[nevon]

Well, got my touchscreen and I'm back on track. I hope to get the project done this weekend.

Finding the proper plex thickness has been a pain, I had to compromise and may have to use two sheets. I don't want to do that though. I'm seriously considering removing the SD card to get that extra 1mm or so in thickness out of the way, but I don't think I dare do that, even though I never use SD. Why oh why does the SD need to be higher than all the other components?

---------- Post added at 06:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 AM ----------

Does anybody happen to know if the mini 9 touchpad is USB?

[chewy]

you should be able to find thicker acrylic. TAP plastics is often good source, or I found a website in ohio that had good prices. I bought 1/2 inch thick, 2 x 4 feet for about $75 plus $20 ship. can post the site once I actually get the piece in the mail.

are you thinking of adding a usb device where the touchpad is? that's an interesting question whether it's usb.

[nevon]

I'm sure I could get better acrylic online, but I only needed a small piece. I think I spent $3 on the two pieces I bought, and they're working well.

The touchscreen I bought was from DealExtreme and made for an Eee, so it's not plug & play. I tried connecting it via the touchpad port, because that port does have +5v and Ground, and is 4 pins (I really thought it would work), but got nothing. I rerouted the data lines to the WWAN port and everything is groovy. It would have been nice to avoid solding directly to the motherboard, but all's well in the end.

So right now I have a ton of empty USB ports. Three on the touchpad controller, the webcam port, and the bluetooth port. Problem is I have almost no space in the unit anymore

Today I'm going to finish up the power button and acrylic bezel and hopefully be done!

[nevon]

I cut and painted my acrylic on Sunday. The cutting is a bit of a precise job because the bezel is very thin around the LCD - but it all worked out well. So I let the paint dry and cure, went downstairs, picked up the acrylic today and it broke into 3 pieces. It hadn't even been touched! Something about the paint must have made the acrylic brittle Now I have to go buy some more.

[chewy]

wow. that's a drag. must have been just the right solvent in your spray paint.

can you buy black acrylic, so you don't have to paint it?

alternatively, sheets of ABS are cheap, too (TAP plastics). they have a slight bumpy texture on the back side that matches the bottom of the dell.

[nevon]

There's not too many choices in acrylic around here, so I haven't found anything in black. I've been buying just the amount I need rather than ordering a large sheet.

There's a site that will laser-cut acrylic or ABS (or a bunch of other items), their quote is $25 for the bezel - which isn't bad at all, other than me being cheap and trying to do it myself. If I keep failing though my attempts may end up costing more than getting the laser-cut

I'm trying again tonight, we'll see how it goes.

[wisefire]

why acryllic.. stuff is brittle in its own right..
you could use HDPE if you want it to never break.. or Polycarbonate.. if you want it to not break soon (like 5 or 10 years, stuff will get more brittle when exposed to UV, eventually)

HDPE is cool, cuz you can get it in black aswell..

[nevon]

Originally Posted by wisefire

why acryllic.. stuff is brittle in its own right..
you could use HDPE if you want it to never break.. or Polycarbonate.. if you want it to not break soon (like 5 or 10 years, stuff will get more brittle when exposed to UV, eventually)

HDPE is cool, cuz you can get it in black aswell..

Acrylic was a bad choice. It's not the ideal material, but it looks good in it's current state. I just used this because it could be easily and cheaply obtained locally. In retrospect, I should have just accepted the extra few millimeters and went with the inverted display lid. If my acrylic breaks again, that's what I'll be doing.

Right now I'm 90% done with the project. The rest of it is bondo to fill in some gaps, sanding, painting, and a little bit more cleanup. Everything is looking nice and the tablet is working as expected. The bezel is secured using two screws in the back and magnets around the display, and it seems pretty secure. I like how this has turned out, even with a few setbacks.

[rock99rock]

Cant wait to see some updated pictures Is the LCD going to be resting on the battery at all, or did you have enough clearance to have it mounted below? Is the LCD mounted in any way to the lower part of the machine, or is the bezel just kinda holding it in place?

[nevon]

I'll get more pictures. I've been taking some, but have been too lazy to upload. The LCD is not resting on the battery, but it is not recessed to be flush with the battery either. I'd say it's about 4mm above the battery height. Which is a shame, I wish it were lower.

Right now the LCD is held in place by a bit of adhesive tape on the back to a few strategic points, and by the snug fit with the bezel. I'm planning on adding one last bit which will be a very thin overlay to keep it in place. This will probably look bad, so we'll see what happens. Even without this the LCD is secure, but I wouldn't throw it across the room.

I think the only way to make this really as slim as I wanted would be a custom case (including disassembling the battery). Right now I'm not overly happy with the project.