Notebook design fun

Just been playing around in SolidWorks with some idea's I had for my ideal notebook. I thought I'd share, for some feedback & inspiration!

Some points:

• All stainless steel chassis: much stronger and more wear resistant than aluminum and I personally don't mind the extra kg of weight, durability and package size (both better with stainless than alu) are more important to me
• Since IO performance is pretty important for CAD work: room for a certain 15mm high SATA drive (guess which one)
• 15.6" (1920 x 1080 or 1080P) panel (I need lots of screen real estate) fitted in an as tight as possible package
• Large keys & keyboard for more typing comfort (21mm keys)
• Large thumb scrollwheel for easy text / web page scrolling (high up to the right side, so you can lay your hand next to the notebook)
• No optical drive, I use those 5 times a year tops, so a USB DVD drive is fine with me and the internal space is better used for cooling and components IMHO
• Not shown in picture: ports to be arranged on both sides, as close to the screen/backside as possible

 

Cool. Did you design that yourself? The screen looks sort of like the Dell Latitude screen.

 

Yeah, I did all 3D models ground up, trying to keep it a little close to what can actually be manufactured. Screen is actually inspired by my old Thinkpad T20! ;-)

 

Doesn't aluminum have better thermal properties than stainless?

 

Great, now you need to design each of the parts individually and provide dimensions and materials for each. Next, you need to design the cooling system and optimize it between noise and power consumption. Once that is done, you need to choose components that can be cooled within manufacturers' acceptable operating conditions.

All that fun aside, you need to build a prototype and have it shock tested, environmentally tested, and safety tested to conform to Europe, United States, and Canadian standards.

Good luck and have fun .

 

It's good to see someone putting their imagination to constructive use. Some thoughts though:

• Have you tried doing a basic volumetric component layout to see if your form will accomodate your desired functionality? A volumetric layout will also be crucial to understanding the minimum requirements for your thermal solution (assuming you use an air-cooled solution) in order to compute how well air moves through the internals, and to locate potential hotspots.
• The idea of getting rid of the internal optical drive is good, although you might also consider a swap-bay into which an optical drive, or other component modules (e.g., perhaps a second GPU - to be unorthodox) could be plugged?
• I like the fact that you gave consideration to the cooling solution, however, I'm not sure if you'd get enough airflow under the current arrangement, and it strikes me that running hot air through a stainless steel chassis/case, particularly through the lid where there isn't a lot of extra space to begin with, could present a problem with the case getting too hot all over, given that metal is more thermally conductive than plastic (generally), which could hurt both the user as well as other components (e.g., the LCD itself might be less than happy).

That being said, please don't take any criticism as knocking your basic concepts, just as a little armchair quarterbacking intended to help flesh out the reality of a good concept.

 

Yes it does, but since most laptops use plastic (which is worse than SS) I would expect no problems with stainless steel.

Been there, done that!
Seriously I do design products & machinery for a living, so I know a little about what's involved. If I supply the drawings and you arrange parts we can have a first open source notebook

Actually there are allready some volume models inside, keyboard spacing, hard drive, scroll wheel, lithium cells, touchpad, fingerprint reader, etc...

Intake side of the cooling is next to the hard drive (for a little drive cooling), 60mm fan.

I thought of a modular bay (like the IBM/Lenovo ones for instance), but I'd rather have more space in the chassis for a MXM-4 graphics card (ala Alienware M15x or some 17" notebooks) than 2 MXM-2 cards.

The amount of space in the LCD casing is indeed limited, I was thinking of keeping a second exhaust in the chassis as a backup solution. I'm not that afraid of the lcd temp, my Z61P lcd gets around 60 deg frequently and it seems to make no difference (running a FEA program with the lid closed). While the air through the screen will be 60 degrees the outside will probably not (if it would there would be a lot of complaints about the alu macbooks).

Instead of the modular bay, what about just a PCIe 16x cable connector? => http://www.onestopsystems.com/PCIExpressx16Cable.html
Looks very interesting to me! (small formfactor, huge bandwidth & not device dependent)

 

Might not magnesium alloy be a better choice over steel?

