Could You Do All Your Computing On A Single Computer: Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, Mobile; And What Would It Look Like?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨squashkin@wolfballs.com⁩ to ⁨freeforum@wolfballs.com⁩

cross-posted from: https://wolfballs.com/post/9468

There've been some attempts to wrap computers all together in to some singular system, like the "lapdocks" which allow smartphones to be able to plug in to a lapdock device which has the screen size of a laptop and a laptop-sized keyboard, but uses the computing power of the smartphone.

There have been the UMPCs or mini laptops that you can fit in your pocket.

Then there is the "good old" laptop which is both pretty portable and pretty good for stationary use but doesn't fit in the pocket.

Then there's just a smartphone itself, which can run desktop apps in some cases (but may lack ports)

I find myself still cycling between options trying to figure out a best arrangement.

Has anyone found a sweet spot for a single computer that they could reuse in multiple situations or could you live with a single computer like only use a phone for main computing?

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sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
I think any choice would be a bad one, but let's say that the world collapsed and I had to choose one and only one device, I'm thinking an x86 based Linux phone based off an Intel atom.

I think at that point you could probably configure it in such a way that it runs it a standard bios and you can use a standard Linux distribution that could be modified to operate in a phone form factor, and then you could use a usb-c dock to connect to a keyboard mouse and monitor. It would absolutely be a poor solution for any given thing, but I think it would be a good enough desktop, a good enough laptop, a good enough phone that if it was your one and only choice it would be subpar but acceptable.

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- iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
  You'd prefer an AMD SoC rather than an Atom at that size. In a similar size its even possible to get an i3/5/7, in that board size, with throttle and a small fan.
  
  I know, shocking.... but that's what all the Steamdeck & clones have
  
  IMHO the only size still dominated by Atom is the USB Stick computer. At that size Atom and Celeron are the only options.
  
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  - sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
    I recall seeing some fanless APUs at that size from AMD, so you may be right. I was only thinking Atom because I know there have been Intel Atom based smart phones so it's a known quantity rather than saying some chip that I don't know would be workable in terms of size, heat, or battery life.
    
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iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
Used to be invested in phones with keyboards, but they were poor for coding work on the go

Since last summer, I have an allrounder: 8 inch/ i7 11thGen/16GB/1TB ~850gms including charger, got a deal for 650 Eur (https://gpd.hk/gpdwinmax2021)

Keyboard large enough to comfortably type on a bus, it barely fits in my coat [207x145x26mm]. At home its a media player behind my TV.

I work on it exclusively when travelling. I can play all games, including Cyberpunk, although I had to tweak the config to turn off the raytracing. Its possible to use eGPUs with full bandwidth due to USB-4

It handles my coding needs, GPU heavy stuff and rendering. Never hangs or crashes. Battery life is 12 hours with WiFi on Battery saver. Bought it from a French eBay seller, new for 650 Euros last summer.

Only thing missing is a SIM slot. Then I wouldn't need my phone.

In the future, I would love a similar machine, slightly smaller in dimensions, without the game pad, so it could fit into smaller pockets

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- squashkin@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
  I've been wondering if someone or Steam will release a keyboard for their Steam deck which would be a competitive UMPC choice it seems
  
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  - iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
    Regarding Steam deck. That thing is huge. It will never fit in any pocket, and its awkward to work on a train or bus. I checked its Chinese rivals Aya Neo and GPD Win 3........
    
    Yeah, that was a no for me. Dimensions are too awkward, even thought the hardware is good
    
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  - iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
    I can make a short video if you like. The only thing that really bothers me is the awkward placement of the touchpad, and the mouse buttons are the "trigger/shoulder" keys of the gamepad, so I recommend packing a small mouse
    
    If you are sitting at a table, say a cafe, touch typing is no problem. In a bus, if you have to type on your lap, I make more mistakes, but I can still type.
    
    The keyboard layout is ok for its size, some coding related keys like ; ( ) [ ] _ can be tricky to find
    
    Nothing compares to a full size desktop keyboard, but this one is good enough, considering the size.
    
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