MNT Shrinks Its Open Source Reform Laptop Into a 7-Inch Pocket PC Throwback

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A few months ago, we reviewed the MNT Reform, which attempts to bring the dream of entirely open source hardware to an audience that doesn't want to design and build a laptop totally from scratch. Now, MNT is bringing its open-hardware ethos to a second PC, a 7-inch "Pocket Reform" laptop that recalls the design of old clamshell Pocket PCs, just like the big Reform references the design of chunky '90s ThinkPads.

The Pocket Reform borrows many of the big Reform laptop's design impulses, including a low-profile mechanical keyboard and trackball-based pointing device and a chunky, retro-throwback design. The device includes a 7-inch 1080p screen, a pair of USB-C ports (one of which is used for charging), a microSD slot for storage expansion, and a micro HDMI port for connecting to a display when you're at your desk. [...] The version of the Pocket Reform in the announcement isn't ready to launch yet, and MNT says it represents "near-final specs and design." For users interested in the Pocket Reform's imminent early beta program, there's a newsletter sign-up link at the bottom of the announcement. One of the main complaints Ars noted about the big Reform was the "miserably slow ARM processor," which will be included in the Pocket Reform.

With that said, MNT has addressed other complaints about the big Reform by "adding reinforced metal side panels to cover the ports and a redesigned battery system that won't let the batteries fully discharge if the laptop is left unplugged."

Trackball?

[fermion]

Who here misses the nipple instead of the ball?

Re:

[ArchieBunker]

Thinkpads still have the nipple. My job gave me a chunky HP Z book and it has one too.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

I miss the trackball from my Powerbook 170.

For my hands the clitmouse is clumsier and less precise in every way. I was able to do illustration on that Powerbook because the scroll was infinite.

Re:

[Kremmy]

Only on the ThinkPads. Other brands managed to make them worse than trackpads.

Way back in the 90's ...

[the_other_one]

My eyes could handle a 7 inch screen.

Re: Way back in the 90's ...

[NateFromMich]

My eyes could handle a 7 inch screen.

I guess you don't own a phone.

Re:

[geekmux]

My eyes could handle a 7 inch screen.

I guess you don't own a phone.

I guess you haven't heard of Ben Franklin. Invented bifocals. They've been around for a minute.

Re:

[NateFromMich]

I guess you haven't heard of Ben Franklin. Invented bifocals. They've been around for a minute.

So you're saying you use bifocals to read the screen on your phone, but it's not possible for you to do the same with any other screen?

Re:

[OrangeTide]

the IBM 5153 CGA was 13-inch I believe, and the IBM 5151 Monochrome monitor was 12-inch. I find it to be about the lower bounds of what is comfortable to use for long periods of time.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

We have had the promise of fold out screens for decades. Linus Tech Tips recently reviewed a set of clip on screens and they were actually not terrible, but not great either.

Still, seems like it should be possible to build a folding OLED screen for a portable now

More miserably slow open hardware.

[Kremmy]

I love that there are so many more options for open hardware available now, but I don't love that this is about the best we can get with it. You can do a lot with a little, but that doesn't mean the little is enough. Push for better. An open netbook is still a netbook, sometimes you need processing power to spare.

Re: More miserably slow open hardware.

[NateFromMich]

I can't actually think of any real use for this particular form factor.
I firmly believe that netbooks died because phones and tablets make them redundant. It's kind of neat, I guess.

Netbooks are less locked down

[tepples]

I firmly believe that netbooks died because phones and tablets make them redundant.

Netbooks ran desktop operating systems, meaning you could install GCC and program for the device on the device. It gave me something productive to do during the bus commute to and from my day job. Publishers of phone and tablet operating systems, by contrast, have been locking down their userspace against on-device development in the name of preventing malicious programs from compiling themselves on a device that an end user expects to be reliable enough to make emergency calls. Android 10 and later in part

Re:

[serviscope_minor]

Netbooks ran desktop operating systems, meaning you could install GCC and program for the device on the device. It gave me something productive to do during the bus commute to and from my day job.

Same! I did a ton of hacking on my eee 900.

Re:

[bads]

Netbooks still exist, they were just renamed to Cloudbooks and run Windows S before you put linux on.

I'm reading this using one now.

Re:

[BeaverCleaver]

I can't actually think of any real use for this particular form factor.

I firmly believe that netbooks died because phones and tablets make them redundant.
It's kind of neat, I guess.

I think they compete in a different market niche. Judging by the demand for real physical keyboards (not just a generic "bluetooth" type, but also devices like the Cosmo Communicator and the Pinephone's keyboard) then there is still a market for a "pocket clamshell computer." I'd probably buy one if I hadn't already got a GPD Micro PC.

I also like the list of CPU options for this MNT device. One can argue all day about whether a Pi Compute Module is a "good" choice for a pocket computer, but it's still cool

Thunderbird, eh?

[bill_mcgonigle]

I use Thunderbird-current and it usually has one core of my Ryzen 7 pegged, doing whatever the hell it does that is so important that stealing input from the interface thread is justified.

This looks like a great little device I'd like to have, but maybe KMail or perhaps Vivaldi might build for this arch.

Well it certainly looks open source

[DrXym]

Open source projects often yield something which "works" but still suffers from serious and obvious usability issues and this looks to be no exception. Look at the size of that thing, the bezel, the hideous keyboard. They need help from people with good functional and ergonomic design skills to at least take the rough edges off it.

Re:

[BeaverCleaver]

I think that keyboard is supposed to be "hideous" by design. Despite the obvious size and weight penalties, they *really* wanted a mechanical keyboard in this thing. Keyboard preference is a very personal thing. I don't type enough (and certainly not FAST enough) to have strong opinion, but I can see how people who pound a keyboard 8+ hours a day could have strong opinions about their preferred tool. I do like the idea that mechanical keyswitches are more reliable and can be swapped out, especially on a mob

Re:

[DrXym]

It's not that the keyboard is mechanical, but it's arranged in a grid and all the keys are the same size. It's not ergonomic and would obviously be a pain in the ass to use. It looks like the keyboard from an EPOS device, or a1980s Russian knock-off ZX Spectrum clone [homecomputer.de].

And the rest of the device is just as bad. Whatever the goals of the project are, interest would be considerably higher if the product was actually attractive and easy to use. That is clearly not the case at all.

Pricing ?

[bsdetector101]

One thing the company hasn’t announced yet? Pricing. But MNT plans to begin taking pre-orders for a beta version of the Pocket Reform in July in an effort to get the hardware into the hands of hardware and software hackers interested in helping troubleshoot the device before it becomes more widely available. Who wants to pre-order something when you don't know how much it is ?

How Do You Type?

[Thelasko]

I can't even type properly on most netbooks because the keys are too close together. Is the keyboard just for show on this thing?