 

I was gonna say it looks like a Qosmio a friend has.
Nice ideas,what would you call the laptop?

 

One thing I though of: replace touchpad with touchscreen, nice for status info, reconfiguration (you want it to be buttons when you use your mouse? no problem!)...

About the name... when it contains every feature I'd like it will probably be called "Clunky"...

 

I had an idea. What if you put in some ducting along the side of the screen instead of relying on passive cooling? That could look kind of cool, and you could use the extra width to stick a numpad on the keyboard.

 

Actually it isn't a passive system at all, I'll make a different pic to show what I had in mind.

 

Just in case you haven't done a lot of research on thermal solutions yet, there're a bunch of papers (>200) you can d/l for free on thermal solution analysis and design available from Flomerics here.

 

Well, I did do thermals (designed my own 2-stroke cylinder head inserts for my 125cc shifter kart once) in some occasions, but I'm also an avid collector of info, so thanks for the link!

PS. 2 pics of the hollow hinges attached to 1st post

 

Magnesium alloy FTW.

 

You still need a lot more thickness to match the strength & stiffness of stainless steel (roughly 3 to 4 times the thickness, so if you want magnesium alloy to match the 1mm thick stainless steel I used, you'd have to use 3mm walls, increasing notebook thickness with at least 6mm!).
The ultimate material would be a continuous fibre & high modulus carbon fiber & magnesium metal matrix composite, but then again, it would be insanely expensive to do right...

 

I don't know the exact comparable properties but that does leave me to wonder: Is there a reason why it is frequently used in business laptops? Only reason I can think of is weight.

 

A couple of reasons I can think of (1st being the most important me thinks):

• It is very suitable for castings, allowing greater shape freedom and lower production costs.
• Weight, as you say
• Marketing, everyone 'knows' aluminium is much stronger than plastic

 

Interesting design...

As for using stainless, sure it is stronger than aluminum, but it will be quite hard to overcome the weight. How about titanium?

 

once u had it designed where wud u go to manufacture a prototype?

 

How about lunar rock?

 

:twitcy:

Full carbon fiber can also be another realistic option...

 

I really like the design, and I'm really liking the idea of scraping the internal CD-DVD Drive. I'm like you, I don't use it very often, and I'd be happy to settle for an external USB Drive.

The scroll wheel is a great idea, and I like placement of the trackpad.

You should play around with 14.1" or 13.3" variants.

Looks good so far.

 

Love the hinge design, that style was one of the main reasons I purchased my W3J. You should integrate the power button into the hinge. I hate distracting LEDs.

 

What about some sort of dual axis scroll device (maybe an orb on some sort of mounting or something) to support 2D scrolling like mice have? That would be a nifty feature too. Ooh, and some programmable buttons around the touchpad. I think modern laptops far underutilize the space between the leading edge of the case and the bottom of the keyboard. Also, maybe move the scroll wheel/device further towards the front of the case so you could scroll while using the touchpad with one hand.

 

First off, thanks for the enthusiastic comments & suggestions!
New & updated pictures will be added to the first post

Hmm, titanium is pretty strong, but not very stiff, for the same volume CRES316 stainless steel (fairly common) is almost twice as stiff as Ti-6Al-4V for instance (which is pretty expensive).

I think I'll send it to lenovo or asus instead, with a mail that they can have my 3D models and produce it, as long as they send me the first 2 for free

Nah... all those howling dogs around you would be very annoying...

Same story as with the titanium. Stiffness per weight is great, per volume is not.

I'll stick to 15.4" for now, small notebooks are nice, but offer less space for innovative features without extreme detail design (which I can't do, as I don't have a mainboard design team at my disposal).

Yeah, I like those hinges too! But I don't know if placing the powerbutton there is really convenient... I would like to add a 'stealth modus' switch, to disable all leds, along with the regular wireless switches. Also a switch to select the notebook panel or an external monitor, accessible with the lid closed would be handy in my opinion.

I just moved the scroll wheel upwards, both to make place for the PCIe connector and because from what I gather (looking at my hands) it would be easier to control it with my finger than my thumb.

