Re: IIGS Laptop

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

Greg Buchner <null@none.invalid> wrote:

>I want one...
>
>> <http://benheck.com/04-14-2008/apple-iigs-original-hardware-laptop>

    *WOW!* I have to say this is THE coolest thing I've seen since the
Mark Twain was revealed in 1995. I've always dreamed of ways to 
create a notebook-sized IIgs using an actual vintage motherboard.
I _knew_ it could be done, but not with such style and sleekness--it 
almost looks like something factory produced by Apple themselves!

A couple of observations...

- Looks like the LCD is being sent a composite signal rather than RGB 
(notice the color fringing in the Finder desktop. Feeding it RGB should
be doable, but you might get blocky pixels with scaling)

- Did he add extra circuity to give it the equivalent of a stereo card?
(there are stereo speakers there, and it wouldn't be that difficult)

- I can see a 1MB Apple card in there. Should be possible to replace it 
with a 4 MB of the same physical size/shape (i.e. Chinook RAM 4000
card). Or better yet, a CV-RAM 8 MB card that's about the size of a
3.5" floppy diskette and lower profile than the Apple card on its side.

- I wonder if you couldn't squeeze a mini trackball mouse (or even
one of those finger "button" mice)  somewhere between the two
front speakers. 

- I only see the joystick and floppy ports accessible. It'd be cool 
if it had a flap or hinged port covers to access the other rear 
motherboard connectors (serial/AppleTalk, audio, ADB, composite, 
RGB).

- Any chance of squeezing in a recharable battery? :) I know 
modern batteries would fit, but the question is how long would
it last.

- I love the keyboard styling! And the sliding volume control is like 
a nod to the Apple IIc Plus. In fact, the notebook itself is kind of
like what the Apple IIc Plus *should* have been in 1988, with 
with some assistance from some 2008 technology! It also blends
the visual look of the past and present (sort of like a hybrid mix of
the Apple IIc with the MacBook).

Oh, did I mention how much I really, *really*, want one? ;)

Mitchell Spector