 3.0v instead of 3.3.... will the n64 still run off that? Can I use that 3.0v to power both the n64 and the speakers?

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Re: My first portable

Post by Hrduncan » Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:21 am

use a 2k ohm resistor and 3v will come out of the pth reg. then you can run both. yay.
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http://hrduncan.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: My first portable

Post by gamax92 » Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:42 am

  • A PSONEP SCREEN
    A IPOD SCREEN
I Would Use A Psonep Screen Because It Take Up The Space.

A Ipod screen would be like looking at a portable with a lot of empty space on the front.

Plus The psonep screen can be replace with a slightly smally screen.

You get the volume control, brightness control, All the stuff you need aint on a ipod screen.

Its on the ipod mb.

If You Could Hack A Ipod To serve as a screen for portable. I'd be amazed.

Edit: i just relized you talking about the size of the screen. not the actual screen. Sorry.
Last edited by gamax92 on Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My first portable

Post by gamax92 » Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:47 am

Why Cant I Edit Last post.

N64 portable info
Troubleshooting Your N64

There is some important info that maybe valuable to you.
Last edited by gamax92 on Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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