I am reading and replying on my portable Raspberry Pi. It's a 7" tablet, rather like a Nintendo Switch or a Steam Deck.
I used off the shelf components: Raspberry Pi 4 with 8 GB, official Touch Display 2, and PiSugar 3 Plus with 5,000 mAh LiPo battery.
I've been poking at this off and on for about six months, and finally have it in a beta state. A lot of that has been case design (CAD and 3D printing), which also required deciding how to fit the components together.
Because I wanted a reasonably thin case, with accessible ports, I had to "thin" all the components and move some ports. Removing connectors (USB etc.) allowed me to thin the case to a reasonable thickness. (Later I will add USB ports on the sides by extending with cables soldered to the Pi where the ports where removed.)
I used Raspberry Pi 4 because I find 3 struggles with a graphical desktop, and I read 5 is not very suitable for use with battery power, as well as requiring much cooling. I used the PiSugar 3 Plus because it provides 3A and has some useful features like RTC and software integration. I used the Touch Display 2 because it's official, a reasonable size, adequate resolution, and DVI (leaving both HDMI ports free for use).
I tried many approaches designing the case and went through seven iterations. This design is OK but still needs tweaks. I'll keep refining. Main limitation on thinness is the battery, and the necessary parts of the Touch Display. If I could find a similar capacity battery that is thinner (albeit wider), I could perhaps reduce thickness more, although another component would become the blocker.
I have no heat sink or fan on the 4, and vents along the sides of the case but none on the back. Current temp is around 70 C, and I am plugged in and charging. It is noticeably toasty, but I can improve this.
Obviously this won't be as good an experience as a purpose designed and mass produced tablet or laptop. But I want it, so I will give it a try and see how it goes.
I used off the shelf components: Raspberry Pi 4 with 8 GB, official Touch Display 2, and PiSugar 3 Plus with 5,000 mAh LiPo battery.
I've been poking at this off and on for about six months, and finally have it in a beta state. A lot of that has been case design (CAD and 3D printing), which also required deciding how to fit the components together.
Because I wanted a reasonably thin case, with accessible ports, I had to "thin" all the components and move some ports. Removing connectors (USB etc.) allowed me to thin the case to a reasonable thickness. (Later I will add USB ports on the sides by extending with cables soldered to the Pi where the ports where removed.)
I used Raspberry Pi 4 because I find 3 struggles with a graphical desktop, and I read 5 is not very suitable for use with battery power, as well as requiring much cooling. I used the PiSugar 3 Plus because it provides 3A and has some useful features like RTC and software integration. I used the Touch Display 2 because it's official, a reasonable size, adequate resolution, and DVI (leaving both HDMI ports free for use).
I tried many approaches designing the case and went through seven iterations. This design is OK but still needs tweaks. I'll keep refining. Main limitation on thinness is the battery, and the necessary parts of the Touch Display. If I could find a similar capacity battery that is thinner (albeit wider), I could perhaps reduce thickness more, although another component would become the blocker.
I have no heat sink or fan on the 4, and vents along the sides of the case but none on the back. Current temp is around 70 C, and I am plugged in and charging. It is noticeably toasty, but I can improve this.
Obviously this won't be as good an experience as a purpose designed and mass produced tablet or laptop. But I want it, so I will give it a try and see how it goes.
Statistics: Posted by mlepage — Wed Jul 02, 2025 4:25 am