How big is the chipset for the XBOX, excluding the accesories (heatsinc/fan, DVD drive, etx - but video card included)?

Not sure, I'm sure you could safely open up the box and find out though... it might void the warranty though!

That's the idea, I don't want to void the warranties... Do those expire after a year?

It depends on the warranty when you bought the thingy, but a year is kinda standard.

 

A lot of it is taken up by the cooling system... is this just curiousity?

Kind of, I was wondering about the feasibility of turning it into a handheld (with my own cooling mechanism that's totally overkill and shouldn't take up much space) and how much space the actual architecture takes up.

I thought there may be a reason like that... Well that would void the warranty anyway, so why not just open it.

 

I don't believe you will get a handheld device the size of a standard hand held device on the marker at the moment, because, well, it's got to be the size of a CD plus all of the electronics, you may reduce the size, but not really to proper hand held, and then you'd need a whole VDU (visual display unit) as well.

Well, I wasn't going to even try if there wasn't a possibility of it being feasible, and if it is, I'll prolly track down a new xbox just for the reason. And I'm dropping the CD unit and not considering a screen unit - kind of like an uberpowerful PalmPilot.

If you drop the CD part, then what will be the input of the console (ie. where the game is fed into it?).... without a CD or cooling i suppose it could be possible, but I've never seen one open, only heard of the mega sized cooling system. Still the 'motherboard' of the XBox is probably quite sizeable.

Well i rember reading in pop sci or mech that there is a guy that turns consoles like n 64 into playable handhelds you may want to run a search and see what u find. I wish i could give you more detailes.

dude it would be posible but realy hard. the chipset is about the size of the box so i meen it would be hard. if you smart enough which im guessing your not cus i dont know anyone who is you could cut hte board and make it a thick ass thing but idk... go to http://www.xbox-scene.com for any xbox modding questions

Well then, found some pics and some information. The motherboard is "seven or eight inches square" [http://www.vanshardware.com/articles/2001/november/011116_Xbox/011116_Xbox.htm] and is connected via special links to various accessories. Given that the whole thing is specialized, it does not appear to be practical (or space friendly - a seven-ich handheld would be... huge) to use it as a PDA on steroids.

 

That means it's on to the PS2 and Gamecube. After that, it's down to custom-built.

PS2 has a 300 mhz processor. That rules it out.

 

[Edit:

Gamecube is 485 mhz. Bare minimum for me is 733 (xbox speed). That rules out everything but a custom made system. Bummer. Any ideas about how to make xbox games run on computers (the original disks)? Aside from software emulators?

Check out http://www.benheck.com, it may be a bit enlightening. BTW the portable PS2 has already been done.

Yeah, I knew that, but I wasn't going for a portable system, but rather a kind of PalmPilot on steroids.

Why would you want something like that? The Atari portfolio was certainly the pinnacle of handheld computing:P

What are you tring to do? Build a handheld that does what?

That blows anything on the market out of the water.

 

To be specific, that can play games (well, ones that don't invoke a state of processor neurosis - like, for example, Doom 3, which is way to processor demanding), function as an mp3 player, a personal organizer (just like a palm pilot), has USB (so it can, in theory, connect to a wireless network) and run a linux OS. I think that was about the idea that I had. Can't think of much else. Like a mini-tablet pc.

Well I would reccommend having a PC motherbord custom made unless you have the prints for the xbox. What I would do is Put the xbox in a backpack and play on a Mini DVD player

That blows anything on the market out of the water.

If you could do it then the big guys would have done it already and it'b blow anything you have away!

Meh. That's not the point.

 

Edward, wouldn't happen to have anywhere that I could get a custom-made PC motherboard? I've been "perusing" the standard ones, but most of them are just too... Big!

Hmm good question no idea. Try googling custom motherboards I found some potential for what you want to do.