This is my latest project since going nuts with blue/red bi-color LED's >:)

Idea: An Xbox, that will run on 12 volt sealed lead-acid batteries, which will all be self-contained inside the console. The batteries will also power one of those small LCD screens that are for the Xbox, so you can play xbox anywhere, without needing a power inverter.

If I use a laptop harddrive, remove the DVD drive (or make it external, all the games are on the HDD anyways), and ditch the stock power supply, there will be plenty of room inside for batteries, and the required circuitly to step it down to filtered 12v, 5v, 3.3v, and 3.3v SB. I will also have a jack for charging the batteries, or for running the box off of an AC adapter plugged into the wall.

My dad works as an electrical engineer designing power supply circuits, I have the resources to make this happen.

I will keep y'all updated on how this turns out.

that would be the "competely portable xbox" good idea

Would probably be about the same weight though, with all the batteries??

Li-ion or nickel metal hydride would probally be a better solution for a battery. But thats just me.

MDFF

you're probably right, NiMh would probably be better.

no matter what, my goal is to make it all fit inside the Xbox case (except maybe the DVD drive), and have at least 1.5-2 hours run time.

I know where I can get some 3300mAh NiMh 1.2v Sub-C cells (I also race R/C cars), I might be getting a bunch of those (I need 10 cells to make 12v, 3300mAh, than at least 4 or 5 of these 10 cell packs to get decent runtime, but that makes like 50 C sized cells. It would probably fit, but would be much more expensive than small lead acid batt's.)

The DVD drive I noticed is a big power hog (2.0A on 5v, and 1.0A in 12v), so eliminating that will help a lot.

I wonder if a DVD HD would use less power?

That would be wicked if you could get it to charge from a ciggarette lighter

EDIT: I meant LAPTOP NOT DVD HARD DRIVE

Now thats a great "survival" idea......

lol those lead batteries are heavy as hell Good luck though.

just get an inverter and a 12v battery

wow i wish i had enuff money to just go grab a new xbox for any new ideas I wanted to try

Im 16, theres not much i can do to make "good" money....and anything I do make money by, i usually spend withen a week

Im 16 too.

Here's what I do:

Take my modded xbox to school at any opportunity, then everybody wants one.

$$$

Back onto the subject, I'm gonna go look at batteries tomorrow.

Anybody know how the Xbox mobo tells the power supply to "turn on"? I'm too lazy to go open up my xbox right now.

hey, a quick idea....the 12v gel cell in the starterbox for the truck dould be used...its veryheavy but it has enough power.....of you could use a y harness for 2 7.2v rechargeable packs.....iv got a couple of extra and some y harnesses if you need them

Very cool idea!

If you have the money, go for li-ion batteries as they are much much lighter than anything else. Next choice (personally) would be nimh, and then nicd, then lead acid. Lead acid batteries are extremely heavy, and to do what you want I don't think it would be worth the weight penalty. You would also ned to build a sturday support structure for them.

Dropping from 12v to 3.3 and 5 is easy and cheap. A dc-dc convertor and a few capacitors and you're set.

Just my thoughts. This will be really col

great idea. kick that dvd drive and you should have just enough room.

I have one of those big 'ol 12v starter box batteries (works great for cranking over a WS7II), I don't know if it will fit in an xbox though, I need something more wide and flat. I've seen some smaller ones at fry's, I'm thinking 4 or 5 of those will work.

Anybody know where to get some L-ion batteries (and something to charge them)

you can make it even more portable by removing the dvd drive completely, or add some ports on the back to connct the xbox dvd drive, but this would be tight, i would love to see this done or make one.

That's what I'm planning on doing, remove the DVD drive completely (just uncheck the DVD drive check in the BIOS) but have external connectors for it, if I really want to use it. Maybe modifying a laptop DVD drive (just won't read originals). Lots of room for batteris.

you could easily just put your current drive in an external casing. easy to make, or u can buy one. Little hefty, but you wont really need to take it anywhere.

good idea but, why would this project be useful? just to have a portable xbox(im not trying to flame , just asking)

how would this project not be useful....it would be awosme....you wouldnt need a tv or a power outlet...you can play anywhere you want......in a closet for full led affect...or in a classroom, a car with no tv, you name it.

I wouldn't expect this to run more than maybe 30-60 mins off a full charged battery.. even without dvdrom the xbox is a huge power hog, none of the components are optimized for power saving.

would be sweet if you could pull it off...how long would the batteries last?

Why not use a laptop battery, maybe 2 or more. They are low profile and hold a good charge. They can power a 17in LCD for an hour or so with a 3.0 HT intel. I bet they could play an xbox with a 7" LCD for a bit longer. Think about it they are designed for high draw long durration. And they are not "that" expensive. Just thinking outloud.

MDFF

"the lappy 486 has an impressive battery life of one half of ten minutes"

might look into that, I can fit two of those where the DVD drive was, and one more where the hard drive used to be, then put a laptop HDD somewhere, stuck to the shielding.

3 laptop batteries whould keep it going for a while.

did some more looking, they make external laptop batteries, really huge capacity ones, i might have to pick up one of those.

that could possibly work....lol

laptop batteries last for an ok amount of time i guess

that would be sick if you could play xbox on an airplane.!

eh, those laptop batteries are too expensive, a 7Ah 12V Lead-Acid battery weighs the same as the DVD drive, and 2 or 3 will fit inside the case ,and they only cost $20 each.

Wouldn't last worth the shit.

what, the battery? I already have one just like it to power my starter box (for my RC Car) ,and it works fine.


Well, the 7Ah batts won't fit unless I raise up the case about 1/2", but if I do that 3 of them will fit inside, two where the DVD drive goes, and one where the stock PSU went. 21Ah at 12 volts will power the Xbox for a VERY long time. That's 252 watt-hours!

Or, 3 smaller 3Ah lead acids will fit inside the case without mods. 9Ah (or even 7) is comparable to the external laptop batteries, and are about $100 cheaper, and only 1 pound heavier (total)

I'm starting to lean back toward the laed acid batt's, so this project won't end up costing me a ton of money.

I didn't see it mentioned but I'd really consider going with lithium ion batteries, they are a lot less likely to create memory. If you remember with nickel metal hydried you should complete drain them and recharge them fully to make sure you don't decrease battery life over time. with lithium ion you can charge at any time you want without much worry of memory

I can fit four of these inside the Xbox case, and without the DVD drive, I should have at least 2 hours of run time (the screen will use some power though)

Just curious, how would you go about charging those.

I ahve a small charger that I use for charging the leadacid batt in my starter box (got it at walmart)

wow, you could prolly sell some of these things for a hefty price! nice idea!

OK, I'm about to order the 4 12v 2.3Ah batteries and the LCD screen (got to figure out how to make that run on 12V), and my dad is working with a customer to get some 5V and 3.3V power regulators.

I got the new Xbox for the project. YAY! It's a 1.4!

I'm hoping to get this done before the end of the year, I'm going to CES in Vegas in January, and I hope to have this done by then so I can take it with me.

if those dont work then maby the batteries from a ups woud work ......just kicked mine and thought of using its batteries

i doubt they have ciggarette lighter adaptors on airplanes nowadays