ok, first and foremost: i am a tech user, not a tech builder.
give me PC components, and i can put them together, usually. but when it comes to the hows and whys things work, i'm out of my depth.
even still, i LOVE watching videos where people take the Pi and do amazing things.
so, i saw the video where Ben makes a handheld raspberry pi MAME console. sharp design, by the way, very nice to look at.
i've loved the raspberry pi as a concept for all the amazing things it can do, but i also love it as it can be a VERY cheap, but completely functional PC, for using the internet, watching video, word processing, etc.
obviously, though, the Pi has limited power, most especially compared to modern PCs or laptops, even the very low end one.
so my thought was, could you make a laptop using multiple pis at once to boost over-all performance, and could a laptops battery handle such a load?
in my mind, i picture a system running on 4 raspberry pi units, running in serial (which i've seen done in simple Pi 'supercomputer' builds).
i saw you removed some items from the Pi board, for space and to save power.
only 2 boards would need the HDMI port, one as a video out option, and one for the laptop screen.
the other video out wouldn't be needed at all, and you'd only need one sound out, if people wanted headphones.
i think i recall that the Ethernet ports on the board worked through the USB port on the board. if possible, could the ethernet port be removed completely from 3 of the boards, and simply have a soldered wire connection to allow the boards to communicate?
using the ethernet ports inside a case would be a pain, that's why i had that idea. one remaining port would be accessible on the case.
i picture 4 USB ports being available, say, one from each board. as i know the boards have build in hubs to split their USB into multiple ports (the 2 USB and the ethernet on Raspberry Pi board B, if i'm remembering correctly), it seems that having USB outlets each go to their own board would speed up the USB read.
i'd assume one board would have to be the master, and that the OS would be on the SD card for that board, 3 other boards could use their SD for storage space, plus thumb drives.
this would then be a system with 2 gigs ram, 4 processors to handle tasks, and if the graphics processors can work in serial too, a more robust graphics output.
if such a project would be do-able, then for the cost of 4 Pis, about $140, and an old laptop case with a working screen, you could build a halfway powerful laptop.
so, would such a project be do-able, and would it be worth doing? even working together, i don't know whether just 4 Pis would be able to put out enough speed to make up for the latency issues of information going across 4 boards.
like i said, i don't program, i don't solder, i don't assemble..... i'm a tech USER. what i'm throwing out here might be totally unfeasible. but if there is some merit behind it, it'd be cool to know.