Raspberry Pi has been used in a number of mini laptops that run on tiny single-board computers. But a recent one, developed by hgTerm, could be one of the best DIY mini PCs made till date.
The pocket-sizedhgTerm computercomes with a4-inch touchscreendisplay and rocks a270-degree hingethat can be flipped backwards to use the device as a stand.
There is athumb keyboardand the entire hardware is encased in a3D printed cover. The handheld computer runs on a battery that can last for hours at once and the whole thing run onRaspberry Pi 3.
Even though using a Raspberry Pi Zero would have saved a lot of space, the performance would have taken a hit. So the developer decided to go with the 3B+ to increase performance at the expense of higher power usage.
The developer of the project, Igor Brkić, says that the hgTerm can be used for a variety of activities fromArduino programmingto runningPlayStation games.
He has also shared videos of the same that you can check out:
To make the hgTerm more compact, a few Raspberry Pi components were stripped including the Ethernet port, HDMI port, and most of the USB ports — simply because you don’t need them in a mini laptop.
The developer also placed a small copper heatsink on top of the processor for thermal management. Overall, the device fits nicely in the hand, despite being quite thick and heavy (owing to its huge battery).
