
$99 “laptop Shell” for Raspberry Pi or Windows 10 Continuum - erggo
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nexdock-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-laptop--2#/
======
carlesfe
I'm now wary of indiegogo and crowdfunding laptops in general. I purchased the
pi-top and, while it was a feat at the time, the build quality is so low that
I just can't use it. The keyboard sucks, the trackpad is super cheap, and the
plastic has a bulge which makes it uncomfortable to use.

So, trying to convert this comment into positive feedback for the creators:
please spend the biggest part of your budget into the input devices. If you
can't provide a good build quality, don't be cheap on the keyboard and laptop.

~~~
desireco42
Yep same here. Make something good and I will be customer of more then one
device. But I really need review by gadget blog before I will consider buying.

On the other hand, super excited that we can have something like this. I was
thinking about what it would take for me to use Raspberry Pi at work.

------
vittore
I don't get it, just go on ebay
([http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m5...](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlapdock.TRS0&_nkw=lapdock&_sacat=0))
or amazon (
[http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/191-8083913-3793561...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/191-8083913-3793561?url=search-
alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lapdock)) and get yourself old motorolla
atrix/bionic lapdock , it has hdmi + usb and basically would work as hdmi
external screen + usb keyboard and usb mouse for any device that supports it.

UPDATE: well, apparently price jumped a lot, i got myself two of those 10 and
12 inches models for like 30 and 70 dollars 2 years ago.

but anyway, there is existing piece of technology from almost 5 years ago,
just was a bit ahead of it's time. People used that with rasberry-pi for quite
some time too
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-9l1rPNCgo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-9l1rPNCgo))

~~~
bydo
You can get an entire functioning laptop for under $100 these days.

[http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Acer-
Asp...](http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Acer-Aspire-One-
Cloudbook-11-AO1-131-C7DW-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.323774600)

It doesn't run Windows 10 very well, with only 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage
(neither of which are user-upgradeable), but is actually a surprisingly nice
with a light Linux distro.

~~~
viewer5
Holy cow, I never knew that was a thing! Do you have one? I need a cheap
laptop/tablet/something that runs well enough for PDFs with ~200 pages (for
pen-and-paper RPGs) and that's about my only use case. My poor little lenovo
T60 from 2007 is just not up to the task, even after I took Windows off and
put on Mint.

~~~
tracker1
You should be able to find similar hardware in Chromebooks as well... though
not sure about PDF usage, they've been great for my parents/grandparents. Many
of them you can load a full linux distro on.

------
haser_au
I've backed this, mainly because I'd like to encourage getting the most out of
our smart phones, especially in the corporate workplace. Combine this with
virtualisedapps (Citrix, etc.) and you have a very usable workstation that is
also portable and a LOT cheaper than a laptop. I don't expect everyone in our
org to be able to replace their laptop with this, but it's definitely possible
for 40% of our organisation.

------
minsight
Buyer beware: Indiegogo campaigns for hardware leave their supporters with
very little recourse if the project fails to deliver. I've been burned by this
one in the past.

~~~
erggo
This is exactly what I am afraid of. Is there any way how to assess the risk?

~~~
minsight
In my case, all the person running the campaign had to do was send out weekly
messages to those who had purchased. The content could be something like "I'm
trying to call my partner, but he's not answering". You may get your hardware.
But if you don't, the game is slanted against you having some sort of
acceptable outcome.

I'd consider it a gamble and wouldn't spend any sum of money that I'd feel bad
about losing.

