Flipping Awesome

With handheld consoles like the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go rising in popularity, PC gaming has never been more convenient and portable. These tiny systems pack a serious punch when it comes to computing horsepower, and there are many options available to suit all different types of tastes. Well, maybe not all different tastes — some people are harder to satisfy than others. Take Marcin Plaza, for example, who wanted to play PC games on a handheld console, but for one reason or another, nothing on the market fit his needs.

For one thing, Plaza hates traditional controllers. And aside from not liking them as a user interface, it also drove him crazy that the thumbsticks found on most handhelds get caught on everything when you try to stow them in a backpack. So much for portability, huh? Plaza has shown that he is certainly not above crying about his problems, which he did not hesitate to do. But crying was not the end of it — he also designed and built a handheld gaming PC that perfectly suited his needs.

The goal of this project was to build a handheld inspired by the design of the Nintendo DS. Sort of, anyway. This new version should fold like a DS, to hide the controls and protect the screen, but it would only have a single screen, with the second surface reserved for a custom user interface consisting of a miniature keyboard, several buttons, and a trackpad.

Plaza has a history of hacking up old broken laptops, which can be purchased very inexpensively. This project was no different — a somewhat broken Lenovo laptop, bought for $50, served as the core of the new system. Of course the components would need to fit into a much smaller space to be a true handheld, but that was not as difficult as it sounds. The motherboard, battery, and other components can just be stacked, which significantly reduces the surface area they take up.

But then there is that pesky display. Something much smaller would be needed, but to fit the size constraints it would need to have the same type of interface, which was an Embedded DisplayPort connection. Since only a single viable solution was found, the decision of which one to use was easy. But as a 12.7-inch 2880x864 pixel ultrawide screen, it was quite an unconventional choice for a handheld.

However, considering that the motherboard is also 12 inches wide, and the device flips open such that the controls do not need to extend further out to the side beyond the display, it all kind of worked out. Yes, there was a lot of frustration involved in making this display work with the hacked-up laptop, but in the end, it all paid off. The computer was able to boot into Ubuntu Linux using the new screen.

To complete the build, a case was 3D-printed and the parts were shoved (and I do mean shoved) inside. A custom PCB was designed to support the buttons for the keyboard and custom controller, and the existing laptop trackpad was wired in and installed as well. An Arduino Pro Micro was installed on the PCB to turn those buttons into a simulated keyboard to make interfacing it with the computer easy.

The result looks excellent, if not a bit on the thick side. It is certainly not for everyone, but could perhaps serve as inspiration for those that want to build their own custom handheld that suits their own unique tastes.