PS News Meet "GameBook" - An Interesting Kickstarter-Campaign to make your own PS4 portable!

Home Consoles such as the PS4 or Xbox One are made for playing them "at Home" right? Well, I bet there are at least a few people who already asked themselves several times: "Why I can't play Red Dead Redemption 2 while sitting on the train?" Sadly the answer was mostly that "You can't" before, due to several technical problems. Sony had some good ideas with their PlayStation Vita to play "AAA Game Titles" on the go but lacked of actually those "AAA Game Titles" and due to expensive accessories you needed to get most of the Console. And playing on the Nintendo Switch is not satisfying for everyone. So you had either the choice to buy one of those very expensive "Gaming Notebooks" for several Thousand Dollars or you read a book while getting to work or to school by train. But the People behind the "GameBook" had bothered oneself about this problematic question by starting a Kickstarter-Campaign to introduce their newest invention to people like you who asked the same question from time to time. And the coolest thing about this Campaign is, you won't need to disassemble your PS4 bit by bit to create your own "Custom PS4 Notebook" only to get the PS4 Hardware fitting inside a Notebook Case. Just use your regular PS4 and you are already on the go. How convenient is that?​

The "GameBook" will come in two sizes, the smaller one with an 18.4" inch screen and the larger one with 23.8" inches.​

Introducing Benefits FAQ

• 
  Turn your gaming console into a laptop
  
  • Your console has the power – the GameBook provides everything else! Till now carrying your Playstation 4 or Xbox One was a real hazzle.
  • This ends now! The GameBook is convenient, portable and lightweight. It´s robustness makes it a charm to just grab it and take it wherever you go.
  • In fact, you now can utilize your console a lot more, since you now can play when you have time – not just when you are at home.
  • That's why we created the GameBook - to remove those restrictions and give you the freedom of using your beloved Playstation 4 or Xbox One anytime you want.
• 
  Get the freedom of playing your favourite game at almost any place
  
  Whether you're a creative, a student, a road warrior, a frequent flyer, or all of the above, the GameBook gives you the freedom to relax whenever you want with your favorite videogame or movie.
  
  • You can easily use your GameBook on a train. Just stove your bags, take your seat, plug it and enjoy the full potential of your gaming console.
  • The same works for a hotel room. Drop of your luggage, pull the GameBook out, plug it in and you roll.
  • Or you hang out with couple of friends at one of their homes. Grab your GameBook and have a good time with your favourite co-op game, while actually being in the same room as your teammates.
  • You could also take a break at your favourite cafe - playing a round (or two) of your favourite arcade game.
  • And basically... you can do all of this wherever you want. Plug the GameBook into a suitable Powerbank and enjoy the freedom to play at almost any place.
• 
  Does the GameBook have an internal battery?
  
  The short answer is no. It might be feasible in the future but for the first version of the GameBook we went without. Although we set a very ambitious Stretch goal. Reaching this mark would definately give us the opportunity to develop a internal battery solution for the GameBook mini and the RetroBook (another StretchGoal).
  
  
  How can I use the GameBook without a power supply?
  
  Since it has no internal battery you would have to rely on a powerbank to connect it to the GameBook. Important notice: Just a few work with the requirements and power demand of a PS4 or Xbox console. One good option we discovered is the following.
  

This video shows an early protoype of the "GameBook" running with an PS4 inside.​

So, as mentioned above. You can just use your regular PS4 without any disassembly needed like in various other Projects which came out everytime whenever a new Console was released. And while those Projects were always unique Versions of a "Portable Home Console", this Campaign makes things a lot of easier for the mass market by just grabbing your console together with the case while inside and you are up to go. And the fact that this Device is even "future-proof" by planing the support for upcoming Consoles shows how many details this Team worked out for keeping things as simple as possible. You will only need to buy this Device once while your Consoles keeps getting updated. And there is no Problem when you will be find some time indeed at home. Just use the included HDMI-OUT port and you can enjoy your Games at home as usual as before without taking the Console back out of the Case and without plugging it back to the TV. But how cool would it be even when you are playing online against others worldwide while you are sitting inside a Cafe by enjoying your morning routine before going to work? Your opponent at the end of beyond would never believe that you just "killed his Character while drinking some coffee outside at the park".


Source: Kickstarter​

 

Wow not cheap but pretty sweet if it makes it.

 

Soo, XONE or PS4 in a case with a screen. How is this portable in any way? I can only imagine the weight of that thing and the overall bulkiness.

 

The street thiefs are looking foward for this project.

 

Cool but id rather much see a Frankenstein ps4 portable that someone has chopped up and shrunk down. More akin to ben hecks n64 portable

 

I can think of a few people I know that something like this would be cool for. I have friends that drive trucks that have some long hours just sitting and others that work construction out of town that spend rain days sitting in a hotel room. Most already have TVs tho.

I don't think it's for me, I still would like to keep an eye on it to see how it goes.

 

450 to 550 euro !! (Around 500-600 bucks !)
That's insane !! And the fact that for this high of a price you DON'T get an internal battery just kills it for me !
Ok, here's a quick guide on how to do this for around a 150-250 bucks :
1. For the display, you can just salvage an old laptop display (mostly 1366*768) with the use of an external screen controller , cost is around 30-50 bucks .
2. For the case you can just use a hard briefcase, 20-40 bucks, you can find it for cheaper.
3. For the battery (yes this will include an internal battery) you can find a lot of brands on Amazon that cost from 90 all the way to 400 bucks, of course, depends on the capacity.
4. Adhesive. Maximum I'd pay is like 6 bucks.

And that's really it ! Just use the adhesive to Stick the display onto the top part of the briefcase (Along with the screen controller)
Place the PS4 on the bottom side (might wanna use an adhesive or any other way to keep the PS4 from moving around). And then just place the battery, connect the cables (hdmi, power, etc) and that's it.

