5 ms·

Ive looked for a 5mx form factor in the form of a phone and not been able to find it.

by pydry 3y ago

afandian 3y ago
Did you find the Gemini PDA and friends? It's very very similar.
- mysterydip 3y ago
  Wish I had heard about these before getting my GPD Win2. Looks much closer to what I wanted but didn't know was still an option.
  - rwl4 3y ago
    I've got the GPD Win 2 and it really would be the perfect little computer if it had HP 100LX style calculator keys. I know people disagree with me on this, but it's the one style of tiny keyboard that I have been able to achieve a relatively fast typing speed with.
    - mysterydip 3y ago
      I like the form factor. There's a couple quirks with the screen and some apps/games but I can work around those. The real thing that keeps me from using it more is the heat/fan noise. I can't use it anywhere quiet because of the whizzing sound it generates even just at idle, let alone when I do something. With games on the go it's not a problem, but any kind of productivity work like editing code isn't possible. I saw there were some mods for cooling but I don't believe they're available anymore. Best I've been able to do is under-volt it to lower CPU performance, but that only gets me so far. I'm open to suggestions, though!
zokier 3y ago
Planet Computers? https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/ https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/
- petesergeant 3y ago
  One day I will find an excuse to get one of these; they induce a heavy sense of nostalgia but I just don’t know what I’d do with it
  - lproven 3y ago
    It's a superb portable writing tool, as was the Psion 5 in its day. The keyboard is better than anything available on any tablet or pocketable device in the world in any market. It's that good. No Surface or iPad addon comes even close; it is an order of magnitude better than any mainstream vendor's offering. I found it almost useless as a phone or tablet, though. But I have several of those so I don't care.
- opan 3y ago
  I highly recommend against anything from these guys. The software situation was dreadful, they pumped out new nearly-identical hardware too quick without fixing gemini issues. Seems like a cash grab. My Gemini PDA sits in my closet, I consider it near-useless with its electrically buggy keyboard and old android/ubuntu images. The PinePhone with its keyboard addon should fix most if not all issues the Gemini PDA had, but it looked so similar I still couldn't bring myself to get the keyboard for it. Plus I don't like the layout at all. MNT Pocket Reform seems very promising (but expensive). Good layout and reprogrammable keyboard. Not stuck on an old Android version.
  - pydry 3y ago
    The pinephone would be perfect were it possible to install, e.g. android banking apps on it.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Same here. I had a gemini but beside the poor software there was also the wobbliness of the display hinge that was super annoying. It was because they made it of springy metal. Also, the keyboard looks the exact same as the Psion 5's but the mechanism is much worse.
  - 3y ago
m4lvin 3y ago
The pro1x from fxtec with lineageos plus termux is useful :-)
- mysterydip 3y ago
  Looks nice, can't see pricing though. Their website https://www.fxtec.com/smartphones/pro1x https://www.fxtec.com/smartphones/pro1x shows "available March 2023" for me.
marci 3y ago
It has some issues, and no Android, pure GNU/Linux, but there's the pinephone and it's keyboard addon. https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-case/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-... But I think it's more a phone to thinker with, not a Just Works phone.

Ive looked for a 5mx form factor in the form of a phone and not been able to find it.

by pydry 3y ago

Ive looked for a 5mx form factor in the form of a phone and not been able to find it.

afandian 3y ago

Did you find the Gemini PDA and friends? It's very very similar.

mysterydip 3y ago
Wish I had heard about these before getting my GPD Win2. Looks much closer to what I wanted but didn't know was still an option.
- rwl4 3y ago
  I've got the GPD Win 2 and it really would be the perfect little computer if it had HP 100LX style calculator keys. I know people disagree with me on this, but it's the one style of tiny keyboard that I have been able to achieve a relatively fast typing speed with.
  - mysterydip 3y ago
    I like the form factor. There's a couple quirks with the screen and some apps/games but I can work around those. The real thing that keeps me from using it more is the heat/fan noise. I can't use it anywhere quiet because of the whizzing sound it generates even just at idle, let alone when I do something. With games on the go it's not a problem, but any kind of productivity work like editing code isn't possible. I saw there were some mods for cooling but I don't believe they're available anymore. Best I've been able to do is under-volt it to lower CPU performance, but that only gets me so far. I'm open to suggestions, though!

zokier 3y ago

Planet Computers? https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/ https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/

petesergeant 3y ago
One day I will find an excuse to get one of these; they induce a heavy sense of nostalgia but I just don’t know what I’d do with it
- lproven 3y ago
  It's a superb portable writing tool, as was the Psion 5 in its day. The keyboard is better than anything available on any tablet or pocketable device in the world in any market. It's that good. No Surface or iPad addon comes even close; it is an order of magnitude better than any mainstream vendor's offering. I found it almost useless as a phone or tablet, though. But I have several of those so I don't care.
opan 3y ago
I highly recommend against anything from these guys. The software situation was dreadful, they pumped out new nearly-identical hardware too quick without fixing gemini issues. Seems like a cash grab. My Gemini PDA sits in my closet, I consider it near-useless with its electrically buggy keyboard and old android/ubuntu images. The PinePhone with its keyboard addon should fix most if not all issues the Gemini PDA had, but it looked so similar I still couldn't bring myself to get the keyboard for it. Plus I don't like the layout at all. MNT Pocket Reform seems very promising (but expensive). Good layout and reprogrammable keyboard. Not stuck on an old Android version.
- pydry 3y ago
  The pinephone would be perfect were it possible to install, e.g. android banking apps on it.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Same here. I had a gemini but beside the poor software there was also the wobbliness of the display hinge that was super annoying. It was because they made it of springy metal. Also, the keyboard looks the exact same as the Psion 5's but the mechanism is much worse.
- 3y ago

m4lvin 3y ago

The pro1x from fxtec with lineageos plus termux is useful :-)

mysterydip 3y ago
Looks nice, can't see pricing though. Their website https://www.fxtec.com/smartphones/pro1x https://www.fxtec.com/smartphones/pro1x shows "available March 2023" for me.

marci 3y ago

It has some issues, and no Android, pure GNU/Linux, but there's the pinephone and it's keyboard addon. https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-case/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-... But I think it's more a phone to thinker with, not a Just Works phone.