lots of questions...

I have a Toshiba Satellite P505 which is working well for the most part; the battery retaining clip is broken, and for a while I was using duct tape to hold the battery in place, until the laptop started overheating and I figured out it was the battery (it started to swell slightly, and if removed, the laptop runs fine with no overheating on AC power). Aside from that, the case is coming apart at the right rear corner, causing a loose power connection.

Anyway, it is a secondary laptop, and a lot of things happened recently to make me interested in rebuilding this machine into a tablet. A custom wood or fiberglass (or carbon fiber) case, a touchscreen kit, and some tedious tool work and voila - an awesomely sized (18.4") tablet PC!

Here are my questions;

First, I will need to get a new battery, or somehow replace the battery. I am considering 12 cell aftermarket replacements, for the longer run time. I am also considering running two batteries (it could easily fit into the custom case I am thinking of) - but I don't know if/how I could do that. What is necessary to have it use two batteries? Would it use them simultaneously, and charge them simultaneously, or would it use one fully, then switch to the other, and charge them in a similar manner? Or is it just not possible? What about running it off of individual cells, either scavenged from laptops, or using something like AA rechargeables (it is a 10.8V battery, so 8 in series yields 12V, and then each series of 8 in parallel increases the life; I could easily fit 72 in there for 6X the mAH of the stock battery; but that would be HEAVY, and I don't know if it would work or be worth the effort/expense).

Second, I'd like to upgrade the internal wireless from G to N - but I am not sure if it is a card, or a hard wired adapter. I could easily use an internal USB, but if I can swap something out instead of duplicating resources, I would prefer it. It doesn't have internal bluetooth, so that will have to be an internalized USB.

Third, as a tablet, this will be used at many angles that would be odd for a laptop; and so I am guessing HDDs would hate that. What is the most economical/reliable SSD to use? I'll be running Win7, but using it as a tablet more than a laptop, so something in the neighborhood of 120GB should be sufficient.

Fourth, as I am designing a custom case, I will probably be rerouting and relocating several components. Is there much in the way of internal cooling upgrades/accessories I can add?

Fifth, it should be obvious that based on the size of the tablet, I will have a very heavy unit compared to the popular 10" and 12" models. I am okay with that; I have no issues lugging around the laptop as it is, and I hope to eliminate as much or more weight than I add. Does anyone know specifically what internal components may be removed/swapped out to make this thing slightly lighter? This isn't critical, but I'd like my wife to be able to pick it up and hand it to me from time to time

I have more questions right now, and I know more will crop up when I actually start the build, but I figure this is plenty to get my first post in these forums off and rolling. Thanks in Advance for your input!

 

That's an...interesting idea, a 18.4" tablet...

Anywho, it's entirely possible to use two batteries in a single device; IBM/Lenovo did that with the Ultrabay batteries. I think most laptops with two batteries (slice, Ultrabay, etc.) will use up one battery first (usually the additional battery) and then switch over to the other battery when the first is near dead. Your biggest problem here would be how to implement a switching solution so that the tablet doesn't shut down between batteries.

Most wireless radios are in card form, so you should be able to upgrade. However, wireless cards are usually whitelisted on a system's BIOS, so in order to use a new wireless card you may need to do a bit of BIOS hacking to get it to work.

HDDs could run at the various angles a tablet is held at, but you'd have to be somewhat careful about it (obviously, don't throw it down onto the couch, etc. Treat it like a laptop w/HDD). The most economical SSD would be the one with the lowest $/GB costs, which usually hover around $1-$1.90 per GB. I'll look up a few to suggest, but I'd avoid anything with a Sandforce controller (OCZ, etc.) due to reliability problems. Here's a link to the best SSDs for $x.. Alternatively, you could use Linux off of a USB flashdrive and boot from that; this would be inexpensive and would save weight. If you go with the SSD route, I'd gravitate towards Samsung, Crucial, or Intel SSDs since they don't use Sandforce. OCZ's Petrol models also don't use Sandforce.

Depends on how thick the tablet will be. If allowed, you could put a fan or two inside the case and drill vents. But this entirely depends on the shape, size, volume, etc of the case.

You can definitely remove the ODD, the HDD (SDDs are lighter, flashdrive even more so), the keyboard (not much weight though), and anything else that uses a plug to connect to the motherboard. Which means there isn't a lot to remove, sadly.

 

If you're making a tablet PC yourself, I would recommend getting a huge SSD. like one of the 240-256GB sized ones. No reason not to really since you want this machine to be super snappy.

 

I don't really think that he'd need such a larger SSD just for speed, since even a low-capacity SATAII SSD is much faster than any mechanical HDD. Sure, a SATAIII is marginally better than a SATAII drive, but the costs are through the roof. OP would be better off just buying a pre-built tablet (even the iPad) than installing a 256GB SSD in his custom-build.

 

Would there be any ( safe and fairly easy) way to use two batteries, simultaneously ( balancing the load while being used and while being charged)?

I've debated between making this a 'pad' and a 'tablet pc' - i.e. stuffing it all into a single layer case, or having a hinged case ( with the screen on backwards, basically). A third option would be to make a hybrid; a pad with a docking station style base, which has the optical drive, a supplementary hdd or ssd, extra battery, etc.

Right now I am leaning to the tablet pc style; having it hinged, to allow for easier media viewing etc., with the weight ( batteries, mobo, storage, etc.) in the base and the screen/touchscreen in a separate portion. This would also allow better cooling solutions, I think. And it could of course be used fully closed, as a very thick pad-style tablet.

The aim is a wooden & leather steampunky feel for the custom built case.

Are there any good android emulators out yet, to allow me to run typical tablet games and such on this tablet?

As to components; I am looking at roughly $150 for the touchscreen, and I want to keep the total cost under a grand ( as much under as possible, lol)... so with another $100-150 in an SSD, a few dozen $$$'s in extra fans and misc supplies, probably $100 in wood and hardware, I am already almost halfway there. And that doesn't even include the battery(ies), wireless N card, bluetooth adapter, new optical drive, etc.

Speaking of, I was debating on a) no optical drive, b) existing optical drive, or c) slot-loading ( vs. the tray I have now) optical drive. I'd prefer a or c - but I'm not sure how important it would be. Especially if I could just get a USB external optical drive for when I really need one. Any thoughts?

 

if you're looking to spend that much then why not just buy some older tablet and max out everything on it. At least you know it will be working at the end :|

 

There comes a certain joy when one does things on his own. Kind of like how I like teaching myself how to create electrical circuits on Minecraft !

 

It is equal parts the joy of DIY, and the size thing. I am one of those who thinks bigger is better. 10.1" is the screen size I want for my phone, not a tablet PC (yes, I am serious.)

And while there are older tablets which are as large as 14.4, by the time I upgraded them to the baseline of my P505, which can run Win7 64bit with ease, and has no issues with photoshop CS5... well I would be far beyond the $1,000 mark.

Besides, I would like to do this as cheaply as possible... if I can keep it at the ~$600 mark I am right now looking at... well I would much rather save that last $400 or so for something else.