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Suggestions For Portable Mini/Micro Computer/Keyboard Combo
smarmar:
I'm in the market for one of those small, portable computer/kb combo unit things, kind of like an ARM or Orange Pi 800 or similar. But I look at that Pi 800 kb and just want to puke.
I want something I can easily carry from room to room, only needing to connect a monitor and/or mouse to, and preferably with Windows OS. I'll primarily be using it for writing. Why don't I just use a laptop, you ask? I LOATHE the UX of laptops, especially the compact, low-travel, next to zero response keyboards. :'( I can't do it.
What would be awesome is if one of you geekhackers could make a 65% or similarly small mechanical kb with a case large enough for a Rasp Pi board to fit in. :thumb:
Here is an Orange Pi 800 unboxing for anyone not familiar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJyRGnLPBe8&ab_channel=ExplainingComputers
Leslieann:
Lenovo's Tiny series
M92p Tiny, M93p Tiny, etc... Available for pretty cheap and serves more more purpose.
Really small, and quite powerful, you can even fit a quad core Xeon in the M92p. There's also the Nucs and clones. I put these in offices all the time and know several people who use them as media players.
For a little more than the price of the Pi 800 you could put them in multiple rooms and not carry anything. Tie it all together with a Google Drive/One Drive/Dropbox or simply just a shared folder and you can edit in one room, save your work, walk to another room and pick up right where you left off. And you can use any screen/mouse/keyboard and resell or repurpose it easily enough later. Runs Windows, Linux, people have even run Mac on them.
KiserDesigns:
It might be a bit pout of the budget, but you can put a Framework laptop motherboard into a custom 65% case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeYfKu9KlTg
You could likely do this with any sort of laptop motherboard, with the right modifications
PlayBox:
--- Quote from: KiserDesigns on Fri, 07 April 2023, 15:41:25 ---It might be a bit pout of the budget, but you can put a Framework laptop motherboard into a custom 65% case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeYfKu9KlTg
You could likely do this with any sort of laptop motherboard, with the right modifications
--- End quote ---
i agree the framework is definitely over the budget and the budget but its definitely cool they only ship to us and canada though
smarmar:
--- Quote from: Leslieann on Thu, 06 April 2023, 18:04:37 ---Lenovo's Tiny series
M92p Tiny, M93p Tiny, etc... Available for pretty cheap and serves more more purpose.
Really small, and quite powerful, you can even fit a quad core Xeon in the M92p. There's also the Nucs and clones. I put these in offices all the time and know several people who use them as media players.
For a little more than the price of the Pi 800 you could put them in multiple rooms and not carry anything. Tie it all together with a Google Drive/One Drive/Dropbox or simply just a shared folder and you can edit in one room, save your work, walk to another room and pick up right where you left off. And you can use any screen/mouse/keyboard and resell or repurpose it easily enough later. Runs Windows, Linux, people have even run Mac on them.
--- End quote ---
I was looking at the NUCs and they are rather slick as a full desktop replacement, but they're not really what I had in mind.
I already have 4 capable (and some not so capable) fullsize desktops that kinda serve that purpose. What I was looking for, more specifically, was something more like the Pi 800 or a custom keyboard case with some sweet mech caps.
--- Quote from: KiserDesigns on Fri, 07 April 2023, 15:41:25 ---It might be a bit pout of the budget, but you can put a Framework laptop motherboard into a custom 65% case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeYfKu9KlTg
You could likely do this with any sort of laptop motherboard, with the right modifications
--- End quote ---
This is more what I was describing. The one in the video might be too much work and/or budget but having a capable little 'puter inside a kick-ass mechanical kb chasis is more my goal. I wouldn't be taxing it out with high-end gaming, just basically using a writing program and web browsing, oh and maybe a music server.
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