I use Linux pretty heavily. One nice thing about Linux is that the UI is inherently client-server: you can run the apps on one machine and interact with them on another. This is kinda like the old days of having a mainframe or minicomputer and a bunch of terminals but these days we call them an app server and a bunch of thin clients. You can also use a Linux system stand-alone, such that the apps and the UI are all running on the same hardware. But you don't HAVE to do that. You can have a really lame computer networked with a power-house app server and accomplish quite a bit in a timely fashion, with the lame computer functioning as a thin client and the app server doing all the heavy lifting.

I went looking at laptops recently. For every single one of them I can find, the keyboard sucks. Bad. Since I do a metric s**t-ton of typing, that's a problem. Couple that with a touchpad which you can't help but inadvertently swipe while typing and ... why do people put up with these things? You can always disable the touchpad when doing a bunch of typing but you have to re-enable it when you need to use it; enabling and disabling it, repeatedly, gets old. You can always use an external keyboard and mouse instead of the built-in hardware but ... if you're going to to through the trouble of hauling an external keyboard and mouse ... why are you paying through the nose for a laptop? It's expensive and it eats up desk / lap space.

I want to be able to use one (or more) tablet(s) as display(s). I have one and I'm going to carry it anyway. Those are pretty lame on processing power, and you can't really run desktop apps on those, so I want to interface that to a mini PC (thinking Raspberry Pi sized). I want to be able to use an external keyboard / mouse to drive the mini PC. The mini PC should also be able to connect to Ethernet or WiFi, as well has having a DisplayPort socket so that, if I'm going to some office and they provide external screens, I can use those.

The mini PC should be able to use a USB power supply or run from a USB battery pack. It should have at least an i5-class CPU, SSD storage, ample RAM and the ability to run a full stack development suite (Eclipse, MySQL, Apache, Libre Office, Chrome, etc.). Everything you would normally be able to run on a laptop should be able to run on this thing. And before you think this is unrealistic, the RasPi 5 has better benchmarks than the last laptop (with an i5) that my employer supplied. There are a couple boards out there which make a RasPi 5 look slow. ExplainingComputers.com even did a video about editing video on one of these things. They aren't "high-end workstation" class but they're not toys either.

Plug the mini PC into power. Connect it to Ethernet, WiFi or a phone (tethering) for Internet access. Connect the tablet(s) to the mini PC via USB; this provides data connectivity and power to keep the tablet charged. Run an app on the tablet such that it functions as the graphical display part of a thin client. Use whatever keyboard and mouse you want (BT, USB, etc.). It won't be as compact as a laptop but it won't cost as much either and, as time goes by, you can always get a larger tablet, a faster mini PC, a larger battery, a different keyboard / mouse. You can upgrade incrementally. You can't do that with a laptop. You can always use the tablet as a stand-alone device when you don't need the mini PC. The keyboard and mouse can be used with any computer, such that you use the same keyboard / mouse whether you're at home, on the road or in the office. Maybe connect multiple tablets up in lieu of multiple screens; thin clients have been able to do that for decades (go looking for Sun Ray thin clients for more info).

Everything I'm describing should be do-able with modern tech. I just don't know of anyone actually doing all of this.
-- Meower68, Jul 02 2024

I'm going to bun this, you get one free bun every 11 years. Welcome back! [+]
-- doctorremulac3, Jul 02 2024


Using a bunch of accessories to form an ad hoc computer is widely Baked, and it doesn't work as well as you would think. The YouTuber Mr Mobile has talked about his attempts to achieve laptop-level productivity using such a setup, and has never found it satisfying. I've also tried it myself. Tablets being used as external monitors just plain suck. The latency is very noticeable, because they aren't built for that purpose, and is even worse with a Bluetooth keyboard having to relay inputs first to the computer, then to the external monitor, and the resolution is never quite right. It works fine if you're doing something like presenting a slideshow presentation, but for actual work? It's maddening.

Another issue you'll find is that the REASON most laptop keyboards suck (although the one on my Galaxy Book 2 Pro is actually really quite nice) is that they're too small, which they are for a reason: the laptop is small, designed for portability. Full size desktop keyboards are BIG, and not great to pack around. Sorry bud, I'm not seeing a new idea here.
-- 21 Quest, Jul 03 2024



random, halfbakery