How can I build a laptop using a Raspberry Pi 400?

[MrCoreyTys]

Heya, BitBuild forums! So, I'm wondering... How can I build a laptop using a Raspberry Pi 400? I am aware of a product called the PiDock, but I'm not so sure if they do ship to the UK. So, I want to build it using stuff like shells, 3D modeling, adding a trackpad and a screen... And also some other stuff. I did ask this in the Raspberry Pi forums before, but I didn't really get much answers. And I know that these forums are more active, so I know I'm gonna get a lot of replies. So, can you tell me how I can do that?

 

[JamesPi]

Heya, BitBuild forums! So, I'm wondering... How can I build a laptop using a Raspberry Pi 400? I am aware of a product called the PiDock, but I'm not so sure if they do ship to the UK. So, I want to build it using stuff like shells, 3D modeling, adding a trackpad and a screen... And also some other stuff. I did ask this in the Raspberry Pi forums before, but I didn't really get much answers. And I know that these forums are more active, so I know I'm gonna get a lot of replies. So, can you tell me how I can do that?

Well, essentially just that! You'd need to design a sort of case around a HDMI screen, USB trackpad, the Pi 400 itself, and have enough room for the cable routing in the back. Connect the screen to the micro HDMI port, the trackpad to a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port (depending on what the trackpad was designed for), then use cable extenders and have a section cut out in the case where you can route the extra ports to, like ethernet, other USB ports, the 40 pin GPIO, etc. The hinge might be a hard thing to 3d print, so you may need to purchase that separately. A portable battery wouldn't be a bad idea too, especially if you have enough room to put it in the case itself. I have a Pi 400 as well, and have wanted to have a PiDock for a while, but never ended up getting one, so if you'd like I can definitely help design it all! Either way, I'd love to hear more about it. Also, welcome to the forums! Glad you're here

 

[MrCoreyTys]

Well, essentially just that! You'd need to design a sort of case around a HDMI screen, USB trackpad, the Pi 400 itself, and have enough room for the cable routing in the back. Connect the screen to the micro HDMI port, the trackpad to a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port (depending on what the trackpad was designed for), then use cable extenders and have a section cut out in the case where you can route the extra ports to, like ethernet, other USB ports, the 40 pin GPIO, etc. The hinge might be a hard thing to 3d print, so you may need to purchase that separately. A portable battery wouldn't be a bad idea too, especially if you have enough room to put it in the case itself. I have a Pi 400 as well, and have wanted to have a PiDock for a while, but never ended up getting one, so if you'd like I can definitely help design it all! Either way, I'd love to hear more about it. Also, welcome to the forums! Glad you're here

Thanks for welcoming me in, JamesPi! Also, yeah! I guess I could need you help then! Firstly, are we gonna make this so that anyone can do it? Secondly, what colours are we gonna use? I was thinking we could do something like having the colours be based on the Pi 400 itself, or have the case transparent so that it shows colours from the screen to the case and that it rapidly updates it, like how Shank Mods did this Wii Portable: Portable Wii & GameCube Reacts to What You Play

 

[Bubberiffic]

If you wanted to do that (the clear case/chassis), you would have to print in clear resin which usually has to be commissioned by either JLCPCB or PCBWAY, which isn't too expensive when looking at their quality.

 

[MrCoreyTys]

To Bubberiffic, cool! Thanks for telling me about that type of case! Also, when it comes to a case that isn't transparent, what colours do you think the case should be? Maybe the same colours as the original Pi 400? Or do a specific palette in general? Maybe we could do these colours: #ffffff, #137a7f

 

[JamesPi]

Thanks for welcoming me in, JamesPi! Also, yeah! I guess I could need you help then! Firstly, are we gonna make this so that anyone can do it? Secondly, what colours are we gonna use? I was thinking we could do something like having the colours be based on the Pi 400 itself, or have the case transparent so that it shows colours from the screen to the case and that it rapidly updates it, like how Shank Mods did this Wii Portable: Portable Wii & GameCube Reacts to What You Play

Yeah, I mean I think we should definitely publish the files when we're done, and make a worklog while making it, so that other people can replicate it. And as for the colors, that's entirely up to you! I don't mind whatever we do, although I definitely think we should try to make the design language and colors complement the Raspberry Pi products that already exist. That transparent idea would be neat as well! It would definitely be more expensive than doing something like FDM printing, as @Bubberiffic said. It all depends on the size of the parts though.

To Bubberiffic, cool! Thanks for telling me about that type of case! Also, when it comes to a case that isn't transparent, what colours do you think the case should be? Maybe the same colours as the original Pi 400? Or do a specific palette in general? Maybe we could do these colours: #ffffff, #137a7f

I like the cyan you chose! I'm not sure how the red on the keyboard would look with the color though, but whatever we end up doing we can always end up changing later if we find it doesn't match as well, or if we just wanted to try something else.

 

[MrCoreyTys]

To JamesPi, alright then! Let's get started! What do you think the design should look like? I feel like it should be great if you could remove the Pi 400 so that you could change the MicroSD card whenever to whatever OS it has on the card! Also, how are we gonna sort out all of the stuff that we need? I do live in the United Kingdom, so I really don't know how it's gonna be shipped to my home country.

 

[JamesPi]

I was thinking pretty similar to the PiDock, like a regular laptop then the Pi 400 slots in, but that's up to you! Removing the Pi 400 easily should definitely be a requirement, but we could also get a micro SD flex cable and extend the port out to the back, but that might be hard to take the Pi 400 out without fiddling with the cable then. As far as sorting everything, I can start a PM with you and we can make an online spreadsheet with part ideas, and add/remove them as we design the case itself if that works for you! I'll make sure to keep that in mind when choosing some of the parts, but we shouldn't run into many roadblocks. (hopefully lol)