Also I am really interested in building my own linux laptop with
something like the raspberry pi, or beagle board. the beagle board
kits are like 300ish? This link is kind of like the kits I looked at
but this one is way more expensive.
http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/LiquidWare-DIY-Android-Modula...

So my question to you guys is, How can would you make a linux laptop
with out buy actual laptop or desktop hardware?

I'm also considering something like this, but its not really diy and
an update has probably stopped this from working by now,
 http://hackaday.com/2012/04/17/full-linux-distro-on-a-nook-color/

I'm also really interested in these diy cell phones, has anyone at I3
tried making one?
http://hackaday.com/2012/04/26/avrphone-is-a-barebones-touchscreen-ce...
http://hackaday.com/2012/04/25/diy-cellphone/

Oh, and I'm trying to go cheap to. so anything that costs over the
amount of a pre-made laptop is kind of pointless really. Thanks
everyone

The idea of an ARM laptop is intriguing and I haven't seen any yet, but
Raspberry pi might be a good platform for it.  I would expect you'd have to
make your own chassis, keyboard interface (mount), etc.. because I don't
think anyone has made something along these lines yet outside of dev kits.
 I would think it won't be less expensive than a netbook, but would love to
be surprised.

As to x86 hardware (which it sounds like you've no interest in), well I
haven't really looked at this in years, but it used to be that a lot of the
major laptop brands were just rebadged whitebox vendors such as Sager for
Dell.  I am not sure if that is still the case, but I honestly haven't done
much looking lately.

I think perhaps I'd be more inclined to do the Linux on Android route
(Ubuntu for Android) for a merged device (phone/laptop).  Best of both
worlds maybe?  Perhaps there's a slick docking station to be created yet
(monitor/keyboard/battery).  Some of the tablets have particular oomph for
the task (Tegra3?).  I would have a definite interest in that if it were to
start taking shape.  Motorola's proprietary entry here is hardly adequate
or cheap.

My last foray into open phone platforms was Openmoku and obviously that is
both a failure and out of date, so I'll refrain from adding anything to
that point for others who might know more.

Ryan K

It sounds like you just want a cheap system, I have several laptops here
but I got a Ainol Novo7 Adv recently and we are also pretty happy with it.

The newer models are the Elf and Paladin which have higher resolution and
come pre-installed with ICS however the Advanced is easy to upgrade
yourself. The Ainol customer support in US/CA is bad but they seem to have
pretty good quality control, so just hope for the best. At half the price
of a Nook or KindleFire these tablets really do have a lot of bang for your
buck. The only feature they do not have is BT, but I think it will work
through a dongle, otherwise just hook up a USB keyboard and you are good to
go.

I doubt you will be able to build anything with a 1Ghz processor yourself
for under $100, with a keyboard/mouse and shipping you are probably looking
at $150. Again the Nook and Kindle do not have USB-Host/OTG, MicroSD, or
Video output so I think this is about as good as you will do. I have not
tried installing anything other than Android ICS (4) but android can do
basic browsing and office documents pretty well now. The main advantage of
a real laptop is the screen resolution, and enough RAM to run more windows
at a time. Obviously there are lots of programs you will not be able to run
on any ARM device, but for what you sound like you are trying to do I do
not think you will be able to hack more value than a cheap tablet provides.

Now if you just want to do this for the fun of it, then by all means! But
we will need more specifics about your desired application before you will
get useful input here.

Best, Jason K.

Well, I really just want the achievement of having "built" my own pc.
Now I'm not saying I want to turn out pcb style work, but a mod (like
the xbox 360 laptop mod). Without buying a laptop motherboard. (I
would consider that cheating lol)

So what I am thinking of is taking something like the beagle or pi,
attaching a touch screen/lcd, rechargeable battery system, maybe wifi,
building a case and have it run some type of decent looking os. A 32gb
sdcard would be fine. Also some usb ports would be awesome. Any ideas?

I might also consider a itx board with a small heat sink (if I can't
get some type of decent mhz), the issue is attaching a screen to it,
powering it all (with a battery) and still call it a "small laptop or
tablet"

Oh I also what to make it a little smaller than a netbook width wise,
I don't mind if it's thicker just not as long.

Put simply, you'll never be able to compete with economy of scale.  When
the big companies are buying parts in lots of hundreds of thousands, they
can sell complete units for far less than than you'll be able to buy
individual parts.

Like others said - start with an off the shelf netbook or android tablet,
and modify as you need.

Eric
On May 6, 2012 10:21 PM, "Shawn McCombs" <0theifda...@gmail.com> wrote:

On May 7, 1:21 am, Shawn McCombs <0theifda...@gmail.com> wrote:

Build a case? Nah. I have an old Toughbook CF-17 that you're welcome
to. Magnesium-alloy case including the lid, hand strap, shoulder
strap, rubber covers on all the ports, 800x600 resistive touchscreen,
6-cell battery which needs a rebuild, 80%-size keyboard that you will
fall in love with. The mobo in it is pathetic (p3-700, 192MB max RAM),
but the chassis is surprisingly spacious and has aspirations of future
relevance. The touch controller has an open-source driver, but last I
checked it hadn't been updated for kernel 2.6. I don't know what
signals the screen wants, and it's pretty low-res by today's
standards, but on the other hand, it'll withstand a direct fist blow
and is rated to operate well below freezing, where most screens become
totally useless. I might also have a sunlight-viewable version of the
display panel that you could swap in.

It would please me greatly to see this old beast get a new lease on
life. I've long imagined that if I woke up tomorrow with a copy of
Altium and Krunal's skillset, I'd spend the next several months
building a modern "sliders to the right" motherboard for this chassis.
A total DIY hacked-up transplant would be even cooler.

I have tons of spare parts too, batteries, keyboards, offline battery
charger, etc. Actually have several copies of this chassis, since the
cf-m34 is on the same platform and I've owned a few of those too. Hit
me off-list if you're interested in checking it out.

Must... not... say... it.... aaaaaaaaaaagh!

-Nathaniel-