Comment by stjo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by stjo | Hacker News Reader

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For everybody wondering what this is:

  DevTerm is a retro-entertainment terminal. Powerful hardware allows you to smoothly relive the history of various famous video games, software, and even vintage systems. DevTerm provides you with the latest open-source OS, rich applications, and development tools, from Web browsers, multimedia APPs to many indie-game engines.

  One more thing, just like LEGO, Gundam, Tamiya, the unique unboxing experience will be as exciting as many assembled toys.

As many have noticed, it is quite expensive and unergonomic. Their selling point is entertainment, nostalgia and cyberpunk feel, not really a useful tool. Quite cool if you are into that.

That beige thing at the top right is labelled Expansion Port. For some reason, I really want it to be the output for one of those built-in scroll printers like you'd find on an old calculator. I suspect it could be surprisingly useful. I could also imagine it being a complete waste of space and engineering.

It would at least be aptly retro.

From what I am understanding, that's exactly what that is. It looks like the shop sells the device with or without the `58mm 200dpi thermal printer component`.

The ergonomics is a deal breaker.

That keyboard is just an awful use of space. I would love to buy something in this form factor with a decent keyboard.

My old Kindle was perfect for this, small thumb-keyboard, great e-ink screen, amenable to homebrew.

Then an ex lost it reading Fifty Shades in an airport, and you can't buy them any more.

I'm saving up for a Remarkable.

If you're open to making it yourself, checkout /r/cyberdeck on reddit.

How do you know it's bad? It looks like it has a chance of being pretty usable.

The layout is just horrible. It would be a huge adjustment to go back and forth from an actual decent layout.

Not sure I would call it horrible, but when comparing with a TRS-80 model 100 keyboard then yes I would have preferred the layout of the latter.

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