Laptop Based on 6502 CPU

nanochess — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 22:56:23 +0000

Well, I had a chance to get my head sorted and I finally finished the “b” version of the LT6502

Here you can see it next to the first version, I changed my mind about the case and went for translucent orange, it’s way more vivid in real life. I really do like the translucent material, it’s really different 🙂

The first big thing that’s different, it’s half the thickness of the old one;

It also has a larger, higher resolution screen. The screen is 1024×600 and is 10.1″, the previous one was 800×480 and 9″.
It has a similar battery capacity, so should last about the same amount of time.
It’s a little faster, 10MHz instead of 8MHz.
It has a SID emulator on board and a WiFi Modem.
It doesn’t have an expansion slot though. The aim was to make it more “sleek”.

The screen also has a better contrast ratio being IPS rather than regular LCD, and the higher resolution really does show.

Here is a good example of that, and also the extra rows of text you can fit on the screen!

You can find the code/PCB Files/etc all on Codeberg here – https://codeberg.org/TechPaula/LT6502b

There are, of course, somethings I’d change

The holes and support for the heat inserts need making bigger and stronger, they’re VERY weak.
CAPSLOCK led under the capslock key
Find a better WiFi Modem, this is too slow and a bit flakey for real use.
better speaker, it works, but it’s a bit “anemic”
Faster, start with speed in mind (i.e. figure out how to copy ROM to RAM and switch out ROM)
Better battery solution, I’m thinking something 18650 and on the back as part of the “hinge”
USB PD support that doesn’t need preprogramming of the USB-PD chip to limit it at 5V, would be nice to have a buck/boost convertor to take anything USB-PD can throw at it and make it 5V
Better sound chip, the SID is ok, but it’s a bit limited by modern standards.
I really want to be able to read a FAT16 file system on the CFCard rather than my own custom one.

maddox.pro

Laptop Based on 6502 CPU