DIY Parallax Propeller Laptop!
Making a laptop with an embedded computer chip is probably pointless since that’s the whole purpose of not using a laptop for embedded devices in the first place, but here’s a cool DIY Parallax Propeller Laptop for your amusement.
This is a Propeller laptop – with a 6502 co-processor and 64K of static RAM! The Propeller handles all I/O for the 6502 and runs an integrated debugger so you can program the computer. The Propeller serves as the programmable chipset for this 6502 laptop. You could use an FPGA in this capacity, but could you easily do this and implement visual debugger software inside an FPGA? Over the years hardware prototyping has evolved from building-block hardware (TTL) to programmable hardware (PLA’s and FPGA’s). I believe the Propeller represents the next revolution: 100% software-based virtual hardware – and I built this laptop to prove it!