[HN Gopher] The 'Egg' Laptop
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The 'Egg' Laptop
Author : rcarmo
Score : 358 points
Date : 2022-10-01 09:21 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.ikejima.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.ikejima.org)
| wayfor wrote:
| FullyFunctional wrote:
| The "hump-back" laptop style makes a lot of sense for a build
| using an off-the-shelf SBC, but I wonder if he couldn't have
| shaved off a bit by going with a low-profile key, like the Cherry
| MX Low Profile or Kailh Choc Low Profile ones. Pocket sized would
| be ideal.
| reilly3000 wrote:
| FWIW I've had a fair amount of keyboards over the past few
| years and I'm very happy with my Cherry MX low profile
| switches. It feels great with very little in the way of trade-
| offs vs regular sized switches. My Keychron has proven to be
| very versatile with Bluetooth connections to my work Mac,
| iPhone, and personal Linux/Win. I've had plenty a long day of
| coding and winning CS:GO rounds with it. For people into tiny
| and portable computing it's tough to beat, and it's mechanical
| Mac keyboard features are handy, but not it's only upside.
|
| I think those would have worked well for this project, but I do
| love that they are full-sized too.
| norman784 wrote:
| Now that linux works on Apple silicon, I wonder if there will be
| mods like this, while I like the idea of using raspberry in
| theory, sadly for me is too slow and there are a lot of
| limitations (hardware wise, is very dated at this point, but
| cheap).
| ekianjo wrote:
| Using which hardware ? M1 cpus are not readily available
| anywhere
| bdcravens wrote:
| I think the idea being that both the M1 and the RPi are ARM64
| beenpola wrote:
| The M1 Mac Mini could work! The actual PCB for it is _tiny_
| compared to the size of the case it 's presently in.
|
| Project video for a shrunken mac mini by Snazzy Labs-
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQWGFKhBQwU
| freedomben wrote:
| I'm not understanding why Apple silicon being compared to this?
| Are you just wanting an ARM machine?
|
| I need to make ARM builds of several projects I maintain and
| the pi gets the job done well (especially when headless so the
| burden of graphical environment isn't there), but does struggle
| for normal use, especially as tabs tend to proliferate for me.
| However, the Pinebook Pro works pretty good for me, and is also
| ARM.
| VectorLock wrote:
| The most impressive thing to me is creating the case using Python
| for a CAD.
| tmountain wrote:
| Great project! The form factor is really fun.
| cgh wrote:
| Based on the legendary Grid Compass:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_Compass
|
| Note that the Compass had an extremely cool magnesium alloy
| case. No cheap plastic here.
| drivers99 wrote:
| I really appreciate this example, especially the keyboard. I'm
| playing around with bare metal programming on Raspberry Pi and
| USB is complicated. Instead, this one has a matrix of switches
| with diodes[1] for the keyboard which you can just scan the
| switches with the gpio pins. Oh cool, I see he's also coding in
| bare metal as well, so that makes sense.
|
| For storage, you can also interface with an SDcard with SPI
| directly with gpio as well.[2] Raspberry Pi also has SPI
| controller(s) as well so you could use the built in slot but I'm
| not sure how complicated it is vs bit banging it with gpio.
|
| [1] https://pcbheaven.com/wikipages/How_Key_Matrices_Works/
|
| [2] Three video series but on Z80 https://youtu.be/To9ZCaAoc_s
| and https://youtu.be/o2AE_CkTIAU and https://youtu.be/HLdPMOpk-a4
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| Why is a RaspberryPi case the top post on HN?
|
| It's not even a good case, there's tons of wasted space, it's
| bulky, etc.
| opan wrote:
| I don't think being thin was a goal. It becomes a nice
| consistent block shape when closed, like a bento box. It
| reminds me of an old ThinkPad. There are also similarities to
| the author's previous Cube PC project in its design style.
|
| The hand-wired ortholinear keyboard and small secondary screen
| are also of note. A laptop with an ortho keyboard is not very
| common (sadly).
| [deleted]
| ForOldHack wrote:
| I was going to shout: Do not tease me with the size of the
| floppy, without having a floppy drive. Do. Not. Do. This.