 

450 to 550 euro !! (Around 500-600 bucks !)
That's insane !! And the fact that for this high of a price you DON'T get an internal battery just kills it for me !
Ok, here's a quick guide on how to do this for around a 150-250 bucks :
1. For the display, you can just salvage an old laptop display (mostly 1366*768) with the use of an external screen controller , cost is around 30-50 bucks .
2. For the case you can just use a hard briefcase, 20-40 bucks, you can find it for cheaper.
3. For the battery (yes this will include an internal battery) you can find a lot of brands on Amazon that cost from 90 all the way to 400 bucks, of course, depends on the capacity.
4. Adhesive. Maximum I'd pay is like 6 bucks.

And that's really it ! Just use the adhesive to Stick the display onto the top part of the briefcase (Along with the screen controller)
Place the PS4 on the bottom side (might wanna use an adhesive or any other way to keep the PS4 from moving around). And then just place the battery, connect the cables (hdmi, power, etc) and that's it.

I was thinking the same thing, its a pretty useless project that you can do yourself but cool anyways

 

I think the idea is a fail in concept, everytime i see this kind of designs there is something that makes me facepalm... the cooling and airflow !

Is not just a matter of fitting all pieces inside a "box"... you also need to make lot of thermal stress tests to check if your design equals (or beter, improves) the original cooling
If your coolling is worst than the original then you are failing even before starting building it

Ben heck uses to fail at this

 

I think the idea is a fail in concept, everytime i see this kind of designs there is something that makes me facepalm... the cooling and airflow !

Is not just a matter of fitting all pieces inside a "box"... you also need to make lot of thermal stress tests to check if your design equals (or beter, improves) the original cooling
If your coolling is worst than the original then you are failing even before starting building it

Ben heck uses to fail at this

I'm of course no expert but I think drilling a few holes in the back of the case is ....enough ? You could always add a couple of fans for cheap ?? Maybe a fan to suck the air out ?
I mean it's a diy solution, I didn't say that it's going to be better in every way than the kick started project (however if you do spend the time, it might be) , I was just saying that from a price-conscious consumer's viewpoint, there is no value, and the fact that it didn't even pass the Kickstarter stage just amplifies the problem ...tho I still hope the Kickstarter gets a miracle and is completely funded in 7 days ....0_0 , because I know some people who are too afraid from touching a hot glue gun , oh I guess then this product HAS a use ...

 

I'm of course no expert but I think drilling a few holes in the back of the case is ....enough ? You could always add a couple of fans for cheap ?? Maybe a fan to suck the air out ?
I mean it's a diy solution, I didn't say that it's going to be better in every way than the kick started project (however if you do spend the time, it might be) , I was just saying that from a price-conscious consumer's viewpoint, there is no value, and the fact that it didn't even pass the Kickstarter stage just amplifies the problem ...tho I still hope the Kickstarter gets a miracle and is completely funded in 7 days ....0_0 , because I know some people who are too afraid from touching a hot glue gun , oh I guess then this product HAS a use ...

The holes are needed, but i dont see much holes in the kickstarter photos lol, and i agree that your idea of using one of that alluminium briefcases is good
That briefcases are made in the same way since, dunno... 20 years ago ?, and is not a coincidence that all them are made in the same way overal, is because is a nice design
There are even some that are labeled as "security briefcases" (used to carry guns, dangerous, of expensive stuff), im sure this ones are anti-shock

Also, you can make them "at home", ive seen this alluminium small parts sold separatedly, every small piece like the corners, edges, hinges, etc... all that is like "standarized" and is easy to find shops online. I remember to be looking at one specialized in this, the amount of small parts they had was huge, they was specialized in building boxes and cases for audio equipment, music bands, etc...
And are not expensive btw, are just small pieces of metal

The most expensive part is the display panel

 

The holes are needed, but i dont see much holes in the kickstarter photos lol, and i agree that your idea of using one of that alluminium briefcases is good
That briefcases are made in the same way since, dunno... 20 years ago ?, and is not a coincidence that all them are made in the same way overal, is because is a nice design
There are even some that are labeled as "security briefcases" (used to carry guns, dangerous, of expensive stuff), im sure this ones are anti-shock

Also, you can make them "at home", ive seen this alluminium small parts sold separatedly, every small piece like the corners, edges, hinges, etc... all that is like "standarized" and is easy to find shops online. I remember to be looking at one specialized in this, the amount of small parts they had was huge, they was specialized in building boxes and cases for audio equipment, music bands, etc...
And are not expensive btw, are just small pieces of metal

The most expensive part is the display panel

As I said ,you can always just salavage an old laptop display using a display controller, or you can totally cheap out on the display (linus tech tips should release a video about the cheapest monitor on Amazon soon) , tho it don't recommend it, but again, totally depends on budget...

 

As I said ,you can always just salavage an old laptop display using a display controller, or you can totally cheap out on the display (linus tech tips should release a video about the cheapest monitor on Amazon soon) , tho it don't recommend it, but again, totally depends on budget...

Yes, a display from a laptop is the best option. But the last time i was looking at it (because i was trying to connect a laptop display to a desktop PC) it was not so straightforward

Im going to explain this a bit roughly for other people interested in it
The video signals in a laptop display are a bit "weird", every manufacturer could use whatever they want, this is why all displays have a "display controller board" (that is very small) located in between the display and the main laptop motherboard

The video signals in between the display and the "display controller board" are not standard... and the video signals in between the "display controller board" and the main motherboard are supposed to be standard (like VGA, DVI, or HDMI) but sometimes are not so standard :/
So it depends of the manufacturer, is needed to check in google if there is some info published about how to deal with the "display controller board" of that display manufacturer