It’s time for another dose of retro-futurism, this time in the form of the TypeFrame PS-85 CyberDeck. The folks at Raspberry Pi spotted this one initially. The reason for that is obvious — this custom-built computer uses the company’s own Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W board as its main component.
It’s the creation of one Jeff Merrick, who originally set out to build something different from this Alien-inspired slab of hardware. The distraction resulted in him making the TypeFrame PS-88. It also resulted in the PS-85. It may be slightly less convenient to work on, but it looks infinitely cooler.
View from the CyberDeck
A 7.9in WaveShare display makes up the screen portion of this build, while a customised set of keycaps gives this CyberDeck its Ridley Scott flavour. Well, that and the 3D-printed case. There’s a 6,000mAh battery tucked away inside, too, so it’s an authentically portable computer.
Merrick had to learn most of the production steps to create this gadget from scratch, a process that was refined after making the PS-88. He has also helpfully left a full set of components and instructions on how to make your own, though what you’ll do with it depends rather a lot on you. There are also instructions on how to configure all of the components and software.
It’s not quite the same as buying a pre-built CyberDeck outright or waiting for one to be developed, but building it yourself does have a certain attraction. After that, you’ll need to find out what it’s for. Merrick said that he intended this one for journaling, but it’s mostly been on display since it was finished. If we’d created and assembled something this good-looking, we’d want to admire it for a while, too.
