5 ms·

Almost every time I see some of those minidevices I feel an urge to buy it. And I have no idea for what use. I guess maybe it feels like a tech toy, and it some

Almost every time I see some of those minidevices I feel an urge to buy it. And I have no idea for what use. I guess maybe it feels like a tech toy, and it somehow appeals to my inner child.

ginko 3y ago
I used an original GPD Pocket as a travel laptop for a while. The tiny size and weight is really handy since you can just drop it in your bag and practically forget it's there. The small screen size and cramped/weird layout KB made it too cumbersome to keep using it though. I wish there'd be laptops in the 9-11" range since that'd be a lot more workable I think.
- blumomo 3y ago
  MacBook Air 11“ from 2015 (last model) is still strong enough for me to do multi service docker compose local dev with various languages and databases. Big enough and powerful enough to also join video calls with multiple participants. Running Ubuntu/PopOS.
  - bxparks 3y ago
    Two thumbs up for the MBA11. I use mine every day for everything non-programming. I liked it so much that I bought another one on eBay. I keep one plugged in, then swap out the other one when the battery goes low. I use Syncthing to synchronize useful files between the two. The full-size keyboard on them is wonderful. And the 2x USB-A ports, the mini-DP port, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Awesome. I tried running Linux/Ubutunu on them, but I gave up. The fan did not work out of the box, requiring a patch. Sleep on lid-closing was broken, requiring a hack. But the critical thing that made me give up on Linux was the broken trackpad. Palm rejection is terrible on Linux, and Linux has no support for pinch-zooming. I cannot live without pinch-zooming on a Mac, especially on an 11" screen. When Apple stops supporting Big Sur (my MBA11 2013) and Catalina (my MBA11 2015), I'll try OpenCore Legacy Patcher. If that doesn't work, I'll probably just keep using the old MacOS versions.
    - dTal 3y ago
      >Linux has no support for pinch-zooming On Apple hardware, or in general? Because I pinch-zoomed on your comment in Firefox on Linux.
      - bxparks 3y ago
        On my Dell Latitude and Precision laptops, pinch-zooming does not work at all on Linux (Mint 21, MATE or Cinammon, w/ Firefox). On the MBA11, I was slightly imprecise with that statement. I recall that pinch-zooming was bound to Ctrl+ on Firefox. But that is not what pinch-zooming does on MacOS. On MacOS, the zoom level remains unchanged (e.g. 170% for Hacker News) but the window content is smoothly zoomed in and out, without re-rendering the text or images. The zooming is so smooth and responsive that it feels like it's doing fractional percentages. There is almost no input lag from the movement of the fingers. The Ctrl+ action, on the other hand, changes in discrete steps, (e.g. 100%, 110%, 125%, etc), and there is a noticeable lag caused by the rendering of the window content using the new zoom level. I find the Ctrl+ action to be unusable. (Addendum: On some web pages, I see an image that is too small. So I hit Ctrl+, which causes the image to become smaller. Argh. Pinch-zoom on MacOS causes the image to become bigger, because it doesn't change the zoom-level.)
        dTal 3y ago
        For what it's worth, you can get the smooth behavior in Firefox by running it with "MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1". It's silly that it's not default, but it's there.
    - icybox 3y ago
      I'm running OLCP'd Ventura on MBA11 2014. Works just fine. Sonoma should be supported too, but haven't tried yet.
Andrex 3y ago
Disconnect from the Internet and you have a pretty capable e-typewriter.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  Then I'd want an e-Ink screen I think. And probably a better (mechanical) keyboard.
  - broken-kebab 3y ago
    Mechanical keyboard, I'm afraid, is unlikely to fit in a small device. There's always compromises to make between portability and comfort.
    - afandian 3y ago
      I'm waiting for someone to do something with a Pinephone keyboard. It looks perfect for hacking. https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-case/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-...
- MenhirMike 3y ago
  Especially because it doesn't have a giant trackpad in front of the keyboard. For a Laptop, trackpads are important, for a typewriter, it's preferable for them to not exist. So the form factor looks great for that!
cmrdporcupine 3y ago
If it was cheap enough I'd be tempted to get for one of my teens to bring to school. Except they'd hate me for unleashing not only Linux, but Linux on a rather experimentally-new ISA. Still tempted.
ge96 3y ago
I feel a similar gut urge but I remember how these things are too small (type on) to actually be useful.
- Pet_Ant 3y ago
  I mean they aren't too small to type on, I mean they are much bigger than a Blackberry was. I can imagine it being great for being on call since you can tether it carry it easily in a backpack. Remote fieldwork as well. Would I daily drive it for coding? No. I can't even use crappy full-size laptop keyboards for long without pain, but as a very portable fully-feature device, this does have uses.
  - raffraffraff 3y ago
    I'm thinking more along the lines of a raspberry pi that's instantly usable without messing with monitors, keyboards, mice and usb power supplies. I'd happily run Home Assistant on one of these. If I ever had to mess with it I could simply unplug it, take it downstairs and directly mess around with it. It would also survive a power cut, which my Pi doesn't.
helpfulContrib 3y ago
I use my recently acquired uConsole (clockwork Pi) with the RISC-V module to teach myself RISC-V Assembly and so on. Once I'm done with it in that capacity, I'm going to use it for email. All these mini-devices get evaluated on the basis of whether they can be, eventually used for basic e-mail.

