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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

#191

Post by possiblydrunk »

Early 2000's (2002?) there was a pocket PDA device that ran linux and had a workable keyboard - the Sharp Zaurus SL-5000D (developer edition). 32 Mb RAM! Had a JVM installed. Got mine at Java One with a Linksys 802.11b Network Card. Fun (at the time) to boot up linux and SSH into my servers.

  Processor: StrongARM (206 MHz 32-bit SA-1110)
  Operating System: Linux 2.4 (Embedix)
  Memory: 32 MB SDRAM, 16 MB Flash ROM, 
  Display: 3.5in 240 x 320 pixel, Color Reflective TFT LCD, 16 bits (65,536 colors) 
  Power: Removable, rechargeable 3.7V Lithium-Ion battery pack, Built-in 3.0V back-up battery, 5.0V AC adapter
  Communications: USB Docking Station, IrDA infrared port
  Expansion slot: One CompactFlash Type I / Type II slot, One Secure Digital slot
  Audio: Stereo headphone jack
  Size: 2.90 x 5.40 x 0.80in. (74 x 138 x 21mm)
  Weight: 7.3 oz (206g)

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#192

Post by bombcar »

Grumbledour wrote: post #172
bombcar wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The HP Palmtop (200LX for life) was an entire 80186 PC with CGA graphics that fit in a pocket. In 2000. We can certainly do better than that now if we want to.

Maybe we can't? I have been wondering about that for quite some time now. We have been talking about ubiquitous computing for a long time, but instead of doing that, it seems we have settled on using smartphones for everything, retiring specialized or underpowered devices in their favor, even if they are just 60% as good as their predecessors. When a company tries to build something in this niche, it seems we need as…

In the 90s the market was new and fresh and nobody really knew what would sell, so people were gambling on many variations of product.

Now we know what sells, and it's an iPhone or an iPhone wannabe. Nobody wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something that isn't a phone, so nobody does the development to mass-produce these items.

Notice how phones were wildly insanely weird before the iPhone and very quickly afterwards they were all black slabs?

You'd probably have more luck cannibalizing the 200LX and shoving a phone inside it.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#193

Post by INTPenis »

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.

I had one, my brother had one, honestly it was shit at everything you expect from a phone.

The only good point about it was that it had a full and integrated keyboard, and a Linux based OS you could use to manage your servers over ssh in extreme cases.

Answering calls on it was a hit or miss, the UI just froze for several seconds from the incredible stress of suddenly starting up the phone app when someone called you.

I'd much rather 1) separate my work from my personal life and 2) have a laptop in a backpack for when I know I might have to do work.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#194

Post by NoraCodes »

kratom_sandwich wrote: post #132

Let me add this to my list - Has any of these made it ever into the hands of customers? I believe the only device that actually came out is the Cosmo Communicator ( https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/cosmo-communicator ) There's also Lisperati1000 - https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberDeck/comments/lbu4di/my_shiny_... Devterm - https://www.clockworkpi.com/devterm Popcorn Pocket - https://pocket.popcorncomputer.com/ Teenyserv…

I have the DevTerm, it's pretty neat.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#195

Post by itintheory »

est wrote: post #109

There are many 7″ or 8″ x86 pocket computers without brands sold in China for about $200, with qwerty keyboards touch screen and everything.

I've definitely browsed AliExpress in this category many times, but I expect the quality of these devices leaves something to be desired. And I say this as someone who pre-orderd the Popcorn PocketPC, and considering buying a Pinephone Pro with keyboard case.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#196

Post by minimalist »

kratom_sandwich wrote: post #132

Let me add this to my list - Has any of these made it ever into the hands of customers? I believe the only device that actually came out is the Cosmo Communicator ( https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/cosmo-communicator ) There's also Lisperati1000 - https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberDeck/comments/lbu4di/my_shiny_... Devterm - https://www.clockworkpi.com/devterm Popcorn Pocket - https://pocket.popcorncomputer.com/ Teenyserv…

It's too bad that it took a long time for linux support for the cosmo communicator to not be an absolute dog and good luck porting to anything other than their debian flavor. Also good luck finding replacement parts if anything breaks! That's the biggest problem IMO and one that I feel most happy with MNT, Pine64, and Purism (availability of replacement parts)

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#197

Post by itintheory »

sien wrote: post #146
est wrote: post #109

There are many 7″ or 8″ x86 pocket computers without brands sold in China for about $200, with qwerty keyboards touch screen and everything.

They can be bought on Amazon too. Tibuta Masterpad W100 8.9 inch Unboxing and review : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6RxARPBNZk on Amazon for $US 150 https://www.amazon.com/Tibuta-Masterpad-Computer-1536%C3%972...

How's the linux support? So many of these bargain laptops are listed as Windows devices. I still remember the days of the 'winmodems' so trusting that these devices can run linux well is a tough sell.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#198

Post by fsflover »

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. Librem 5 and Pinephone are real and working great. You can even connect them to a keyboard and screen and you get a desktop.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#200

Post by tbran »

noduerme wrote: post #78
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…

Well.. I mean, I've been using $100 PCs-on-a-stick for about a decade now, plugging them into hotel room TVs or my projector at home or wherever I go... just need a cheap wireless keyboard/trackpad. I use that for about half my home entertainment viewing as well. Definitely no need to strap hardware to my head to game/code/surf on a big screen with a tiny device.

If you're running Linux, you could use your phone as a touchpad/keyboard with KDE Connect from the KDE project. I use it with XFCE.

https://kdeconnect.kde.org/

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