------
analognoise
I'll support it! ...by buying one after they reach production, assuming the
product has good reviews.

~~~
gravypod
This is how everyone should support projects that they find interesting. If
someone doesn't have any skills except marketing they will steal your money,
if they can make the product and push it into production, you will be able to
buy it a few years after they have the idea.

------
hultner
While on the topic is there some cheap alternatives to this that can function
as a VGA/DVI/HDMI-display+USB-keyboard out today? Also would this support to
use the keyboard over usb instead of Bluetooth?

I have quite a few servers and various headless computers at home, every once
in awhile I need to hook them up to a monitor and keyboard for some sort of
debugging, today I usually carry around a spare LCD-monitor and standard
keyboard however something like an empty laptop to be used as a portable
terminal would be great for this.

------
SwellJoe
This is a great idea, and a concept that I'm ready for (my phone and tablets
are already more powerful than the first 20, or so, desktop computers that
I've owned, including machines up to just a few years ago). But, this
particular device probably won't do, for me. It's as big as a full-size laptop
but has a lower resolution display than I'm willing to use for laptop work
today. To be clear: the size of it is fine, but only if it provided a
reasonably high resolution display (which, I guess, would it much harder to
hit this low price point).

I also wonder why it isn't fully functional with an Android device, and seems
to only support display. I have a little keyboard and standing case for one of
my tablets, and it works OK as a "very tiny laptop" (though not being a full-
size keyboard makes it a non-starter for any real work). Why wouldn't this
work for that, too? Does Windows phone have some specific functionality that
makes it more appropriate for this kind of thing?

Anyway, this seems pretty close to a great implementation of a great idea.
Maybe after launch they'll make a 1080P or QHD version for a little extra
money. There's a lot of possibility for making this a great laptop
replacement; they could stick a battery in it for longer working time, it
could provide USB hub functionality for a mouse and other devices, etc.

------
jokoon
I should plan to use the RPi as a second computer. Only thing to do is find an
used LCD screen, but I'm not sure if an SD card can really sustain daily use
(I think flash memory is not really meant to sustain many read/write), or if
it's still possible to find USB hard drives under $30 (a 100GB should be
cheaper than a 128GB USB flash drive, but again I don't think that 100GB hard
drive are still being built).

The RPi is great, but there aren't good enough starter packages that can
really convert it into a full computer. There are many second hand LCD screens
out there that could be sold with a RPi.

~~~
bootload
_" I should plan to use the RPi as a second computer. Only thing to do is find
an used LCD screen"_

'7″ Touchscreen Monitor' designed fro Rpi ~
[https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-touch-
disp...](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-touch-display/)

------
rbanffy
I would love one with a space to install a RPi or similar device inside the
shell.

~~~
stuartmalcolm
[http://www.pi-top.com/#/](http://www.pi-top.com/#/)

~~~
FilterSweep
If they made this for ODROID I'd get this 100%. I wonder if some cutting will
allow fitment with a C1.

~~~
kogepathic
Physically the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and ODROID C1+ (note the +) are almost
identical.

Only difference is the location of the SD card and the power in port on the
ODROID.

Cases are compatible with very minor modification, as long as you don't need
uSD access.

------
Eric_WVGG
There’s a parallel universe where the whole “Post PC” thing didn’t really work
out and the Windows model reigns supreme and these things are unstoppably
popular.

This is not that universe, but it’s still a pretty nifty idea.

------
hallz
I like the idea. Having a separate device is a pain - another thing to manage.
Also this thing is designed to work with Windows Continuum:
[http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8560195/microsoft-
continuum...](http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8560195/microsoft-continuum-
for-phones-windows-10)

------
gravypod
Last I remember, there was a system built just like this from Motorola. People
have been using raspberry pis with them for some time now. You can find them
from 50-80 USD online.

------
warfangle
Why do these things always include a discrete touchpad?

Why not a series of phone-specific-form-factor caddy that snaps into the
laptop where the touch pad is, that you can slide your phone into?

~~~
tracker1
Because that would require OS level integration with the phone.... Even with
full screen apps, swiping in from at least one direction is usually the
"escape" ... Also, phones come in _many_ form factors, and creating face
adapters for multiple devices would be difficult, to say the least... though
options for 3d printed services may alleviate some of that.

What I'd really like to see is a Bluetooth standard for full remote input and
ui rendering. That would be useful for car stereos as well as with devices
such as this.

~~~
warfangle
I don't think it would. Many full screen apps like Kindle require two swipes
from the top before it brings down the system menu (first shows the status
bar, second slides down the menu). Maybe iOS is different?

You already have a fantastic multitouch device in your pocket, and many of
these cheap shells have a horrific touchpad touchpad experience. Maybe shells
for the major form factors would actually be cheaper than putting together a
touchpad experience that doesn't make you want to chuck the device out the
nearest window.

------
3327
very high price point for a shell.

~~~
tehbeard
A shell with a screen. The 7" RasPi touchscreen is ~$70 and that doesn't have
a keyboard, trackpad or hdmi (it uses a DSI ribbon cable and the gpio
instead).

~~~
dwild
The RasPi touchscreen is way overpriced too. You can get a whole tablet
running Windows 10 for a little bit more. Sure it will come from China and
will be probably filled with backdoor but the cost is there.

A better example would be that Acer laptop that someone else talked about
here: [http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Acer-
Asp...](http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Acer-Aspire-One-
Cloudbook-11-AO1-131-C7DW-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.323774600)

