Case for Androda's Mac Portable VGA Adapter

[wottle]

Since I didn't learn my lesson about my terrible design skills while trying to build a universal laptop power adapter, I recently ordered one of @Androda's Portable VGA adapters and thought, "I probably should cover this up before I damage it and short out something important". So I build a very basic box. With 3 cutouts. And a handful of spacers.

It's not great, but it's functional. So, if anyone else has one and wants to cover it up, feel free to break out your 3d printer and put it in a box. My spacer was a bit off so I threw in some folded paper, and there are no screw down holes, so I threw in some hot glue to keep it held down. Lid is friction fit, so I hope that will last, but it is snug at the moment.



Here it is in Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6776541

Thanks @Androda for making awesome things, particularly for the Portable and hopefully you're OK with me putting your cool module in such a boring and ugly box!

 

[JDW]

Thank you for being so kind, @wottle !

And by the way, I would love to see a pic of your Mac Portable using that adapter with an external monitor!

 

[wottle]

Thank you for being so kind, @wottle !

And by the way, I would love to see a pic of your Mac Portable using that adapter with an external monitor!

I tried to grab one, but my Portable is being a bit finicky. I'll snap one when I figure out why it's not booting.

 

[wottle]

I tried to grab one, but my Portable is being a bit finicky. I'll snap one when I figure out why it's not booting.

Unfortunately, this will have to do for now. Took everything out and trying to remove as much as possible. Video out definitely does work, though. Apologies for the messy desk
One thing I did notice when my machine was still together is that the case I printed is tight up against the back of the portables case. I may need to adjust the shape of the case, but it appears to allow the port to be fully seated.
Now to figure out why my machine refused to boot when it was put together.

 

[wottle]

Getting better…

… back together and still working. Not sure why it refused to power on before.

and here’s my little box:

 

[JDW]

Thank you for the photos.

It's hard to tell from the shooting angle and lens distortion, but is the mirrored screen proportionally correct? Or is it slightly horizontally smashed like it appears in the photo?

 

[wottle]

Thank you for the photos.

It's hard to tell from the shooting angle and lens distortion, but is the mirrored screen proportionally correct? Or is it slightly horizontally smashed like it appears in the photo?

My understanding is that it matches the 640x400 resolution of the Portable. So the black bars at the top and bottom are for the 80 pixels that aren't populated on the 640x480 output. Getting hit by the hurricane at the moment so I don't want to plug it in during sporadic power outages to check, but once things settle down, I'll fire it back up and get some measurements to see if the aspect ratio looks correct.

I also have gone a little crazy since learning about PrusaSlicer's ability to add text to models. Added a label to the lid of the adapter box. Now it will be very clear what this adapter is for:

 

[JDW]

We don't get hurricanes here in Japan, but we do get Typhoons. I still recall vividly, 20 years or so ago, setting a date for a BBQ at my Australian friend's home here in Japan, and it just so happened on the scheduled day that a Typhoon hit. Were we going to let that stop us? Not on your life! We BBQ'd inside his garage. Got pretty smokey in there, but it came out pretty good, despite the winds outside raging. Probably wouldn't do that again, but you the younger you are, the more fun you try to have.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Stay safe.

 

[wottle]

Thank you for the photos.

It's hard to tell from the shooting angle and lens distortion, but is the mirrored screen proportionally correct? Or is it slightly horizontally smashed like it appears in the photo?

So I did a measurement and it does seem like the proportions are a bit off. a 640x400 resolution should put the screen at a 1.6:1 ratio. On my monitor, it is displaying as 1.51:1. So it is stretched vertically a bit. I suspect this could be adjusted in the software on the adapter given that @Androda seems to have added the black bars at the top and bottom. Not sure how hard or easy that would be.

I wonder if Androda used a 16:9 monitor for his testing and the aspect ration adjustment made it work on his where it doesn't on my 4:3 ratio monitor?

 

[JDW]

a 640x400 resolution should put the screen at a 1.6:1 ratio. On my monitor, it is displaying as 1.51:1. So it is stretched vertically a bit.

Thanks for confirming my eyes weren't deceiving me when I viewed your earlier photo. It did look vertically stretched to me.