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The concept is super cool (although hardly original) but I have an Idea of what to add: make a dockable display with built-id battery (to power itself and the P

The concept is super cool (although hardly original) but I have an Idea of what to add: make a dockable display with built-id battery (to power itself and the Pi) so people would be able to carry it around and use their PIs anywhere like laptops. And, by the way, I can see no reason to use micro HDMI in this version - there's a lot of spare space, why not put full-size HDMI ports? Given so much unused space I personally would even add a USB hub.

kingosticks 6y ago
> I can see no reason to use micro HDMI in this version - there's a lot of spare space, why not put full-size HDMI ports? So to be clear: you are rejecting the board designer's assessment that this was not possible without sacrificing something else?
- qwerty456127 6y ago
  Yes.
NortySpock 6y ago
From the article: "It would have been lovely to have had full-size HDMI connectors, but in order to achieve this we would have to remove other functions, or make a bulkier unit."
- kllrnohj 6y ago
  That explanation sounds like BS. Full size HDMI is still shorter than the ethernet jack, so vertical space is there. Width would be the only restriction, but there's plenty of that, too.
  - tcbawo 6y ago
    Every penny of cost had to be an issue. The RJ-45 jack doesn't have link/activity LEDs.
  - gadgetoid 6y ago
    As an aside to this- they'd already built an ecosystem around micro HDMI with the Pi 4 so changing it to full-sized HDMI would probably have irritated just as many people as not. They're also more economical to run through a pick-and-place machine, I believe. Additionally, a little tidbit not included in this article: "Also, full-sized HDMI connectors have no lead-in (to funnel the connector in). Whereas the micro-HDMI ones do, this makes auto-insertion of the connectors possible when testing which means we can do testing through the connector. This makes it cheaper and more reliable..." Source: https://twitter.com/gsholling/status/1323322997315411971?s=20 https://twitter.com/gsholling/status/1323322997315411971?s=2...
    - qwerty456127 6y ago
      > Also, full-sized HDMI connectors have no lead-in (to funnel the connector in). Whereas the micro-HDMI ones do, That's an interesting point I didn't know. Thanks.
- qwerty456127 6y ago
  Ok. Make a bulkier unit.
AlanYx 6y ago
It's fairly likely that third parties will make some kind of somewhat-dockable display+battery. The choice of micro HDMI likely will help with some designs of that kind of accessory, given how large the strain reliefs of full-size HDMI cables tend to be. Although I agree with you that for most uses providing at least one full-size HDMI port would have been ideal.

kingosticks 6y ago

> I can see no reason to use micro HDMI in this version - there's a lot of spare space, why not put full-size HDMI ports? So to be clear: you are rejecting the board designer's assessment that this was not possible without sacrificing something else?

qwerty456127 6y ago
Yes.

NortySpock 6y ago

From the article: "It would have been lovely to have had full-size HDMI connectors, but in order to achieve this we would have to remove other functions, or make a bulkier unit."

kllrnohj 6y ago
That explanation sounds like BS. Full size HDMI is still shorter than the ethernet jack, so vertical space is there. Width would be the only restriction, but there's plenty of that, too.
- tcbawo 6y ago
  Every penny of cost had to be an issue. The RJ-45 jack doesn't have link/activity LEDs.
- gadgetoid 6y ago
  As an aside to this- they'd already built an ecosystem around micro HDMI with the Pi 4 so changing it to full-sized HDMI would probably have irritated just as many people as not. They're also more economical to run through a pick-and-place machine, I believe. Additionally, a little tidbit not included in this article: "Also, full-sized HDMI connectors have no lead-in (to funnel the connector in). Whereas the micro-HDMI ones do, this makes auto-insertion of the connectors possible when testing which means we can do testing through the connector. This makes it cheaper and more reliable..." Source: https://twitter.com/gsholling/status/1323322997315411971?s=20 https://twitter.com/gsholling/status/1323322997315411971?s=2...
  - qwerty456127 6y ago
    > Also, full-sized HDMI connectors have no lead-in (to funnel the connector in). Whereas the micro-HDMI ones do, That's an interesting point I didn't know. Thanks.
qwerty456127 6y ago
Ok. Make a bulkier unit.

AlanYx 6y ago

It's fairly likely that third parties will make some kind of somewhat-dockable display+battery. The choice of micro HDMI likely will help with some designs of that kind of accessory, given how large the strain reliefs of full-size HDMI cables tend to be. Although I agree with you that for most uses providing at least one full-size HDMI port would have been ideal.