Depending on who you ask, most of us walk around with small PCs in our pockets every day. We’re talking about smartphones of course but there was a time, not too long ago, when PCs came in four sizes.
The desktop was a creamy, off-white box that you had to plug a screen, mouse and keyboard into to do almost anything. The laptop was a big, beefy, cumbersome device that included most of those things and only weighed slightly less than a desktop. Then you got a notebook, which was smaller than the laptop, usually less powerful and about the size of a, well, notebook. Finally, you got the netbook which was even smaller than the notebook, usually cheaper but struggled to run two or more things at once.
Time to think smaller?
Sure, these days you get PCs the size of flash drives but you still gotta plug in your peripherals. That’s not the case with the Penkesu. This little retro-futuristic laptop comes with its own mechanical keyboard and is the work of one dedicated DIY-er, Penk Chen. It wouldn’t look out of place in Hackers.
Hacker voice: I’m in pic.twitter.com/CA7jxTMnhe
— Penk Chen (@penk) February 13, 2022
The case is 3D printed and it uses Game Boy Advanced SP hinges for the fold-y bits. It’s fitted with a 1,280 x 400 7.9in touch screen display that plugs into its heart, a Rasberry Pi Zero 2 W. The internal lithium-ion battery is charged via a USB interface. Then the mechanical keyboard uses Kailh Choc V1 low-profile switches and keycaps and an Arduino controller.
Putting all that together nets you a supercompact, fully functioning PC you can slip in your pocket (provided you have deep pockets). PCs, like the netbooks of the past, didn’t ever catch on. The Penkesu isn’t about to hit shelves and single-handedly bring back the ultraportable form factor but it’s still really cool. Especially since Penk Chen has put everything you need to build your own on GitHub. Thanks!
Source: The Verge