Hi everyone (sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language). I'm a (big) noob with tech but I have been trying to learn new things, and started reading Neuromancer recently, so I thought about trying to make a cyberdeck. I thought about using it primarily for movies (mirroring the movies to the TV) and some music. I was planning to try something along the lines of photos in the post (not my cyberdecks, just inspiration), the draw being the an outline of the project. I wanted to know if you guys think it's a possible project, if it is more on the advanced side, or any tips if possible.

Thank you for reading.

Built from an old smartphone as a typing tool that focuses on writing journals.

Hello! I've been enamored by LoRa and Cyberdecks for awhile and have always been one for recycling older technology! I've been facinated my things like Reticulum and have been to areas where there are no cell phones so I fully see the use in needing ways to communicate.

I have a LG VX9200 ENV3 more specifically the canadian version CX9200, its a CDMA QWERTY phone that I desperately want to make useful again! this thing has GPS built into it as well as the nicest typing system in a small form factor! does anyone here have experience with things like reticulum and Meshcore and modding older Cell phones to make them into nodes/communicators?
here are some specs for the phone

https://lpcwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/LG_VX9200

I do not have the technical knowledge to do much more then follow instructions to install things and disassemble,clean,reassemble to fix things, but I really really want to try! I wholeheartedly believe that this 15 year old cell phone could be a cyberdeck or a fabulous LoRa Node and communicator with some tweaks! if someone here would be so kind as to look into things and help me find the limits of what's possible? (and some advice on how to break some limits)

Combining several of my interests here!! 😊 Palmtops, UMPCs, cyberdecks, writerdecks, e-readers...

Video of me typing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXehobjmJtI

I had a Boox Palma e-reader, and one day found this small (but not too small) Bluetooth keyboard, which inspired this little project:

• Black: Doohoeek Universal Bluetooth Mini Keyboard https://a.co/d/6AUk5It
• Gray: CACOE Wireless Keyboard with Stand https://a.co/d/hjDWHji

You can peel off the PU-leather keyboard case. It's glued on, so you may need to gently heat the bottom of the keyboard with a hair dryer first.

This is my first prototype, and it has a couple of issues I want to fix in the next version. Any help or opinions are appreciated 🙏 I'll share my design and 3D printing files once the main issues are resolved, and if there's enough interest.

Overall, it feels great in my hand and slides into my jacket pocket. I like how it looks, and the display is really easy on the eyes. Since the Boox Palma is an Android device, I can install any Android app (e.g. Google Docs, Kindle, Reddit, Obsidian) and pair Bluetooth devices with it.

It's okay to type on once you get used to it. You can also try thumb typing. It isn't great for either, though. 😜

Things to fix:

• It's top-heavy, so I have to lay it flat or add a Microsoft Surface-style kickstand (which I really don't like). The keyboard case came with a built-in kickstand, which I could try to repurpose. Alternatively, I could add a counterweight under the keyboard, e.g. a DIY flat power bank built with a 3.7V mobile phone battery.
• The hinge doesn't have friction, but I can add a hard stop at 120° at the back of the hinge.
• I accidentally made the display part of the 3D-printed case a few mm wider. The right side protrudes a little.
• I forgot to round the bottom-left corner of the keyboard case and had to manually carve it out.

I added pictures of the inside of the keyboard as well, in case you want to drill into the keyboard or make a custom base. You absolutely don't need to open it but I was curious. It's glued together with a couple of strips of adhesive.

Not my creation of course, but how hard do you think this would be to make? Maybe some kind of android phone, a bluetooth keyboard, and a custom case and you’re good to go

Android mp3 player 4" screen: Conrain M301 Pro $50 amazon RII mini Bluetooth keyboard: $20 amazon

Next: make a 3D flip case

This is another iteration of my iPhone XS writerdeck — an attempt at a DIY version of the Freewrite Traveler.

This uses an older Apple wired USB keyboard and the casing of a knockoff Apple wireless keyboard as the top half of the clamshell (with a large cut-out for the phone’s screen). The iPhone sits in a plastic phone case.

The keyboard’s USB cable is hidden in the top case battery housing with a USB-to-Lightning converter to connect to the phone. Top case and keyboard are connected with torque hinges. The hinges are screwed into pieces of plastic fastened to the Apple keyboard with strong epoxy (to avoid damaging electronics).

It definitely has some flaws. The keyboard drains the iPhone battery faster than a Bluetooth keyboard. There is no good way to charge the device when in use. Plugging a USB cable connected to power to the Apple keyboard’s USB ports does not power the device. Wireless charging on the back is clunky. Also, thumb drive storage (plugged into keyboard UBS port) is sporadic, sometimes appearing in the file manager, sometimes not.

I've been working on this chonky looking cyberdeck case. Right now it's an expandable shell meant to be bolted together using m5 bolts. Of course I don't have proper length m5 bolts, so I printed some, cut them flush and friction welded them to connect the pieces.

All the pieces are printed separately and interchangeable. The main frame pieces are a bit of a blank canvas and can be expanded by attaching frame spacers between the top/bottom and the frame. This way the hinge geometry is kept.

The hinges are gopro style hinges that bolt to the frame pieces.

The handles use the same holes on the front of frame.

Currently the frame pieces are 215x104x19mm the top/bottom is 223x112 so there is an overhang which also covers the connection of the hinges/handle faceplate.

The upper/lower hinges/handles are printed as faceplate that mount with 3 m5 bolts into the frame pieces. They are 215x19x4mm.

There is no latch to keep it shut. Instead thumbscrews with m5 bolts tighten the hinges.

The current hinge geometry leaves a gap of 5mm in expectation of a bezel being placed on the top/bottom frames.

My final version of this design will have a 12mm spacer added to the lower frame to accommodate a 20000mah usbc power pack and usbc hub with hdmi output.

I'm planning a magsafe ring to the lid to safely hold the phone.

Pmos running on Klte, playing with and setting up lxqt to my liking, which is proving to be a chore, but kinda worth it so far.

Been playing around with this two-phone setup lately.

The top phone handles the remote desktop connection to my Mac, while the bottom one works as the keyboard and trackpad through a USB HID adapter. I clipped them together so everything stays in one compact setup.

The nicest part is not having to carry a separate keyboard or mouse. It’s basically a little folding workstation made from two phones I already had with me.

All Rii keyboards expect the last

I connect to a local server. I’m hosting on a Mac studio and I use Quinn 3.6 on this along with iMessage and FaceTime using open bubbles.

Oh phone is Galaxy Note 10+