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Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

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Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#111

Post by Morgawr »

ElCheapo wrote: post #92
yosamino wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's not a fantasy. The Nokia N900 was amazing . It functioned as a phone with a touchscreen to deliver the experience that had now become the dominant one. But also, by sliding up the screen, it had a fully featured keyboard, and essentially transmogrified into a "pc that fits into your pocket". So you could with a one handed push go from the touchscreen-only experience back to edit documents by using a combinat…

It was amazing at doing.... what? You've just listed a bunch of hardware functionalities without actually saying what you managed to use it for.

They mentioned editing documents

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#112

Post by gitowiec »

akerr wrote: post #110

Looks a lot like the original EeePC. I used one for a couple of years but there was no doubt it was cramped. I still have it and it works. My N900 was fun but didn’t last quite as long before a bit of flex killed the wireless radios. I replaced it with an iPhone 4S and haven’t looked back: I still use open source software every day but running on, or accessed by, (excellent) Apple hardware (the M1 MacBook Air and iPh…

I also have Eee netbook. It's so old that it's keyboard stopped working. I bought another keyboard from the same model but changing it didn't help. What do you mean with "flex killed"? Could the same happen to keyboard controller on my piece? Is it possible to fix it with simple soldering new solder?

Also I would like to buy this OP mini laptop for my six year daughter... I wonder when it will be ready for production... She might be 8 then. Maybe better Raspberry Pi 400 (but it needs external screen and that is a downturn)? What do you think?

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#113

Post by walterbell »

yosamino wrote: post #86
ElCheapo wrote: post #46

Can we stop with this absolute fantasy about PCs that "fit in your pocket"? The medium is the message, the form is the functionality. Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited. You can't type effectively, your screen is small, your battery is limited. Would you want a command line interface on your Smart TV using only a remo…

No. It's not a fantasy. The Nokia N900 was amazing . It functioned as a phone with a touchscreen to deliver the experience that had now become the dominant one. But also, by sliding up the screen, it had a fully featured keyboard, and essentially transmogrified into a "pc that fits into your pocket". So you could with a one handed push go from the touchscreen-only experience back to edit documents by using a combinat…

Maemo is being rebooted, based on Devuan, for N900, PinePhone and other devices, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32699853

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#114

Post by squarefoot »

ElCheapo wrote: post #46

Can we stop with this absolute fantasy about PCs that "fit in your pocket"? The medium is the message, the form is the functionality. Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited. You can't type effectively, your screen is small, your battery is limited. Would you want a command line interface on your Smart TV using only a remo…

> Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited.

I wish it was only about the i/o: pocket Bluetooth keyboards, mice and other i/o devices would be just a few bucks away. No, the problem is rather that phones/tablets use crippled dumbed down and tight closed operating systems that offer only a small fraction of the power a real computer offers, not to mention the huge privacy and security issues involved. Having the same hardware performance and storage of a good laptop means nothing if the OS doesn't offer a way to use it in a transparent and trustworthy way.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#115

Post by sneak »

dijit wrote: post #91
sneak wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heat dissipation mostly, phones aren’t designed to shed wall powered thermals. You can do this today with an iPad Pro with keyboard cover. Also, pretty much nobody wants this. Most people who use work computers have them provided by the workplace. The workplace does not want the employee phones running the call center apps with customer data, etc. I for one do not want any work data physically present on any personal…

I hear you, but ubiquitous "phone booths" where you can have a quiet call or type up an email with a physical keyboard and large screen would be amazing . Don't let the decline of the telephone system fool you, when phones booths were widely used they were not disgusting toilets that you found in the late 90s-early-00s.

I don’t want to type secrets on a keyboard I don’t own, and I don’t want to display secrets on a display I don’t own. YMMV.

I would assume any public keyboard is basically the password equivalent of an ATM skimmer.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#116

Post by yosamino »

ElCheapo wrote: post #92
yosamino wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's not a fantasy. The Nokia N900 was amazing . It functioned as a phone with a touchscreen to deliver the experience that had now become the dominant one. But also, by sliding up the screen, it had a fully featured keyboard, and essentially transmogrified into a "pc that fits into your pocket". So you could with a one handed push go from the touchscreen-only experience back to edit documents by using a combinat…

It was amazing at doing.... what? You've just listed a bunch of hardware functionalities without actually saying what you managed to use it for.

