PS2 Slimline Portable

Question

Hey Ben, I was wondering if you could make a PS2 Slimline Portable if you have not already? I myself have a couple PS2's at home and always find myself wishing I could take them with me to watch old Simpsons DVD's and play Gran Turismo on the go a bit easier. I think it'd be awesome if it included:

- The optical drive, of course (would probably would well on the back and have a flip-open cover similar to a PS1's disc drive cover

- At least one controller port for stuff like wireless receivers or a second controller

- Ability to connect to an external monitor/TV

- Have some kind of way to have replaceable-when-dead rechargeable battery pack that can be charged from the wall to the PS2 via a laptop-style adapter of sorts rather than a bunch of AA or AAA batteries (if possible) so that it saves money

- Have at least one memory slot to save games on because not being able to save is rather unfortunate

- Maybe a headphone jack? I do not believe any PS2's had one, so that'd be a rather interesting challenge.

- Though not necessary, an extra bonus would be to have at least 1 USB port like the original did

- Of course, the built in controller controls

- Yet another unnecessary bonus could be adding an Ethernet port that I'm not sure all of them had, I know my silver one has it though I don't use it

- A quick note is that you probably already know this but it would be a good idea to use a 7900x series slimline as I believe it has the most compact internals out of all of them and plus hey nothing wrong with a newer model, right?

- IP 66 Rating

I think this would be a nice experience for the viewers to watch, and be an interesting challenge to build. I think you could do it considering the N64 portable you did (Fantastic job by the way! Love the silver accents on it). I actually have a 79001 PS2 Slim that I could totally send in if you'd like, but if I do that would you send the handheld back to me? I can pay you whatever you need that video revenue can't give.

Have a wonderful day,

- Classic

Update: I have began to do this myself, the reason for which is explained with the answer I selected for this discussion, so here's the link:

https://www.element14.com/community/message/232628/l/ps2-slimline-portable-project#232628

*Quick note, I am very new to Element 14 so if anyone has constructive criticism, please do share.

makerkaren · Accepted Answer

I think you should try to do it yourself. If you get stuck, you can always come here looking for help. The best way to learn is to try!

classic1969 · Answer

The skipping issue: I think that as long as it isnt shaken around too much, it should be fine. I have a disc player in my truck in real life, and that thing shakes and vibrates constantly due to the suspension, and the tight transmission. Very, very, rarely do the discs ever actually skip, though that may be due to how the disc player is built. Is there some way to give the disc player some kind of anti-vibration mount, similar to ones in a computer for hard drives? The portable probably will move around more so I would like to second the option Ninja has given. Also, how about giving it a way to download from the disc onto a hard drive to play from that, so the issue can be pretty much avoided entirely? Would that take too long to incorporate into the console and/or be too hard to program? I know the PS2 has little to no OS on it at all so it'd probably be quite a challenge. I think that if you were to use the portable, you would probably have it gently sit in your lap or wherever you set it with some kind of kickstand to keep it still. The controller port: This could be omitted, but it would remove the multiplayer function for when you use it as a home console. Also, an idea on keeping the discs from skipping is having the console itself, the controller, and screen as the actual handheld, while the disc player is a separate unit connected by a decently high bandwidth cable. A second idea is to completely change the design to be like a PS2 netbook (I haven't seen that name is such a long time) with a controller port or two so you can play games on a bigger screen but still be portable. A bonus challenge for the netbook is integrating a keyboard that works on at least dvds for menus and games for controllers like arrow keys and typing.

hardwarehacking7 · Answer

As for the battery thing, see if you can find a compatible wireless controller and print something to extend the case so you can put in a rechargeable battery pack from an off brand controller. I remember the 360 controllers had a removable rechargeable pack that was sold separately as an accessory, the problem was first Gen, because if you charged it through a wired connection it thought It was a wired controller, but if you charged it externally that wasn't an issue. So avoid 1St Gen Xbox 360 controllers for modding a wireless ps2 controller. Or you can buy a cellphone battery and sodering a connection on to a custom printed core for the ps2 contoller, then charge it micro USB, which some loose micro USB ports have pins, so you can direct solder, with the thin solder.

PS2 Slimline Portable

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