Building a Raspberry Pi 3B+ full keyboard handheld

I ended up going the other way and building a (split) 60% keyboard with a screen and a Pi in the middle [1]. It's long enough that you can sling it over your shoulder on a guitar strap, so it somewhat fails the pocketability test.

[1] https://github.com/borgel/commute-deck [2] https://hackaday.io/project/165450-keyboard-featherwing [3] https://www.crowdsupply.com/groboards/giant-board

The author provided a list of _obscure_ handhelds that you could try and get your hands on.

On that list there is the Pyra[0] which is very near completion. It has some interesting features such as a replaceable CPU board (nonstandard) for future upgrades.

[0]https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

As a tangent, if you have an Android phone and need to do some Linux-style computing on the go, consider Termux (https://termux.com/).

Termux enables your Android phone to run command-line utilities, text editors (vim and emacs), several programming languages (C, C++, Perl, Python, Ruby, Rust, Scheme, and more), web servers, and lots of other tools.

It is one of my favorite Android apps by far.

It runs Linux, is run-of-the-mill Intel-based ultrabook somewhat on the lower end (Core i3, 8GB ram, 128GB disk), with indeed its only non-boring feature being its size. Build quality, battery life, etc. is all on par with big-brand ultrabooks.

Touch screens can be simple enough if you get used to them, they save a lot of space on the device and I think they are cheaper than a keyboard.

Touch-swipe features will also make things much, much easier on a touch keyboard, and I'm sure it's totally possible to add linux commands or programming keywords to a swipe dictionary.

Touch keyboards can also have their layouts changed.

Other thing to consider if you're typing code, it would be nice to introduce more autocomplete to make things easier.

In the end if you really want to type, just get a real keyboard and sit down at a table. I'd also rather buy a well-made handheld keyboard that you attach to a device, but sadly I can't find one that is worth it.

This project made something that seemed like it could be nice (the page was missing a final photo of the project all put together), on a custom PCB with off-the-shelf switches.

Not as interesting as the OP though.

100% inspired by https://habr.com/en/post/437912/ which I first saw here on HN

Though I don't know if the RPi4 is actually competitive, in terms of battery life, with intel-based netbooks and the like.

If I were to do that, I would probably arrive at a ridiculously thick tablet with a couple of 18650 cells for power and it would need a good fan to try and save the screen from the heat.

Also I'm looking forward to when phones get cheaper that have more ram so can run dex or something similar, not quite "dual boot" but something where you have a full os working somehow(maybe virtualized though maybe poor performance)

https://hackaday.io/project/162281/logs

My Moto G5+ and my Lebnovo 10" tablet work perfectly with a USB on the go adaptor and a full sized Lenovo keyboard with built in hub and a mouse.

Edit: It also works well with memory sticks.

I'm sick and tired of not being in total control of my current phone.

I've thought about rooting it, but even if I did (it's a Samsung S7 from T-Mobile - which has a different processor and other stuff than the S7 that is easily rootable - and there are other "games" Samsung and probably T-Mobile play cat-n-mouse with the guys figuring out ways to root - which means a new update, etc - ugh all around ultimately), there's still the whole Google Store thing, walled gardens, etc.

Then there's the crap that happens with apps you like; I had this great file manager app that I loved, that also had numerous other tools - had used it for years, paid for the "ad-free" version, etc. Then one day, via HN or something, I don't recall exactly, someone noted that the app (and the company behind it) had been sold, and that the new version was doing dirty things behind the scenes, introducing bloatware and who knows what else - and people were abandoning it left and right. I recoiled - did some more research - and that night took it off my phone; I paid something like $15.00 for it - not a huge amount of money, but still - money lost. I ended up getting a different file manager, which is ok, but nothing like what I had - paid for the ad-free version - but who knows if the same thing will happen down the line?

Then there's the whole "file management", copying, sharing, etc angle - the whole BS about how in Android, if an app didn't create a directory, you can't put files in it (this apparently is conditional in some fashion - but it isn't very clear). This makes moving and managing files very difficult at times. Or the whole "let's not let users treat the device as a USB block device to copy/move/delete files from - and instead put in place another crappy layer that prevents all that - for some hand-wavy reason that didn't seem to be a problem when I first got my G1"...

There are other things, too - but you get the picture. I'm tired of it. Totally. My next phone will (hopefully) be one that I build, will run Linux, and will be under my complete control. I'm kinda hoping that by the time I get around to it, that there'll be an equivalent to the RasPi 4 in the Zero W's footprint. Add on a few other modules (IMU+GPS and 4G mainly) - and you have everything for a full phone. I might even not implement voice call features, as virtually everything I do tends to be texting-based anyway.

Don't want a keyboard, either - if I can get a decent capacitive touchscreen that'll connect to the Pi, I'll be fine; if I need a keyboard, bluetooth will work. Which also means I could use it as a "portable desktop" - all the convenience of a handheld, with the ability to become something more like a laptop on the occasion I need it (plus, if I need a big monitor, plugging that in would be easy too).

It's nice to see someone else blazing this trail - one that other's have gone down too (I know of other projects like this - some Arduino based, which is another route I have considered - but using an ESP32 as the core). You've already made a ton of progress, but I look forward to your future efforts. Good luck with it!

You'd probably want at least that one to be EMF shielded, as well. And you could generalize for web browsing etc. Maybe also use ideas from Qubes Air.

0) https://github.com/maqp/tfc

Soooo ... where do I reach to unplug the optional hand-held phoneset with all the baseband HW/SIM/snoopy-shit built into it?