Beginner projects to prepare me for n64p

[RamenTheft]

so... i posted a thread earlier today about n64 portable, and ive done a bit more research, and realized that since i am a noob, i should start at something easier. I came here to ask if one of you fantastic people could provide me a few project ideas that could hone my general skills to build up to the big hulking mess that is the N64 portable, :/ I prefer for the projects to be as cheap as possible, like maybe 50-100? Thanks so much you guys!

 

[MasterNate]

This is a very hard question. A really nice easy thing to do is to create a portable screen that you can plug different inputs into. @Madmorda just finished one. You could ask her for some pics. The screen would only cost about 30 dollars. The batteries about 20. And you can put speakers in it if you want. That would be an easy thing to do. It would also let you test game consoles that you buy on craigslist and stuff.

But, do whatever you want. The best way to learn is by doing it. That is what i am doing with my wii portable. This is my first, so its not great. But i have learned so much and have a bunch of ideas for my next one

 

[Doom]

A clone NESp is the easiest IMO. But, it's always better to build something you are interested in. If you need to learn how to do soldering and all that though the best way is to get something cheap at a thrift stone like a modem and desolder parts and wire up parts to other parts.

 

[RamenTheft]

Thanks this really helps

 

[Madmorda]

I believe there is no better way to learn things than fixing stuff. It's super cheap, plus you get all sorts of consoles out of it. It teaches you about all sorts of electrical components, how to use a soldering iron, the importance of organizing your small parts, and it's practical knowledge. It's also extremely useful to have random parts hanging around when you're building something. The screen I put together was 100% out of extra parts.

Today I picked up a bunch of consoles, and was able to fix an Xbox 360 ($2 from the flea market). It was a completely new experience and I learned quite a bit.

My opinion is that you should start by learning to fix stuff, since you will be doing a lot of fixing on anything you build while working out the kinks.

 

[RamenTheft]

yeah, im planning to fix a bunch of n64’s and my dad is a really good engineer who will definitely help me with some soldering & stuff, but i really didnt think about that, so thanks!!