| w4rh4wk5 wrote:
| Reminds me of the cyberdeck from Quadrilateral Cowboy. If you
| don't know the game, check it out!
| mgaunard wrote:
| Tiny
| agys wrote:
| Which one came first?
| jamesgreenleaf wrote:
| The check-in or the egg?
| kefabean wrote:
| Neither, the check-in didn't commit!
| moffkalast wrote:
| Eggsactly.
| thomasfl wrote:
| This is basically a really good compact keyboard, with a web
| browser. This could be an awesome product if the edges around the
| screen were smaller, and the whole thing was a bit thinner. It
| would be even more awesome if the keyboard came in different
| flavors, like for instance a mac layout, and was easy to connect
| via bluetooth to an iPhone. Yeah, and a trackpad would be nice as
| well.
| seltzered_ wrote:
| I curate more 'everyday use' examples of these ideas at
| https://reddit.com/r/ergomobilecomputers/ . Theres a few
| examples of ipad-based setups a bit closer to what you're
| talking about.
| ticviking wrote:
| I have been hunting for some kind of cyberdeck of this sort.
|
| Ideally with a trackpoint rather than touchpad.
| nine_k wrote:
| How many browser tabs could you open on it? Today's web is
| often very unforgiving.
| no-reply wrote:
| tab hoarder? /s
| augusto-moura wrote:
| So, a Raspberry Pi 400 with a integrated display? I'm almost
| certain someone did this at some time
| aardvarkr wrote:
| In a laptop form factor? Maybe but that's still a novel
| concept to 99.9999% of the world.
| jsjohnst wrote:
| > In a laptop form factor?
|
| Yes, in commercial form available at online retailers even.
| In fact, they've been available for many years dating back
| across multiple prior versions of the rPi.
| fragmede wrote:
| plenty at http://reddit.com/r/cyberdeck
| ehnto wrote:
| Reminds me of eePCs. I had one and ran linux on it, well, I
| tried to. Such potential.
| opan wrote:
| What are you looking for when you say mac layout? I'm sure it's
| trivial to swap super and alt around. Handwired keyboards like
| this often run QMK which makes it easy to reprogram.
| 1MachineElf wrote:
| A small laptop with an ortholinear keyboard is high on my
| wishlist. I don't have a 3d printer capable of printing something
| this size, so in lieu of this, I'm setting my hopes on the MNT
| Pocket Reform.
| cagey wrote:
| Reminds me of the HP 110 (circa 1984).
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_110
|
| http://oldcomputers.net/hp110.html
| stevebmark wrote:
| Edit: wrong post
| gurchik wrote:
| Did you reply to the wrong post?
| colordrops wrote:
| The anti-soy stuff is ridiculous. The phytoestrogens in soy are
| minimal and nowhere near as strong as real estrogen. Hops in
| beer has more, and milk has a lot of _real_ estrogen, but no
| one seems bothered by those. I 'm convinced it's all meat
| industry propaganda. I'm a male and have been eating a lot of
| soy and a recent blood test has shown optimal testosterone and
| estrogen levels.
|
| There is a bit of science behind the seed-oil stuff,
| specifically poly-unsaturated fatty acids, but the paleo
| community has grossly exaggerated the issue. I've had people
| tell me that eating any seed or nut is crazy, and I can't take
| them seriously.
| aliqot wrote:
| Milk is for babies.
| smolder wrote:
| And then there's a whole lot of people whose genes give
| them lactose tolerance into adulthood because the milk of
| grazers was an important source of nutrition for their
| ancestors.
|
| But wait, why is this even here? Because someone forgot
| which post they were replying to!?
| bitwize wrote:
| Looks like a tiny Compaq SLT/286. I'm digging the retro
| aesthetic, but if it's flimsy plastic like the DevTerm... what's
| the point? Other than I guess a one-off art project (which this
| may well be)?
| froggertoaster wrote:
| > Other than I guess a one-off art project (which this may well
| be)?
|
| Yes, it very obviously is.
|
| > what's the point
|
| Because it's there?
| bitwize wrote:
| I'm sorry, it's just that durability is itself a big part of
| the retro aesthetic for me.
| benj111 wrote:
| I appreciate the ready aged nicotine yellow aesthetic.
