Chippy’s Festive UMPC Bake. (2006)

This is a wonderfully consumable UMPC/Carrypad recipe that can be made in the months before a festive occasion. Christmas, CES, CeBit and Computex are the best times. My variation includes some lessons I’ve learnt from great ultra mobile PC cooks such as Mrs ASUS, Jamie OLPC and those great Apple, IBM and PSION recipes of old. Its fun for all the family to make, bake and consume.

This recipe serves one. Approximate preparation time is 4 months. (Re-forming an old preparation is possible to save time but often results in bad tastes, bad consistency and flaky glazing. My recommendation –  cook with fresh ingredients every time.) Cooking time 3 months. Should only be made in batches by experienced cooks.

Ingredients for the case:

1 pre-formed ultra mobile PC casing. Colour to suit. Making your own is also possible but the range quality of pre-prepared cases these days is really quite good.
1 matching, thin-style keyboard frame and case.

Filling:

80gm (soft) touchscreen – LED backlit,  1W,  6″ 800×600 native resolution.
1Ghz CPU – VIA C7-M ULV + VX700.
8GB of primary flash.
80GB 1.8″ rotating secondary drive. (some recipes call for hybrid flash drives. Use one if you can find it in your local market.)
1GB RAM
1 PCI-based SD card reader and CF slot.
Single ultra-low-power WiFi module (not USB) – Under 1W. (Don’t buy cheap ingredients here. You’ll regret it later.)
1 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (not USB)
Single 3G (HSDPA-capable) module.
Dockable USB GPS module (sirf III) with built-in BT2.0 radio. (optional)
Fingerprint sensor
Key backlighting (LED)
Docking connector.
2 x High Quality speakers. 1-2″
Pinch of capacitors,
Sprinkling of resistors and inductors to taste.
Interconnect cable as needed.
Selection of flashing, multi colour and pulsing blue leds.(to suit)
Various cable and PCB making equipment.
High quality Li-ion battery. 35W/hr. 250g weight.
DC input module – 8-15V self regulating with overload protection.

Decoration:

1 x Windows XP Tablet Edition for binding and glazing.
Hardware buttons for radio on/off, function keys
2 scroll wheels
Approx 100 full-travel (keyboard type) buttons
1,300,000 highly light sensitive pixels arranged on a camera sensor module. (often best to buy this pre-built – saves prep time.)
1 Magnet
Stylus made from magnetic material.
Mouse pointer and mouse buttons
Selection of 12 multi-use buttons split 6 on each side of frame.(primary function – Function keys)
1 stand – industrial quality.
Glue, tape, RF spray, decals to suit. (CE, FCC etc.)

How to make the casing.

Take the two parts of the case and arrange in a way such that the keyboard unit folds over on to the screen in a book style. Integrate a flexible snap-in docking connector such that the keyboard can be removed at will. Keyboard should not contain any of the filling.

For the filling

Using your layout skills (I find that classes really help here, IBM run some good ones,) arrange the ingredients in a tidy but compact layout within the main casing (not the keyboard) ensuring that the screen is well positioned within the main case. Ensure that the CPU and chipsets are kept away from hard drive and WiFi components. This helps produce a even heat distribution throughout the bake. When interconnecting the components ensure that the flash drive appears as the primary drive and that the rotating HDD is positioned underneath a removable casing window for easy access. Likewise, position the 3G SIM card underneath an access window. Connect one scrollwheel to the volume control and the other on the front of the frame as a middle button mouse scroll wheel.

Try not to make shortcuts. There are variation of the recipe that use USB-based components but these can cause uneven baking and even sour tastes. Your guests might not say anything but you can be sure they’ll notice!

When adding the docking connector ensure that as many ports as possible are extended. include digital and analogue audio, USB2.0, digital and analogue video signals. An advanced version of this recipe could include an extension of the PCI bus in order to enable 3rd party 3D graphics cards to be built into the advanced docking module (see below.)

Arrange the 1.3m light sensitive pixels behind a glass lens on a pop-out rotating stalk. (This great little trick appears in the Nokia 870 recipe that is still going through its first bake.) Ensure this is connected to a LED lamp. Sometimes this gets forgotten and results in accidental usage of the ‘web cam’ which increases the core temperature of the filling. Very embarrassing and messy final product can result.