All the things you would use a phone for in the early 2010s:

  * Phone calls
  * Video calls over XMPP
  * Text/XMPP messaging
  * Web browsing
  * Document editing
  * Writing and receiving email
  * Playing music ( it had a built in FM transmitter - how cool was that!)
  * Setting Alarms
  * weather widgets
  * Writing PHP programms
  * Writing python programms
  * ssh-ing into servers
  * gps navigation
  * take and share pictures
  * multi-colored status LEDs 
  * it had usb-otg so you could use as a flash drive
  * share an gsm internet connection via USB
Some of these things work better with a touch screen - some work better with a slide-out physical keyboard... it was just a really good device.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#117

Post by brokenkebab2 »

ElCheapo wrote: post #92
yosamino wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's not a fantasy. The Nokia N900 was amazing . It functioned as a phone with a touchscreen to deliver the experience that had now become the dominant one. But also, by sliding up the screen, it had a fully featured keyboard, and essentially transmogrified into a "pc that fits into your pocket". So you could with a one handed push go from the touchscreen-only experience back to edit documents by using a combinat…

It was amazing at doing.... what? You've just listed a bunch of hardware functionalities without actually saying what you managed to use it for.

For example I could prepare presentations with it, or deal with long emails, and write code - all day long. While it was less comfortable compared to full-sized PC, it was normal, alright. Appearing in the same situation with any modern smartphone I would surrender immediately, because it would be literally crippling experience. Not to mention that it was technically much more flexible.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#118

Post by _trampeltier »

goosedragons wrote: post #76
_trampeltier wrote: post #59

Really cool. I have a very light 13" notebook now, but I often think he is to large and also he does bend quite a bit all the time in a full bag. It's sad nobody does something like HP Elite X3 Lap Dock. I really would one, but when it came out Windows Mobile was already shut down, so .. The idea is great, all processing power and storage in the phone, the Lap Dock is just a keyboard and a display, wireless connected…

There is the nexdock. Doesn't support Miracast but you can use it with Samsung Dex or some other thing.

That's no contest. It has a wired connection, so no. It need to be small, simple, light and no cable.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#119

Post by Eleison23 »

em-bee wrote: post #30
kragen wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The picture makes it look like it has a keyboard, a screen, and a hinge to support putting it down and typing on it. My imagined use of such a device is something like this. I board the bus and there's, fortunately, a seat. I sit down, but a full-sized laptop wouldn't fit between my lap and the seat in front of me. I pull out the computer and finish up typing my notes about electrostatically-driven hydrogen–boron fus…

the issue with using a laptop in public transportation is that sometimes i notice to late when i need to get off. then i have to rush, and in that situation a small device is easier to handle. the OLPC XO was really the best in that case because of its handle. i could just grab it and run.

A killer feature for me would be a control that helps my device switch contexts.

I fiddle with about 5+ settings whenever I prepare to leave home, board the bus, or disembark at my destination. That includes toggling WiFi or finding an SSID nearby, toggling mobile data, Bluetooth, battery saver/brightness, DND/ringer, etc.

Why does a general-purpose smartphone force me to manually press all these buttons in a checklist sequence that's easily forgotten? Why can't I just configure one green button that says "Leaving home" and it executes all those settings on my behalf? Another red button that says "Arrive at church" and it goes silent/off-net/DND?

And why, when I turn the phone's power off and back on, it restarts with all the same settings even if I've switched contexts? If I shut down a noisy connected phone, I can't turn it on at church because it'll gratuitously probe the network, use mobile data, chirp with texts and calendar reminders.

So even better than those aforementioned buttons would be geofencing, that allows me to configure where DND/ringer is on, where BT, WiFi and mobile data are allowed, etc.

If a device is going to feature dozens or hundreds of fiddly gadget preferences, please allow users to create "big knobs" or scriptable actions to simplify them!

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#120

Post by jakuboboza »

Steam Deck is perfectly fine mini PC that is reasonably portable it is also a decent console. If You will but 20-30 USD dock that has more than 1 output you can plug power, monitor and mouse/keyboard combo.

You can go with portable mouse/keyboard and dock/usb-c-hdmi cable to any place and plug it into a hotel TV and be setup on your portable linux machine that can also...game :)

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