| rambambram wrote:
| I really like these projects. I'm in the process of making
| ('assembling' is a better word) a laptop/tablet kind of computer
| based on a RPi 4. The technical setup works (using an RPi 4 as my
| daily driver for a year), now construct the case out of aluminum.
| My dream would be to connect it to a sort of remote control based
| on a Pi Zero.
|
| The printer attached to this project is also nice!
| iamwil wrote:
| Is the laptop of your own design, or is it a kit that you can
| buy? If it's the latter, I'd be interested in assembling my
| own.
| rambambram wrote:
| My own design. Although, some components screwed to three alu
| plates is hardly a 'design'. First I want to make it portable
| and probably add some color and finesse later. My initial
| ideas were about bending alu plates and fitting them nicely,
| maybe even a powdercoat on it, but I have to do it myself the
| dirty way first. Just to get it off the ground. There's a lot
| of nice cyberdeck builds on YouTube, for inspiration.
| greggsy wrote:
| I'd love to see more e-ink projects, and better yet, some solid
| thoughts as to the future of window mangers for such platforms.
| rambambram wrote:
| Do you mean an e-ink display for a small Pi Zero project? I
| guess that would be perfect. For my RPi 4 pc project I use a
| capacitive touch screen from Waveshare (7", low power, no
| extra cables beyond HDMI and USB for touch input).
| thom_ wrote:
| [deleted]
| lioeters wrote:
| The laptop is cute! I also love the Portable Cube PC with a
| built-in printer and a joystick for track point.
|
| https://www.ikejima.org/projects/2021111-portablecubepc.html
|
| It's inspiring, now I want to design and build my own small
| computer with everything super-personalized to my preferences.
| innocentoldguy wrote:
| I like that Shun Ikejima uses familiar instead of polite
| Japanese. It makes his blog more like reading something from a
| friend.
| csa wrote:
| > I like that Shun Ikejima uses familiar instead of polite
| Japanese
|
| Familiar form is standard in this type of situation.
|
| Using polite would be a stylistic choice.
| 5co wrote:
| lawrenceyan wrote:
| > I define a goal that I can design next laptop in this laptop.
|
| This is a smart man (or woman).
| rcarmo wrote:
| Also, if you dig further through his projects, this awesome "LGTM
| Hanko", which I'm unsure he's used as a personal stamp or just
| masterful trolling:
|
| https://www.ikejima.org/projects/2018071-stamp.html
| ForOldHack wrote:
| https://www-ikejima-org.translate.goog/projects/2018071-stam...
|
| My Japanese is not a good as my Korean.
| wodenokoto wrote:
| What is trolling about it?
| smcl wrote:
| In Japan people use stamps like this for official documents,
| like we would use our signature. So maybe "trolling" was the
| wrong word, but having a "looks good to me!" stamp is a nice
| little joke :)
| jogu wrote:
| There's actually three different types, Shi Yin (official
| stamp, registered at your local ward office etc), Yin Xing
| Yin (bank stamp registered when you open a bank account)
| and Ren Yin (informal approval seal). For Shi Yin and Yin
| Xing Yin the stamp has to be directly tied to your
| official name. But the last of which can pretty much be
| anything which is what this is.
| NovemberWhiskey wrote:
| When I registered my inkan (as jitsu-in; official personal
| seal) back in 2009, the rules at the Minato-ku ward office
| were that it had to contain only the letters of my name,
| which I imagine is the general rule.
|
| I imagine you could use this more as one of the less formal
| seals like the mitome-in.
| smcl wrote:
| Yeah I figured this wasn't used by the author as a real
| seal at all
| IncRnd wrote:
| > https://www.ikejima.org/projects/2018071-stamp.html
|
| lgtm = looks good to me
| [deleted]
| fit2rule wrote:
| rcarmo wrote:
| Well, would you sign your work documents with a "Looks Good
| To Me" stamp? :)
| toxicFork wrote:
| I personally do my pull request reviews with pen and paper.
| rufus_foreman wrote:
| It's also considered good manners to send a hand written
| thank you note after one of your pull requests is
| accepted.
| hericium wrote:
| Absolutely.
| rcarmo wrote:
| Upvoted. I would love to see the looks at the inkan
| registry :)
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