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Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

pocket.popcorncomputer.com

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Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#11

Post by freedomben »

armitron wrote: post #7

I don't see this succeeding. Silicon keyboard will be a pain to use. Case is too bulky to carry on person. LORA/GNSS seems like a solution looking for a problem. Screen is too small for dev work. This doesn't manage to sit comfortably in any of the popular portable computer categories and I don't really see a niche for it.

I've got a keyboard much like that one, and I thought it would be a pain for anything beyond simple character presses, but surprisingly it isn't that bad.

However I don't see it succeeding either simply on the price. It's too high for the specs. I wouldn't do that for anything less than 4 GB ram.

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#12

Post by mike_d »

snops wrote: post #9

They don't say who makes the SOC, just "1.2 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU", which is a lot higher spec than the GR8[1] used in the prototype. This has implications for mainline kernel support etc. [1] http://linux-sunxi.org/GR8

Wouldn't that most likely be the Snapdragon 410?

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#13

Post by praptak »

Smartphones solved the portable monitor problem. What humanity needs now is a truly portable keyboard. Something that you can carry as easily as a smartphone and that lets you type as conveniently as on a good laptop keyboard.

Are there any promising attempts at this?

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#14

Post by onion2k »

armitron wrote: post #7

I don't see this succeeding. Silicon keyboard will be a pain to use. Case is too bulky to carry on person. LORA/GNSS seems like a solution looking for a problem. Screen is too small for dev work. This doesn't manage to sit comfortably in any of the popular portable computer categories and I don't really see a niche for it.

Screen is too small for dev work.

I use Termux on my phone with a bluetooth keyboard occasionally and it works really well for light dev work. I wouldn't want to work in it all day, but if you're just hacking a shell script or some nodejs stuff you don't need a massive monitor.

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#15

Post by ac29 »

snops wrote: post #9

They don't say who makes the SOC, just "1.2 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU", which is a lot higher spec than the GR8[1] used in the prototype. This has implications for mainline kernel support etc. [1] http://linux-sunxi.org/GR8

Sounds like Allwinner: "Our tools will allow you to flash, backup and clone any Allwinner-based device including but not limited to C.H.I.P., C.H.I.P. Pro, PocketC.H.I.P., Popcorn Computer, Kettlepop and various Banana Pi or Orange Pi devices" [0]

So, maybe something like the Allwinner H5?

[0] https://community.popcorncomputer.com/t/popcorn-web-tools/10...

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#16

Post by flukus »

k_sze wrote: post #5
noobermin wrote: post #2

Looking at the rest of the landscape, I wish them luck.

Yeah. Same sentiment. If I wanted to buy a hackable mobile Linux device, I don't see why I would buy this instead of a PineBook Pro (when it comes out). I would really hate typing on a silicone keyboard.

The pinebook is a laptop with a 14" screen, this is aiming to be far more portable with a 4.5" screen (can we even get phones that size anymore?), so they're not really in the same category. It's competitors are more like the GPD pocket (https://www.gpd.hk/gpdpocket2) which I've been umming and ahhing over getting for a while as a machine I can do some coding on while commuting or laying in bed.

The silicon keyboard probably allows it to be smaller without fat fingers becoming an issue and this looks like a better form factor for my usage than the clam shell of the gdp. My big issue would be whether or not it allows for multiple keys to be pressed at once.

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#17

Post by mike_d »

Anyone interested in this might consider the GPD MicroPC. It has become my go-to "fits in a cargo pocket" computer.

They had a battery controller issue initially with the Indiegogo batch, but that has been solved on the ones you can get from Amazon now.

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#18

Post by noobermin »

shakna wrote: post #3

I loved my PocketCHIP, right up to when the software stopped getting updates, and the company ghosted everyone with hundreds of waiting orders. I still have it, but getting it working again is a couple weekend's of work. (Which makes me somewhat doubt the simultaneous claims of mainline Debian _and_ based on the same underlying hardware as the CHIP.) I love the form factor that these kinds of computers present. Howev…

Not quite a pocket pc, but famously and recently, the librem 5[0]. My comment below wishing them luck hinted at this, it's almost expected for them to falter during delivery, ghost everyone and disappear because it has become a sadly familiar pattern around these open source electronics in small factor (phones, pocket pcs and the like).

[0] https://jaylittle.com/post/view/2019/10/the-sad-saga-of-puri...

HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21369733

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#19

Post by zxv »

praptak wrote: post #13

Smartphones solved the portable monitor problem. What humanity needs now is a truly portable keyboard. Something that you can carry as easily as a smartphone and that lets you type as conveniently as on a good laptop keyboard. Are there any promising attempts at this?

The twiddler is a chording keyboard that leaves one hand free and with the strap, can be used while walking.

https://twiddler.tekgear.com/

Re: Pocket Popcorn Computer: Linux in Your Pocket

#20

Post by noobermin »

mike_d wrote: post #17

Anyone interested in this might consider the GPD MicroPC. It has become my go-to "fits in a cargo pocket" computer. They had a battery controller issue initially with the Indiegogo batch, but that has been solved on the ones you can get from Amazon now.

Was looking at these micro pc's and one of the more annoying things is that `|' is not in its usual location. I was hoping to install linux on one and having the pipe in a nonstandard place might take getting used to.
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