A Classic II/LC III laptop/book….

[Trash80toG4]

Loving it! Next time you're playing with the CAD file, do me a favor and position the LCD hinged up in back as if the lid folds flat, topside up with back of lid facing up in the frog position.

Besides the oblique view, do a handle side profile view with lid closed. I think I've I've got the hinge mechanism noodled out for that.

 

[-SE40-]

Right!

 

[Trash80toG4]

If you do all the plan views, I can print it out, sprayment it onto cardboard and make a prototype.

 

[-SE40-]

Sure, will do!
Apreciate you joining in!

 

[Trash80toG4]

Glad you appreciate it . . . I just can't help myself.

 

[-SE40-]

@Trash80toG4 : Did sent you the PDF to experiment with…

 

[Trash80toG4]

Very cool, wasn't sure you wanted to post it in thread. Instruction on some tweaks to it an my concept in PM response. Mostly involves removing the green.

 

[Trash80toG4]

What happened to the mid-level step under the handle, raised KBD level and LCD buildup to match it from your p.1 concept?

To me, it's far more striking from any viewpoint, but in profile there is no comparison.

I think it looks like a 12 year old Tadpole wannabe tried to take Snow White minimalist. Didn't work then and didn't work later when His Steveness did the second coming thing either. TAM should have gone Snow White and eMac/iMac both had that dated Ford Taurus Cowpie stench about them. By iLamp he finally did something interesting/original. There's no accounting for taste.

Now that I look at it again, I think you may need the additional depth for the VRAM SIMM anyway?


edit: sorry, cranky and tired, still recovering from getting over Covid. YMMV and almost certainly does here.

 

[-SE40-]

As they arrived at the black model,
design did become more logic and practical.
Shape simplyfied, keybord edges protected.

Instead of creating an overly complex laptop,
the apple guys could have proceed in this direction,
with a minimal partscount.

 

[retr01]

Yeah, that's the one that @-SE40-'s design was based on, @Trash80toG4.

 

[-SE40-]

Proportions did change a bit from the previous versions….
Top and side view added to this post.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Note the stepped planes of KBD, thicker mid-section and modularized, inset FDD module. The profile lines are broken up very nicely in the BlackBook. The current rev. is slab sided, has a thinner (too thin for LCIII?) midsection with that chamfered front edge.

Thicker lid also fends off the unfortunate SJ-iVesian thinness corruption of the Mac aesthetic.

Hartmut and the Tadpoles jammed to a chunkier, more Cubist rhythm for Snow White as on the //c. Radius for edges in Snow White are longer, smoother on BlackBook, //c, SE and Macintosh II.:

Trying to be helpful here, apologies for the tone of last night's post.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Instead of creating an overly complex laptop,
the apple guys could have proceed in this direction,
with a minimal partscount.

With the Modularization of FDD assembly, parts count increased.

Take note of the lack of cursor keys on the Macintosh oriented studies, yet another of SJ's more idiotic notions for the Mac and its dumbed down user interface which intentionally forced use the mouse for navigation.

I won't get into minimization of command keys, forcing even more use of the mouse to navigate drop down menus in order to get anything done. But nothing can compare to SJs attempts to all but hermetically seal the Mac's case design, not cool in so many ways.

All studies for Mac versions lack the required Mouse for using the damn things!

 

[-SE40-]

@Trash80toG4 , appologies accepted.

First, I think we are here for our enjoyment,
and love for the Apple products
(or the other way arround)

This project here is open for any
comments/suggestions by all members.
I appreciate usefull input,
but I also have to make it work in the end.
I dont like unfinished or imperfect projects

This is still just the basic volume design,
no extended details.
As for thickness of the base, its still undefined.
The drawing shows 20-30mm that should be feaseble.
The keyboard thickness is defining that largely.
The larger/longer memory stick from Max finds space in the endbox. That will also contain the needed lipocells, additional electronics, possibly the fdd.
My aim for now is to cut the keyboard asap and see if I can get it back to working order.
Next check on the LCIII board height dimension.
The largest dimension+ margin defines the needed enclosure inner space.

