General Dreamcast discussion applies here. Before posting here please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section to see if your topic would fit better in those categories.
Forum rules
Please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section before posting here to see if your topic would fit better in those categories. Example: A new game/homebrew release would go in the New Releases/Homebrew/Emulation section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 or if you're having an issue with getting your Dreamcast to work or a game to boot it would go in the Support section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=42
Not sure if this site is interested in making handheld DreamCast console systems or not (and portablizing consoles in general); if you are, you might be interested in the fact that I am about 60% through making one (see my Wordpress site in my sig). The project is very complex, as you will see!
If you guys are interested in me uploading my WIP to date, and maintaining the documentation here (as well as the sites shown on my Wordpress site (see NEWS section), I will be happy to....
BTW - although my title as a new member is "noob" I am very certainly not a noob! I'm a
There haven't been many portable DreamCast's made to date; there was one built into a computer monitor, but that isn't portable; one centered around a 17" monitor with the guts inside a box case, again not a portable (and uses wall power anyway), and a couple of thick and crude ones that are portable but very thick indeed. The DC drive unit is thick so a portable about 70-75mm thick is the thinnest you can make one, unless the system is double length!
Yes, spinksy, as part of my research for making a portable I like to learn what I can about a system, which includes identifying forums that specialise in the system concerned. Struggling to find DC forums that still have activity, for sure. This seems a nice site, although it can take a while to load a page and often the site doesn't load, must be on a cheap server!
If people think me posting all my WIP to here, as at RacketBoy and Assembler forums, I can easily if it is what people want here; then when I post links from my site I can include this one for any DreamCast fanboys to visit. BTW - anyone interested - look at the guides section at the top of Racketboy forum - interesting stuff!
bacteria wrote:although it can take a while to load a page and often the site doesn't load, must be on a cheap server!
servers been recently experiencing downtime and theres still latetly from time to time some hiccups, everyday less and less, theres an official notice about this: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewtop ... f=2&t=1467
smith - FamilyGuy's project has been ongoing for 2 years, no update for months, it will be interesting to see what his ends up like; he says he isn't good at making cases?
DreamTrooper was a cool handheld portable. Power supply - he used Li-po cells, I think about 5 amps, so probably powers the system for something like 1.7 hours between charges or thereabouts. Never did see the unit on the back to protect the CD from free spinning!
Treamcast - a clone as they say in the video, although used original hardware and had a PSone screen built in, as it says in video, its a portable rather than a handheld and uses an external controller.
The only other DreamCast portables / handhelds I have seen were a PC monitor adapted to house the DreamCast (not even a portable), a very nice looking 17" screen mounted into a box frame with cd ejecting out the side (cool!), but again portable (although I don't think it ran off batteries either) and used external controller and one handheld portable (think it used internal batteries) that was black, rather big and very thick.
I haven't seen any others, if anyone knows of any others, please post links to them here, I want to see what others have made. There don't seem to be many handheld DreamCast's made that I can find, which is a shame, but not surprising given the fact they are quite hard to portablize.
In regards the board, the only ones I have been able to get are the revision 1 boards, (PAL), I bought 3, all were the same, and the others I have seen since are the same (perhaps revision 2 boards are harder to find in the UK?); you say revision 2 boards have spacers under the drive unit - I removed the male and female plugs that connected the drive to the motherboard and rewired the 50 very fiddly wire connections; result is a slimmer unit and also the drive can be positioned in the case where it needs to be.
Last edited by bacteria on Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Project should be finished before Xmas, may even be next month - all depends on issues I have remaining, things needing fixing or not, and also time available. In theory I am on the home straight now, although things usually go wrong and need fixing!