 

How about integrating a voice command "power on/power off"

 

That would definitely get high on my annoyances list (along with the nokia tune played at max volume by a guy searching everywhere for the bl**dy nokia 6150)

 

-Hey laptop , power on!
*powering up sound*
-Hey laptop ,power off!
*powering off sound*
-Hey laptop , power on!
*powering up sound*
-Hey laptop ,power off!
*powering off sound*
-Hey laptop , power on!
*powering up sound*
-Hey laptop ,power off!
*powering off sound*
*flames all over*


I can see where this might be a problem :twitcy:

 

Plus a voice power on command means that you'd have to have the laptop consuming power even when not in use so that it could process the voice command.

 

How about adding a dust blocker on the side so dust can't get in.

 

A dust blocker where exacly?

 

in the air vent so the inside of the case wont get dusty and cause heating problems, you know the dust blockers like on some desktop cases.

 

Good points. To be honest, though, my first thought when I heard it was magnesium alloy was "Will explode when put near a match?" .

 

Another reason for aluminum cases is better thermal properties. Highly heat conductive, so better for letting heat out passively.

 

Indeed, but also worse for reviews (those pictures showing ir gun thermal readings of the outside and reviewers claiming a hotter outside shell temp being due to bad thermal design)...

Both have strong points, as I'd rather have a less conductive skin and expel the heat where I don't touch the notepad than a alu skin that warms up my hands and nuts to much

 

LOL, I tried to set a magnesium alloy rim on fire once (an extremely lightweight kart racing wheel), but no game, it wouldn't burn. It did oxidize and get ugly real quick.

 

the best material to use for casing would be one with the highest specific heat capacity. SHC is the temperature required to raise the temperature of 1cm^3 of a substance by 1 degree. Therefore a material with a high specific heat capacity will take far longer to get hot. Bare in mind though that to ensure that the interior of the notebook doesnt get too hot either, you should choose a material that is heat conductive as well. Research this in google and you'll find list of materials that can be used in such a project.

 

Carbon Fiber would be a very realistic and choice that would also serve the purpose well.

I believe someone has mentioned it here.

 

Some rough material specs:

Generic ABS plastic:
Density: 450 kg/m3
Strength: 30 N/mm2
Stiffness: 2k N/mm2

Casting aluminium AC43400 (Al. 239D) (used for safety products):
Density: 2650 kg/m3
Strenght: 240 N/mm2
Stiffness: 74 kN/mm2

Generic Carbon Fibre 0 & 90 deg weave with epoxy:
Density: 1560 kg/m3
Strength: 900 N/mm2
Stiffness: 60 kN/mm2

Stainless Steel 316:
Density: 8027 kg/m3
Strength: 620 N/mm2
Stiffness: 193 kNmm2

Since deformation of the laptop is most problematic for the inside components (and for the feel of strength) my design material was based on max stiffness for a given wall thickness (for example the LCD panel cover). Stainless steel is definitely king here. Stiffness per weight would be a different story, with CF being king of the hill.

 

Ok... tungsten. (19250 kg/m3)

Or some superalloy like Inconel...

 

I would start out with a brushed aluminum briefcase-style case, add rubber bumpers to each corner as shock absorbers, and make it waterproof (at least when closed). The cooling system will consist of several passive refrigerant loops, each pipe running through a seal to some vented compartments with sealed fans. (Since it would be waterproof, I could just wash the coils when they become dirty.) The refrigerant will be R410a so I can put the R410a label on it and to reduce the necessary size of the pipes.

As for the rest of the hardware:
Screen: LED backlit 19" widescreen S-PVA 1920x1080 with integrated inductive tablet
CPU: 2x 3.2GHz quad core Xeon
RAM: 8GB DDR3
GPU: Nvidia Quadro (whatever is the best one available)
HDD: 2x 3.5" SAS/SATA, probably 1TB SATA and 15kRPM SAS
I/O: Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11n with switchable hardware firewall and connector for an external antenna, WiMAX, Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE1394c, USB 3.0, DVI-I input and output (compatible with HDMI, VGA, and s-video with adapters) with HD hardware encoding for inputs
Power: integrated universal 90-300v AC/130-420v DC/8-30v DC power supply, battery pack good for 2 hours of normal usage (up to days of runtime in handheld dock mode - see next section)
OS: Gentoo Linux

