VOGONS


First post, by Deksor

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I've been thinking of this for a while and I think it could be a great mod for some of our beloved retro computers.

Sure it may sound dumb for the average beige box with a AT PSU that plugs straight to the AC.
However that's not where this would shine.

One thing's for sure though. Now that we have flash based storage mods for most things our retro PC needs their power consumption have lowered compared to what they used to take from the plug. Retro PCs with modern PSUs probably have improved as well because modern PSUs are much better than even the best PSUs from back in the days.

But where this could shine in my opinion is in laptops and mini retro PC mods.

Haven't you ever been tired of these laptops requiring their own power brick to be powered ? Most of them take voltages like 12v, 15v or 19v. This is exactly, or similar to what USB power delivery provides !

No need to keep a box of power bricks for all your retro laptops with this, all you'd ever need is just a usb C power supply.

As for mini retro PC mods I was thinking of these projects of taking the smallest parts that you can find (SBC, narrow baby AT board, etc). Since even a pentium 2 system doesn't take much more than 80w if I remember correctly, usb pd should be enough for all these projects because it maxes out at 100w@20v.

There is just one drawback for mini retro PCs : the most used power supply, the Pico PSU is powered by 12V. So there's no way of powering it with usb pd@20v. The max you'll get from it is 60w. That may work for a 386, but I fear that for anything newer it'd be really low. And using a 20v to 12v adapter might kill the deal as it'd make the entire thing more clunky, more expensive and you might loose most of the power through heat.

I think what's needed is a "Pico PSU" but made for usb power delivery.

Do you think it's a good idea or it's just another doomed project before it even started ?

(I don't have enough electronic knowledge to build such a thing by the way)

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 1 of 3, by Horun

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Interesting ! I have a mini desktop i3 pc that is powered by a 19v PSU on a cord like a Laptop charger so think it could be very possible to power anything up to that in a similar way (excluding Athlons 🤣).
Sorry but am extremely tired and probably not thinking proper about what you are proposing but sounds like a good idea !

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 3, by sangokushi

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To power laptop with a USB-C power supply, you probably just need these two items:
USB PD cable to output the correct voltage:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/114525165013
Convert the 5.5x2.1mm plug to your laptop plug:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274537587968

Reply 3 of 3, by Doornkaat

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There are those universal laptop power bricks that can be set to output a certain voltage and come with a bunch of adaptor jacks.
Why mess with USB power delivery when those power bricks already exist?