For the keyboard module, arrange the lightweight keys to local tastes. For example, in the U.S. the $-key is used less than that equivalent £ key in the UK. In the UK arrangement, some like to add the mute button. Germany has a strange tradition of adding more letters than are in the alphabet. While this works in Germany and other European countries, I advise to leave it out if making this recipe in the U.S. or U.K. Your guests will enjoy it so much more. Scroll-lock, caps lock and even the exclamation mark can be left off to save space. Note that in Spain, the pause/break button is compulsory.

Place buttons for radios on keyboard frame and arrange 12 multi-purpose buttons on the lower half of the screen frame (6 each side) with 3 extra buttons for CTRL, ALT and SHIFT. placing a DEL button close to CTRL and ALT is not recommended.

Sprinkle LED lamps and attach to random points on the filling. Play with this to achieve nice effects but don’t overdo it. Its so so tempting but my advise is to take it easy with those LEDS – the trash look is not in this season.

Finishing / decoration.

Finishing is a highly specialised art. Often the XP finish tends to spread a little heavily. There are also some reports of it being flaky and thus letting the filling seep out. There are other finishing options. If you are able to get it to bind, the Linux finish can give a very light and fluffy consistency.

Some tips for the finish.

Use an A2DP capable, and well-tested Bluetooth stack to form a connection to the Bluetooth module. This provides long lasting stability.

Separate the flash and rotating drives and connect as separate drives to the XP finish.

Take time to make adjustable connections to all keys

A trick that often gets forgotten and one that can really help the overall taste – Use the magnet behind the screen frame to provide a temporary ‘clamp’ for the stylus. I love this little touch.

For the glazing, I don’t recommend anything too over the top. A simple style often pleases in the long run. Feel free to experiment but I often find that expectations rise too high when too much colour and glaze (or ‘glass’ as becoming popular) is present.

After forming the UMPC, try a test bake. I find the first one often catches me by suprise and I either burn it or even forget to put important parts of the filling in. It good idea to try the first run out on friendly guests (bloggers are ideal critics) before serving at any sort of festive occasion. Especially public ones. Oh. One note for those once-in-a-lifetime public festivals, avoid serving too much alcohol. The drunk guest can often be overzealous with comments and so upsetting for the host and other guests.

Complementary food and storage.

Never, never, never serve the ultra mobile PC without accompaniment. UMPCs are designed to fit into to many an occasions and you should always prepare something to go with it.

Easy method.
Mini-docks (as I call them) are often served with the UMPC. These mini docks provide the perfect accompaniment and should be served (one per UMPC) close to the UMPC. Mini docks often have a simple filling with a range of external features like LAN ports, extra USB2.0 ports, VGA and power. Variations on the  mini-dock include built-in extended batteries.

Advanced method.
If you are cooking for someone special (or if you are making a large batch) try the Large Dock accompaniment. Let your mind run free and create a number of variations. Some basic rules apply (try and provide the basic features as found in the mini-dock above.) but don’t let that stop your creativity. Here are some examples that I find work for certain occasions.

Keyboard dock.
The keyboard dock provides a larger sized keyboard with a fold-out ultra mobile PC dock. In the keyboard you find an LCD panel, an integrated mouse pointer and trackball and a dock-extender for adding mini-docks.

Screen Dock.
Save this one for your special guests. It dock base with a portable 12″ LCD panel. The ultra mobile PC is used in the portrait mode and simply slots into the fold-down holder on the side of the frame. High Quality speakers and a matching keyboard dock, all in the same glaze provides an impressive centerpiece to any festive occasion. This sounds over the top but is surprisingly light and palatable.

Gaming dock.

The gaming dock is a larger version of the Mini-dock that houses a PCI bus (as presented on the docking connector.) Integrated into the bus is a high quality 3D graphics card. Try and get a version that scores over 20,000 on 3DMark 2001SE and that supports DX9 as a minimum. DX10 support would be even better. This helps no-end with the final glazing process. Also included in the gaming dock are the 6 channel outputs required for a surround sound amplifier. The Gaming dock often uses a higher quality DC power brick. For more details on the gaming recipe, see one of the specialised 3D gaming Chefs. I’m a traditional cook and just cant seem to keep up with these new fangled glazes and decorations any more.

Storage.

Presented in a leather-wrap or a neoprene casing is a nice idea. For longer term storage, a hardened case with variable size compartments can prolong the life of the UMPC.

I hope you enjoy the Festive ultra mobile PC recipe. If you’ve tried it and it worked for you, let me know. More importantly, if you have recipe tips that your use in your recipe, lets swap recipes! The best recipes always develop over time. Look at that old PC recipe for example!