velcro tape and a pelican (case)

I ordered a pelican 1170 and some velcro tape and now I’m a million times more content with my pi4 laptop setup.

I rambled previously about the pi4 laptop [here].

[here] 2024-10-13-12-56-00.md

the build

I used the hook side of the velcro on the hard plastic case so that everything that needed to be affixed would have the soft velcro. This way, anything not actively in the case doesn’t post a risk of uncomfortable scratching.

I affixed the soft velcro to the bottom of the lcd, the back of my TH40 and my Atreus, and a battery that hides behind the screen.

With a right angle USB C male to female dongle I’ve routed one cable between the screen and the battery with an in-line power button.

the perks

I turned the setup slightly upside down so it would be easier to reach the keyboard and as a bonus the lid latches wrest comfortably against my palms while I’m using it. While testing it the other way the keyboard was really recessed and the lid latches on that side were digging into my palms.

For extra measure I also attached a four port USB hub in the free space above the keyboard.

Nothing rattles or bounces around while the system is closed. The screen doesn’t rest on the keyboard either.j

drawbacks

I have a real-time clock for it, but that blocks the pins to be able to use my breakout board. Maybe I’ll use the breakout board in my pi zero 2w setup and just swap that in to this build when I want to use it. The pi zero 2w has a slightly smaller display and I’ll need to find a case for that LCD if I hope to attach it to this case in a modular fashion.

the future

near future

I have some Boston batteries that I could use to occupy any free space in the build, but I need to find a charging circuit for that. It would be nice to have a battery meter – the banks I’m using are hidden behind the display, I don’t know when they’re going to die. ## distant future

Ideally I could get something magical like the RK3588 that’s going in the next MNT Pocket Reform, but those are expensive and I don’t know how well they run NixOS.

Navigation

index