• brianpeiris@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    5 hours ago

    I don’t understand this form factor. It’s too small for any serious work, both in terms of screen size and typing, and it’s too big to fit in your pocket. So you might as well carry a small laptop around, since it would actually be usable. Feels like a novelty that is just meant to satisfy a cyberpunk aesthetic, if you’ve got the money to burn on something that you’ll probably only use a few times, or occasionally at best.

    • Escape13@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      23 minutes ago

      It fits the aesthetics of my other niche unusable electro junk just fine, thank you very much

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 hours ago

        I tried Sailfish years ago and it was pretty bad. Everything from screen unlock to the keyboard was not great. From what I’ve read the latest version still has a lot of issues like that.

        I’m waiting for this: https://clicks.tech/powerkeyboard

        If the reviews will be good I will try it. Another option is some Titan phone but my Pixel still has a lot of life in it.

  • bearsquito@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    37
    ·
    20 hours ago

    That thing is sexy and I have a romanticized view of cyberdeck-like devices, but what do people who do this kind of work actually need and use? As cool as this type of device is, are they actually useful?

    • treadful@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      18 hours ago

      I remember my team hired a dude that would walk around with one of those old Nokia things. We were giving him a tour and he was logging into each box as we went along. I got the sense he was pretty comfortable with it.

      Personally, I don’t get it. I really don’t want to thumb type out anything more than a couple sentences.

      Also, probably unrelated, but that dude lasted only a few days.

    • monomon@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      17 hours ago

      The extreme portability is attractive. If I’m on holiday and only have to work over ssh to restart some services and edit configs, it’s awesome. I have actually done it with a pi, with a separate screen. It’s great.

        • monomon@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          16 hours ago

          I agree in principle, but shit happens, e.g. scheduling conflicts. In smaller organizations, sometimes it’s the only way to unblock the team.

          Anyway, I could think of also checking out my personal servers.

    • cm0002@infosec.pubOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      19 hours ago

      Maybe, I would pay decent money for something that’s comfortable to thumb type on for coding/terminal work from bed

  • glibg@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    18 hours ago

    Idk why people are so into the trackpoint. I could never get the hang of it.

    • sbeak@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      13 hours ago

      The idea is that you can move the cursor without leaving the keyboard. For some very keyboard-centric workflows, this is very handy! I don’t personally use one, I’m fine with my trackpad, but I know a lot of people who love the trackpoint nub.

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 hours ago

        for small devices half the appeal is that you don’t need a big fucking rectangle taking up space on the device.

        Personally i think a GOOD trackpoint (one that isn’t miserably stiff, and is well-calibrated) plus a touchscreen is perfection for something like a laptop. The trackpoint lets you do most things without taking your hands off the keyboard, and the touchscreen is a touchpad but… Borderline objectively superior in every way.
        Like… There’s a reason phones have touchscreens, the idea of using a phone with a touchpad is insane.

    • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      14 hours ago

      Back when screens were smaller and lower resolution they were a lot easier to use.

      But look at what needed to happen to trackpads for them to stay relevant. Physics only allows you to do so much with a pressure sensor.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    20 hours ago

    Real curious about the battery life. All of Raspberry Pi’s offerings are notoriously power inefficient; it’s a shame there’s no big competitor out there pushing for that.

    • undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      5 hours ago

      The biggest issue is that the Raspberry Pi doesn’t support sleep. So your only option to preserve battery is a full shutdown.

    • otacon239@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      19 hours ago

      I have a Clockwork Pi uConsole and with even just one 18650 I can easily play something classic like Roller Coaster Tycoon for a couple hours. They’re not as bad as you’d imagine.

        • otacon239@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          17 hours ago

          It’s okay, but the size is the actual issue. You always think a handheld keyboard on a phone feels too small until you bump up to that size. Your thumbs just reach everything, but especially when you factor in the aluminum case and its weight, you’re not going to be journaling on it. It’s more for tasks with light point and click interaction with the occasional data entry. Hence why RCT is one of my go to experiences on it.

        • DupaCycki@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          33 minutes ago

          Well… Ideally we’d all switch over to RISC-V, but that’s not happening any time soon. At least ARM is very popular and growing even more popular every day. Plus, it’s very similar to RISC-V, so maybe we can get cross-compatible software without too much work in the near future?

    • sbeak@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      13 hours ago

      I hope that, with Steam selling the Frame VR headset soon, it will be like the Steam Deck with Linux where lots of money is focused towards making the ARM experience better overall! And indeed, they are supporting fex, which is a bit like Wine or Proton, but for ARM to x86.

  • TheFinn@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    20 hours ago

    Wasn’t this the pitch for the Pilet? Only they originally targeted rpi5 only to switch after significant delays to the cm5, which pissed everybody off that already bought one.