I’ve got a thick stack of photocopies of computer terminal keyboards.
I have always wanted a laptop with a full size keyboard with every possible key, so that I could do any terminal emulation, even the big SUNs and 3270s. I forget how many keys I ended up with, but the machine needs to be at least 19" long really - but no more than six inches on the other axis. So my dream laptop basically looks more like a keyboard with a lid than a suitcase…
If there is, I’m just unaware of it.
But yeah, I guess I don’t really need a full size keyboard. I just need something comparable to do installs/uninstalls with inst and a few light sysadmin tasks (and, ugh, to help troubleshoot machines which have been in storage for a number of years). Supporting full screen text editing would be super nice, but ed is a thing.
This looks like a pretty good device. I sort of like the split keyboard. I can see why it makes sense in this context. I might rip off the idea to make my own. I originally considered an e-ink display but the pi uses most of the power whatever you do.
Looks well made for a homebrew job. However I"m looking for something more palm sized. Like raspberry pi zero terminal computer with a thumb board. Please understand I love this gizmo. i love it when people get over their own fears and or insecurities and BUILD. This, however, is not an object for me.
what is that, a Microtrónica Azteca 200?
because making something yourself is fun?
It’s a lot more useful than the contraptions I have made so far, and cooler looking to boot.
Yes, me too. I never understood that, they even had a space reserved for the plug on the case but didn’t implement it.
Adafruit did it better:
Everything the guy wants is right here, and it’s super-compact.
Maybe I should upgrade my MC-10. That <1 Mhz 6803 just doesn’t cut it anymore. There’s plenty of room inside for a Pi and batteries, and a 3D printed screen mount wouldn’t be hard to attach. The keyboard isn’t too bad for that era, with tactile feel rather than marshmallow. A little I2C to handle the 8x8 key matrix. 8.5" wide, and I do have the cover sleeve.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h233/RogerRamdrive/Coco001.jpg
800x480 is basically the resolution that refutes a loving god. (Some say 1024x600 is worse, because it’s the flayed and mutilated corpse of a real resolution, some acknowledge that; but would still have the extra pixels over 800x480)
That’s an intriguing idea.
I don’t know of any ultrawide displays that only have a vertical of 6", so I think we are best off going with a dual screen format.
Most laptops mainboards are pretty small now, so most any of of those could be used as the brains of it, just need to make sure they will drive the dual displays without the main. The other half of the base could be the batteries. Or for better wieght distribution, have the main board in the center and split the batteries to either side.
The keyboard is a little tricky. I’m more accustomed to working with full sized mechanical keys on custom boards, but I’m sure the components for short travel laptop keys exist. But how ever it is built, a Teensy or similar can act as the controller and just hook up via USB.
Yep. Totally do-able. Would be fun to have one just for conversation purposes.
It’s the closest there’s been for a while.
But a portrait physical keyboard is dumb on a phone.
I’d kill for a modern version of one of these:
For me, I’d love one of these, just with a smaller bezel:
Oh, dear god, yes. Greatest form factor of all time. Of all time
I had (probably still have in the attic) an AlphaSmart. It was/is a great writing tool if you don’t to edit as you type, which is a habit I can’t seem to shake. It only displays four lines of text at a time, so it was great for brain dumps on the daily train or bus commute. I found myself using it less and less often over time. It was the perfect weight, but the keyboard was only meh.
Now I want to dig out my old keyboard diagram!
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