There will also be a docking compartment for a handheld PC with the following specs:
Screen: LED backlit 5" 720x480
CPU: 2.2GHz dual core Atom
RAM: 2GB
Flash: 8GB built in, 2 SDHC slots
I/O: Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11g with switchable hardware firewall and connector for an external antenna, USB 2.0 OTG
Power: integrated 5-30v DC power supply, battery pack good for 16 hours of normal usage (50+ hours MP3 mode)
Case: brushed aluminum with fold out stand
OS: custom Linux distribution

When the handheld is docked (either in the docking compartment or through Bluetooth), a "low power" mode is available that allows the handheld to use the laptop's screen and keyboard without powering up the actual laptop hardware. It can also optionally use the laptop battery and hard drives when docked in the compartment.

 

Well folks, I've done a few updates (new pics coming soon):

• Changed the screen from 15.4" WUXGA to a 15.6" 1920x1080 (1080P) panel (new from AUO and CMO and probably others). This to keep the depth a little smaller while still allowing space for antennas and a webcam. The screen is a little higher placed as well.
• Placed WLAN antenna's in screen corners (rubber strips, because metal & carbon fibre block signals)
• Sheet metal for screen is now .75mm instead of 1mm
• Screen retention system added

Also I'm going to have a look at the VIA OpenBook CAD files, for inspiration:
http://www.viaopenbook.com/

 

It's nice to know that my Latitude will only become a charred heap instead of actually burning then . It always did strike me as an unusual choice of materials, though.

How does that compare to Magnesium alloy, out of interest?

What sort of components were you planning on putting in this machine (CPU, GPU, etc.)?

 

I use fish filters as my dust blockers, they work great!

 

• 
  
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but in order to have full a 1080p HD screen, the resolution of the screen MUST be 1920x 1200. I believe this is because laptop panels are all 16:10 ratio rather than TVs being 16:9. Basically because the height of the panel is a TAD bit longer, you need to add the extra pixels (1200 pixels, instead of 1080) in order to acheive full HD resolutions while watching widescreen movies, as these movies are 1920x1080 at 16:9 aspect ratio. The extra pixels and larger ratio make up for that.
  
  Again I'm PRETTY sure about this, but I could be wrong. Am I crazy guys?

 

Well, in that case: here is the correction

The name already gives it away, as the 1080 in 1080P stands for the amount of horizontal lines in the picture (being 1080 offcourse). More on 1080P: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080P

Ever played a 1080P movie 1:1 pixel on a PC 1920x1200 panel? You get 2 black bars, each 60 pixels.

 

That's what I mean, is that those bars on the bottome will be 60 pixels each. Since laptop display panels are 16:10, you'll need a 1920x1200 resolution screen, not 1920x1080.

Lol I'm not trying to be annoying or anything, it's just I didn't want anything to go wrong with the design. After seeing the design it seems freaking awesome and I'd LOVE to buy one of those things!

I gotta say, sweet design!

Also, I don't know if it's been asked already, but what about the touchpad? When you're typing, won't that move the mouse around and interfere? Right now my touchpad is centered and I STILL hit it by accident all the time and it is SOO annoying!

 

I'll try and find out which alloy is used for notebooks.

The basis should be Montevina, so any CPU in that range. If there a FireGL version of the Mobility HD 3850 i'd take that (I like the option of Crossfire, in combination with the external PCIe port and the new FireGL cards perform great).

 

You are mixing up cause and consequence here, the bars are there because you want each movie pixel displayed with exactly one pixel of the panel. So since the panel has more pixels it won't use some (the bars). A 1920x1080 panel can simply use every pixel to display the movie pixels.

I thought of replacing the touchpad with a touchscreen (actually already visible in current pics), that way you can program it as media keys or whatever you like. A button on the side to shut the thing off seems nice.

It might be combined with another idea I've been toying around with for some time: gesture recognition. Use 2 build-in webcams to track hand movement, so when your fingers are on the keyboard the touchpad does not respond. Other possibilities: scroll guestures, point and click, 3D model rotation, panning & zooming (I'd love that in SolidWorks).