A million-[insert currency] idea: For free!

dogscoff · #1 January 10th, 2007, 07:45 AM

I am one of those people who is cursed with a steady stream of million pound (or euro, dollar, whatever) ideas but no know-how/ time/resources/ambition to actually patent them, develop them, fund them and gebnerally make them happen.

Therefore I have decided to give them away for free, in the hope that *someone* will make it happen, and I can at least get to see it built, even if someone else profits. So here's my current favourite. It's a desktop/laptop hybrid.

Here's the pitch:
In this age of wireless internet, laptops are great, even if you never leave your house: You can surf on the sofa, browse in the bath... you get the idea. However laptops have their downsides:
- You can't pull out a graphics card or processor and slot in a new one as easily as you can with a desktop, so they quickly go out of date.
- They are bloody expensive to boot.
- Battery life limits just how "wireless" these machines can be.

How to get around these problems? Build a hybrid!

You'd have two parts: Part one is the base-station. It has a traditional PC case with standard PSU, UPS, motherboard, wired lan, graphics card, sound card, storage, DVD-ROM, expansion ports and, crucially, a wireless network access point. No screen as standard (although you can plug one in if you want), ditto keyboard and mouse. You can hide this in a cupboard or up in the loft, because you won't need to see it very often. This also means it doesn't have to compromise on performance by being particularly pretty or quiet, unlike some new desktop systems coming out now.

Part two is a large, lightweight laptop screen, connected to a wireless card that talks to the base station. It also has keyboard and mouse (or other input options- tablet for instance), speakers (optional - A better option would be a widget to stream sound output straight to your stereo), a few USB ports, a battery, and just enough logic to work it all. No hard drive. No super-hot-processor. Not even a graphics card! All it does is (via lots of clever custom hardware and software) wirelessly transmit any input straight back to the basestation, and then stream the basestation's graphics/sound output across the network and onto the screen. It's one PC broken into two pieces, but held together by wireless glue. I think current Wlan technology ought to be quick enough for this. As little work as possible is done at the screen/keyboard end, thus reducing power overheads and extending battery life. You also get the benefit of being able to cheaply and easily upgrade the base station's hardware and see the results on your portable screen. Different sized screens from handlheld to tabletop would be available for different tastes and budgets, and all would of course be designed to be as ergonomic and comfortable as possible, so you can have it on your lap or hanging on a wall or stood up on a desk or whatever. If you wanted to go further you could break the mouse/ keyboard off as well and have them wireless components, but I think then you are in danger of loses bits and pieces down the back of the sofa.

Of course the downside is that if you take your screen out of range of your wireless network, your toy becomes useless. Well, for people who are bothered by this, there is a solution: Part three, an optional portable base station! Something more like traditional laptop technology with processor, harddrive etc that clips on to the screen part when you need to go roaming, converting it into something very much like a proper laptop.
The advantage of this two-part option over a traditional laptop (apart from the advantages when using it at home) is that when you want to upgrade the "roaming" portion of your system, you don't need to shell out for a new battery and screen (two of the more expensive components in laptop design). You could also save money by having a basic, low-cost, low-spec system for roaming and saving all the high-spec toys at home.

So there you go. I know we have lots of geeky people here, and even some people in the industry, so go make it! I'm not claiming copyright or patents or anything at all- if you've read this post the idea is now all yours. However, if you do build this thing and make some money from it, it would be nice if you'd remember little me and send me one of the first ones off the production line! I'll have the high-spec one with the 19" screen, please

Suicide Junkie · #2 January 10th, 2007, 09:48 AM

I like it!
Lower power usage also means less heat in your lap.

I had my old thinkpad laptop hooked up to a power meter a while ago, and I noted (at 12v I think maybe)

0.7 A idling (idle CPU, Memory, power conversion losses, video/audio cards, etc)
an extra 0.1 to 0.2 A when the CPU was going.
0.3-0.5 A for the LCD & backlight, depending on brightness setting.
About 0.5 A for HDD and/or CD activity. Plus a spike when they first spin up.