 

[Trash80toG4]

@Trash80toG4 , appologies accepted.

Thanks much, had a bdd time of it last night again and appreciate your patience. The changup from original concept took me very much by surprise.

First, I think we are here for our enjoyment,
and love for the Apple products
(or the other way arround)

Absolutely.

This project here is open for any
comments/suggestions by all members.
I appreciate usefull input . . .
but I also have to make it work in the end.
I dont like unfinished or imperfect projects

Trying to be useful, the editorial commentary on frog designs I can tone down, but I think it quite relevant to figure out where they were coming from in the segue from //c/Snow Whitw development stage to Mac oriented studies if you like.

This is still just the basic volume design,
no extended details.
As for thickness of the base, its still undefined.
The drawing shows 20-30mm that should be feaseble.
The keyboard thickness is defining that largely.

With its dedicated VRAM LC only card, the LC board require a clearance of a bit more that 25.5mm front top corner of SIMM is 151mm from the back of the PCB, SIMM is perpendicular to main memory SIMM. It extends beyund the confines of the FDD section.

My aim for now is to cut the keyboard asap and see if I can get it back to working order.
Next check on the LCIII board height dimension

May will be playing with that in AI later today. Have to find a plan view the @max1zzz reloaded LCIII board.

 

[-SE40-]

@Trash80toG4 …“took me very much by surprise“. …..

Maybe I was not clear here, and it was not 100% clear to me, what has drawn me into this project.
I guess I am not understanding this Apple product concept, and want to find out what went wrong.

I wonder what could have happened if Apple would have actually gone through with this laptop-book concept.
What would it be like if they did actually perfect the design into a commercial viable product. What would it be like to use this product in 2022?

So I try to keep true to the concept models made in those days, to combine the original ideas (mix and match) into a working product, with mostly original Apple parts.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Gotcha. One question about your design comes to mind. The chamfer along the bottom at front edge looks like it won't work for a mechanical switch KBD. I don't recall that feature on any of the frog studies.

Rubber domes were not available to frog design in the timeframe of Hartmut's work at Apple. ADB KBD II used them before the introduction of the PowerBooks form factor I think? But mechanical key switches were used for the Snow White Portable.

What KBD are you using?

 

[-SE40-]

Gotcha?

Aint that a bit like nitpicking ( or whatever that is called)

The mainboard, LCD display, Blue SCSI ,
Lipocells I am using here, these are also not time correct.

As I wrote earlier..….The keyboard thickness is defining that largel…….y

But you are right, and as the base thickness may vary, also the chamfer must be adapted to the needed thickness of the (standard macintosh) keyboard for now.
As thats only for trialfit (its a bit wornout) I may have to find something nicer later.
Love clicky switches btw.


Have a good weekend!

 

[Trash80toG4]

Gotcha?

Aint that a bit like nitpicking ( or whatever that is called)

Not at all, sorry, meaning's ambiguous there. In that context "gotcha" was intended to convey: I understand you, I get your point, no problem and such in American English idiom.

Was trying to be helpful, not nitpicking your design. In the Cubist, Hartmut renderings, the KBD "cube" was almost certainly based on flat/depression or raised/chickleted key caps for the mechanicals in the IIgs KBD I think?


edit: again, sorry I would have used an exclamation point, not a period if it had been a nit-pick.

 

[retr01]

The keyboard thickness is defining that largel……

the base thickness may vary, also the chamfer must be adapted to the needed thickness of the (standard macintosh) keyboard for now.

Check out the keyboards for the Apple Newton or PowerBooks. Those are a bit smaller, like the //c and //c+ but more Mac Snow White than Apple II Snow White. Yet, matching keys to the case color you want may be challenging.