Live data from Hacker News

I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

tomsguide.com

81–90 of 233 posts

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#81

I've been doing this a few months now with an xreal one and minisforum um790. Same ability to power via usb-C and have other ports available. It's worked very well, the 1920x1080 resoultion of the glasses is pretty clear but I find "anchoring" the screen to be most usable because the edges do get a little blurry, but with the screen anchored you can just "look around" a little to bring them into focus. The biggest dr…

I feel like resolution is kind of the last big hurdle for AR glasses to really feel like a true laptop replacement

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#82
post #26

I got excided looking at this hoping there was a laptop with out a screen. I'm totally blind so the power draw of a screen is pointless. I currently use my ROG Alli with a Bluetooth keyboard to connect to my more powerful laptop which has a keyboard that's going bad. While this setup works well and the battery life is pretty good it would be much nicer if I didn't have to put a keyboard on my lap, and the Alli on a t…

Honestly surprised no one's really leaned into that as a product category yet. Seems like there could be a small but very appreciative market for it

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#83

These glasses give me an instant headache and 1080p is abysmal if you are used to 5K displays. I love the idea, hate the actual glasses.

The concept is super cool in theory, but in practice it kinda feels like early VR all over again

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#84

The Xreal is a nice device. I got the first gen for $199. I'm able to plug this into the MacBook pro and watch Netflix in bed. The fonts do look a bit blurry and small. I don't think I can work with it full time. I don't have myopia (or my number is small to notice).

Watching Netflix in bed with a giant virtual screen sounds pretty ideal though, not gonna lie

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#85
post #26

I got excided looking at this hoping there was a laptop with out a screen. I'm totally blind so the power draw of a screen is pointless. I currently use my ROG Alli with a Bluetooth keyboard to connect to my more powerful laptop which has a keyboard that's going bad. While this setup works well and the battery life is pretty good it would be much nicer if I didn't have to put a keyboard on my lap, and the Alli on a t…

Since you mentioned the ROG Ally, if you are looking for a handheld without a screen (basically a controller with a built in computer) you may like the Tecno Pocket Go. Also, great pun with being blind and "excited looking at this".

The Tecno Pocket Go kickstarter seems to already be 4 months late and lots of complaints in the comments

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#86

I love the creativity, but for me? If I forget one cable, the whole mission falls apart and I'm back to scribbling in a notebook like it's 1995.

Author's setup doesn't really have that problem as far as I can see. AFAIK the cable from the xreal glasses don't even detach, keyboard and mouse are wireless. I guess you could forget the USB-C cable for power of the minipc, but you can get a USB-C cable literally anywhere. Or borrow one from someone whose laptop is already charged.

The 'problem' you describe is not much different from forgetting to bring the charger for your laptop. USB-C being ubiquitous made this so much less of a problem.

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#87

I tried this with the Viture Pro XR glasses last year and it sucks. Can't use it with Linux, except in dumb monitor mode. No head tracking unless you're using a supported OS. Android app sucks becaus you can't use it with any old app, eg productivity apps (their app is like a demo of head tracking that only supports stuff like YouTube and local media). Maybe I should have purchased the Xreals?

The first gen XReal glasses are similar in that you need software running on the host to get anything other than dumb monitor mode. With these newer models they've moved a bunch of the functionality into hardware on the glasses themselves, so you get virtual monitor and wider device support out of the box.

There are a couple of projects that are trying to get better open source support of the Airs on linux; I've not kept up with their progress.

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#88

These glasses give me an instant headache and 1080p is abysmal if you are used to 5K displays. I love the idea, hate the actual glasses.

Well in all fairness, the first laptops were also barely usable. Ever seen the horrible LCD screen on an early 90s laptop?

Being an early adopter will always have downsides, but give it a few more years and the glasses will get better.

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#89

AR glasses brings great accessibility improvements, especially those who are bedridden; I wrote the need-gap for wearable low latency computer displays[1] ~6 years ago when I was in bed recovering from a spinal fusion surgery as the only option available to me were those unwieldy bed mounts for monitors and it requires help from others to adjust the angles. [1] https://needgap.com/problems/16-wearable-low-latency-dis…

Since when is having a laptop on your lap or by your side a problem in bed? That's my default wfh setup. I even have a 2nd monitor on a standard arm mounted to my bedrest for when I need it. I do also use Xreal One but only when I'm trying not to wake my partner.

Re: I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses

#90
post #40
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked up a Quest 3 headset, with the thoughts of using it coding when I had to deal with a hotel style work desk. The text was just not sharp enough to be usable for programming.

What software were you using, Virtual Desktop? I find it super clear in a Quest 3 and I often work for hours in it.

I'd say most of us are actually more curious about the software setup you're using.

You seem to have a setup that works for you for productivity tasks, so please share!

Post reply on HN