I built this Playstation 1 portable in one month for MGC 2023! I have no clue why it's taken me so long to make a Cutting Edge post for it. The build process (trimming, CAD work, assembly) is documented in my worklog.
This is an old-school portable with lots of hot glue. I wanted crispy video quality, so it uses a Shinobi Scaler to linedouble the PS1's RGB to VGA. But other than that, it has no custom PCBs!
Features:
Issues:
Size comparison with PS Vita 2000
Internals:
As mentioned above, in order to fit the PU-18 motherboard into this small of a case I had to cut it in half and fold it. Lots and lots of magnet wire!
Here are some photos to demonstrate the amazing video quality Shinobi Scaler provides with both 480i and 240p input.
Here's a video showing the PicoMemcard+ functioning:
The green LED that shines through the shell is from the PicoMemcard+. It flashes red when saves are being written to the SD card. I think it looks pretty cool in low light, along with the LCD backlight bleed! Also, you can manage the memory cards via Xstation which is cool.
Finally, here's a video showing the process of loading an audio CD after a game ISO, so I can play Vib-Ribbon with a custom song! This was the whole point of using an exotically-trimmed PU-18 since later, smaller motherboard revisions aren't compatible with Xstation or Vib-Ribbon!
Mission accomplished!
This is an old-school portable with lots of hot glue. I wanted crispy video quality, so it uses a Shinobi Scaler to linedouble the PS1's RGB to VGA. But other than that, it has no custom PCBs!
Features:
- 181 x 91.5 x 30.25 mm, case printed in white PLA
- Original PU-18 PS1 motherboard, cut in half, folded and rewired
- 2S1P 3500mAh 18650s with "red board"— ~2.5hrs of battery life
- Trimmed Xstation ODE by Robert Neumann (ramapcsx2) with push-push SD card slot and disc tray button
- Shinobi Scaler running GBS-Control by ramapcsx2 for impeccably crisp integer scaled 480p VGA (scanlines in 240p mode!)
- Dualshock controller with rumble, but no analog sticks. All buttons/triggers use orange squishy tacts
- PicoMemcard+ with 16GB microSD for unlimited game saves
- Beefy enclosed stereo speakers and PAM8803 amp
- Wriststrap loop with official Sony Pocketstation strap!
Issues:
- No volume controls
- Power LED and reset button are not wired up
- Latching power button is finicky and accidentally brushing it can turn the unit off
- No heatsinks, so it gets nice and toasty after a while
- The Shinobi Scaler uses luma as sync and sometimes latches onto composite video noise which makes the picture all noisy. A reboot usually fixes it
- No graceful shutdown or smart BMS— the screen just stops working when the batteries get too low
Size comparison with PS Vita 2000
Internals:
As mentioned above, in order to fit the PU-18 motherboard into this small of a case I had to cut it in half and fold it. Lots and lots of magnet wire!
Here are some photos to demonstrate the amazing video quality Shinobi Scaler provides with both 480i and 240p input.
Here's a video showing the PicoMemcard+ functioning:
The green LED that shines through the shell is from the PicoMemcard+. It flashes red when saves are being written to the SD card. I think it looks pretty cool in low light, along with the LCD backlight bleed! Also, you can manage the memory cards via Xstation which is cool.
Finally, here's a video showing the process of loading an audio CD after a game ISO, so I can play Vib-Ribbon with a custom song! This was the whole point of using an exotically-trimmed PU-18 since later, smaller motherboard revisions aren't compatible with Xstation or Vib-Ribbon!
Mission accomplished!
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