Almost every time I see some of those minidevices I feel an urge to buy it. And I have no idea for what use. I guess maybe it feels like a tech toy, and it somehow appeals to my inner child.

ginko 3y ago

I used an original GPD Pocket as a travel laptop for a while. The tiny size and weight is really handy since you can just drop it in your bag and practically forget it's there. The small screen size and cramped/weird layout KB made it too cumbersome to keep using it though. I wish there'd be laptops in the 9-11" range since that'd be a lot more workable I think.

blumomo 3y ago
MacBook Air 11“ from 2015 (last model) is still strong enough for me to do multi service docker compose local dev with various languages and databases. Big enough and powerful enough to also join video calls with multiple participants. Running Ubuntu/PopOS.
- bxparks 3y ago
  Two thumbs up for the MBA11. I use mine every day for everything non-programming. I liked it so much that I bought another one on eBay. I keep one plugged in, then swap out the other one when the battery goes low. I use Syncthing to synchronize useful files between the two. The full-size keyboard on them is wonderful. And the 2x USB-A ports, the mini-DP port, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Awesome. I tried running Linux/Ubutunu on them, but I gave up. The fan did not work out of the box, requiring a patch. Sleep on lid-closing was broken, requiring a hack. But the critical thing that made me give up on Linux was the broken trackpad. Palm rejection is terrible on Linux, and Linux has no support for pinch-zooming. I cannot live without pinch-zooming on a Mac, especially on an 11" screen. When Apple stops supporting Big Sur (my MBA11 2013) and Catalina (my MBA11 2015), I'll try OpenCore Legacy Patcher. If that doesn't work, I'll probably just keep using the old MacOS versions.
  - dTal 3y ago
    >Linux has no support for pinch-zooming On Apple hardware, or in general? Because I pinch-zoomed on your comment in Firefox on Linux.
    - bxparks 3y ago
      On my Dell Latitude and Precision laptops, pinch-zooming does not work at all on Linux (Mint 21, MATE or Cinammon, w/ Firefox). On the MBA11, I was slightly imprecise with that statement. I recall that pinch-zooming was bound to Ctrl+ on Firefox. But that is not what pinch-zooming does on MacOS. On MacOS, the zoom level remains unchanged (e.g. 170% for Hacker News) but the window content is smoothly zoomed in and out, without re-rendering the text or images. The zooming is so smooth and responsive that it feels like it's doing fractional percentages. There is almost no input lag from the movement of the fingers. The Ctrl+ action, on the other hand, changes in discrete steps, (e.g. 100%, 110%, 125%, etc), and there is a noticeable lag caused by the rendering of the window content using the new zoom level. I find the Ctrl+ action to be unusable. (Addendum: On some web pages, I see an image that is too small. So I hit Ctrl+, which causes the image to become smaller. Argh. Pinch-zoom on MacOS causes the image to become bigger, because it doesn't change the zoom-level.)
      - dTal 3y ago
        For what it's worth, you can get the smooth behavior in Firefox by running it with "MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1". It's silly that it's not default, but it's there.
  - icybox 3y ago
    I'm running OLCP'd Ventura on MBA11 2014. Works just fine. Sonoma should be supported too, but haven't tried yet.

Andrex 3y ago

Disconnect from the Internet and you have a pretty capable e-typewriter.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago
Then I'd want an e-Ink screen I think. And probably a better (mechanical) keyboard.
- broken-kebab 3y ago
  Mechanical keyboard, I'm afraid, is unlikely to fit in a small device. There's always compromises to make between portability and comfort.
  - afandian 3y ago
    I'm waiting for someone to do something with a Pinephone keyboard. It looks perfect for hacking. https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-case/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-pinephone-pro-keyboard-...
MenhirMike 3y ago
Especially because it doesn't have a giant trackpad in front of the keyboard. For a Laptop, trackpads are important, for a typewriter, it's preferable for them to not exist. So the form factor looks great for that!

cmrdporcupine 3y ago

If it was cheap enough I'd be tempted to get for one of my teens to bring to school. Except they'd hate me for unleashing not only Linux, but Linux on a rather experimentally-new ISA. Still tempted.

ge96 3y ago

I feel a similar gut urge but I remember how these things are too small (type on) to actually be useful.

Pet_Ant 3y ago
I mean they aren't too small to type on, I mean they are much bigger than a Blackberry was. I can imagine it being great for being on call since you can tether it carry it easily in a backpack. Remote fieldwork as well. Would I daily drive it for coding? No. I can't even use crappy full-size laptop keyboards for long without pain, but as a very portable fully-feature device, this does have uses.
- raffraffraff 3y ago
  I'm thinking more along the lines of a raspberry pi that's instantly usable without messing with monitors, keyboards, mice and usb power supplies. I'd happily run Home Assistant on one of these. If I ever had to mess with it I could simply unplug it, take it downstairs and directly mess around with it. It would also survive a power cut, which my Pi doesn't.

helpfulContrib 3y ago

I use my recently acquired uConsole (clockwork Pi) with the RISC-V module to teach myself RISC-V Assembly and so on. Once I'm done with it in that capacity, I'm going to use it for email. All these mini-devices get evaluated on the basis of whether they can be, eventually used for basic e-mail.