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Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

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Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#52

It is exciting to see cool handhelds like this! I really want to have a handheld / phone that can handle all of my on-the-go computing and connect to my servers if I need more compute power. As a tangent, if you have an Android phone and need to do some Linux-style computing on the go, consider Termux ( https://termux.com/ ). Termux enables your Android phone to run command-line utilities, text editors (vim and emacs…

What I'd really wanted to see, and not sure why it's still not a thing, is some standardized laptop that would allow upgrading it's core SoC. Latest Pis are quite capable for basic tasks and will only get more powerful.

The MNT reform is looking to have it's initial ARM SoC be replacable with a RISC-V one at a later point. [1]

[1] https://mntmn.com/media/news_md/2019-05-20-reintroducing-ref...

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#53
post #3

A similar build is arturo182's Handheld Feather Wing, which uses a Blackberry Q10 keyboard [2] Though it doesn't have a processor of its own it can be plugged into Feather compatible boards that do (like @groguard's Giant Board, which runs Linux [3]). Makes quite a nice package! I ended up going the other way and building a (split) 60% keyboard with a screen and a Pi in the middle [1]. It's long enough that you can s…

Another interesting build currently being polished up is SnapOnAir's Blaspberry v2. It's deemed a "communication tool". They've made a modern day pager as well, but the new one is like a linux blackberry that is entirely open source. The developer has been in talks with arturo about working together on it (based on their tweets at least) using that q10 keyboard. It's pretty damn impressive and I've seen doom running…

Here's a video of the latest iteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxloZ2Ox60

The guy running the project (Philippe) is quite the genius!

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I'd really wanted to see, and not sure why it's still not a thing, is some standardized laptop that would allow upgrading it's core SoC. Latest Pis are quite capable for basic tasks and will only get more powerful.

What I want more than anything in the world is a Psion-sized portable computer where the brains are provided by the Rasperry Pi compute module: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/compute-module-3-plus/?... I’m genuinely surprised that this isn’t already a thing, since it would make upgrades trivial.

I had a Series 5mx back in the day and it was glorious.

Android has all of the capabilities software-wise, but I have yet to find a device that matches the Psion Series 5mx form factor, specifically the folding clamshell and nicely-sized hardware keyboard.

Most external foldable Bluetooth keyboards are too big, rather finicky, and always running out of battery on me.

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#55
post #3

A similar build is arturo182's Handheld Feather Wing, which uses a Blackberry Q10 keyboard [2] Though it doesn't have a processor of its own it can be plugged into Feather compatible boards that do (like @groguard's Giant Board, which runs Linux [3]). Makes quite a nice package! I ended up going the other way and building a (split) 60% keyboard with a screen and a Pi in the middle [1]. It's long enough that you can s…

https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberdeck - a reddit community for people who build similar things to your commute-deck, which I'm sure you're familiar with, but I thought I'd link for those who are not.

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#56
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't apply to devices which have slide-out keyboards or a clamshell design. The linked design is more "Blackberry-style" as far as I can tell, but those are not the devices I primarily had in mind.

There's also stuff like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_keyboard

Those are sweet, but suffer from many of the issues of touchscreen keyboards (no tactile feedback, no ability to feel the keys blindly).

EDIT: But to be clear, they are great at having a full-size keyboard that takes up no screen space. Tradeoffs.

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#57

It is exciting to see cool handhelds like this! I really want to have a handheld / phone that can handle all of my on-the-go computing and connect to my servers if I need more compute power. As a tangent, if you have an Android phone and need to do some Linux-style computing on the go, consider Termux ( https://termux.com/ ). Termux enables your Android phone to run command-line utilities, text editors (vim and emacs…

What I'd really wanted to see, and not sure why it's still not a thing, is some standardized laptop that would allow upgrading it's core SoC. Latest Pis are quite capable for basic tasks and will only get more powerful.

Pi-Top seems to be pretty close.

It's a laptop shell (keyboard + screen + battery + i/o) that has a daughter board (connected to the computer via USB and HDMI) and enough space for any reasonable SBC. Comes with Raspberry Pi as standard.

https://accounts.pi-top.com/products/pi-top/

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#58
To go on a tangent, even though my personal search for the ultimate handheld computer shall never be concluded, I feel like I found a lot of the things I've been looking for (specifcally in Zaurus and the Psions) in my 7" GPD Pocket 2, which incidentally (paired with a keyboard and screen) is my main machine these days, yet I do carry it in my jacket's inner pocket to do some programming on the go.

It runs Linux, is run-of-the-mill Intel-based ultrabook somewhat on the lower end (Core i3, 8GB ram, 128GB disk), with indeed its only non-boring feature being its size. Build quality, battery life, etc. is all on par with big-brand ultrabooks.

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#59
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another interesting build currently being polished up is SnapOnAir's Blaspberry v2. It's deemed a "communication tool". They've made a modern day pager as well, but the new one is like a linux blackberry that is entirely open source. The developer has been in talks with arturo about working together on it (based on their tweets at least) using that q10 keyboard. It's pretty damn impressive and I've seen doom running…

Here's a video of the latest iteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxloZ2Ox60 The guy running the project (Philippe) is quite the genius!

Lol. No I am not. Just mad about technology :)

Re: Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

#60
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another interesting build currently being polished up is SnapOnAir's Blaspberry v2. It's deemed a "communication tool". They've made a modern day pager as well, but the new one is like a linux blackberry that is entirely open source. The developer has been in talks with arturo about working together on it (based on their tweets at least) using that q10 keyboard. It's pretty damn impressive and I've seen doom running…

Here's a video of the latest iteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxloZ2Ox60 The guy running the project (Philippe) is quite the genius!

I still have a lot of corrections to make on the prototype to finish it. I want a f.... opensource tool..
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