If you got a dedicated wireless circuit to blindly feed data back and forth sorta like a beefed-up wireless mouse, it would probably sip the juice, and the back light could be your biggest drain.

Randallw · #3 January 10th, 2007, 09:48 AM

Quote:

dogscoff said:- They are bloody expensive to boot.

I've never had a laptop so I wonder, why are they expensive to start? Do they use up alot of the battery?

dogscoff · #4 January 10th, 2007, 09:55 AM

Quote:

I've never had a laptop so I wonder, why are they expensive to start? Do they use up alot of the battery?

Sorry, bad wording on my side. I didn't mean 'boot' as in 'boot up a PC.' It's a phrase that may not be used much outside the UK.

Read the sentence as
"on top of all that, they are bloody expensive."

Suicide Junkie · #5 January 10th, 2007, 10:25 AM

Hey, even better than an LCD screen, how about one of those pseudopaper things? It only uses power to change the picture, and the brighter the light in the room the easier it is to see.

You know, with the tiny balls with ink on one side that get rolled back and forth by electrics or magnetics, or something like that?

Randallw · #6 January 10th, 2007, 10:35 AM

Sorry Dogscoff. I actually did know what you meant (Australian is closer to British than American), I just thought considering we were talking about computers the similarity needed mentioning. My sense of humour runs along the lines of questioning absurdities deadpan. I could add an emote but, well, i'm not a very emotional person

dogscoff · #7 January 10th, 2007, 11:27 AM

RW: I did suspect but decided that my wording could have been better.

SJ: Good suggestion, I can't wait for that stuff to really become common. As it starts to replace monitors, and as monitors start to replace TVs, i think they will be responsible for major savings in power all over the world, which will be good news for everyone. Also, books made with reprogrammable paper! How cool is that?

Somehign else that just occurred with my original idea: Universities, schools and the like could probably save a packet on IT hardware: They just need a few uber-servers that can run a stack of applications at once, and then students can bring in their own screens.

Also on-topic: How about integrating one of these into it instead of a keyboard: http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/proje...ard/index.html

PDF · #8 January 10th, 2007, 02:23 PM

Well, you've reinvented the 40-years old dumb console, like those IBM room-sized machines had, *but* the idea to "wireless" them is great indeed !

geoschmo · #9 January 10th, 2007, 03:12 PM

This is an idea I've kicked around for a long time as well when I noticed that my laptop probably never gets's used more than about 50ft from one spot in the house. I'm kind of suprised not to have seen it done. There are wireless LCD TV's on the market where the TV tuner is in a base unit which beams the video signal to the battery-powered LCD screen. You could actually rig something up with one of those as a proof of concept. Just need a video card that hooks up to a TV video input. Add a bluetooth keyboard and your in business.

Maybe there is some technical reason you don't see wireless PC monitors? Would the amount of signal going through the video cable eat up too much bandwith to be done wirelessly and be practical. Have you ever noticed that the video cable is always much thicker and stiffer than the mouse and keyboard cable? There must be something different about the signal.

Lord_Shleepy · #10 January 10th, 2007, 04:51 PM

Quote:

geoschmo said:
This is an idea I've kicked around for a long time as well when I noticed that my laptop probably never gets's used more than about 50ft from one spot in the house. I'm kind of suprised not to have seen it done. There are wireless LCD TV's on the market where the TV tuner is in a base unit which beams the video signal to the battery-powered LCD screen. You could actually rig something up with one of those as a proof of concept. Just need a video card that hooks up to a TV video input. Add a bluetooth keyboard and your in business.

Maybe there is some technical reason you don't see wireless PC monitors? Would the amount of signal going through the video cable eat up too much bandwith to be done wirelessly and be practical. Have you ever noticed that the video cable is always much thicker and stiffer than the mouse and keyboard cable? There must be something different about the signal.

It's a great idea...but I have a feeling that geoschmo might be on to something. You would think that there would be a significant loss of performance if you take the wire out. Then again...who knows...marvels of modern technology and all...

Then there's always this: Build a desktop with a "convenient" carry handle and slightly longer than average cables then market it as "the amazing portable desktop!" and quietly disappear when the support line starts ringing.