DIY handheld PC uses mechanical keyboard, Game Boy pieces, Raspberry Pi

If somebody is utilizing a handheld PC lately, it is nearly actually a smartphone. However a Raspberry Pi has a means of bringing out an fanatic’s retro facet. Add in some previous console components and a real mechanical keyboard, and you have got a DIY PC that may match within the palm of your hand.

Referred to as the Penkesu and shared through GitHub by a consumer often known as Penk Chen, the challenge is described as “a homebrew retro-style handheld PC.” It makes use of a 7.9-inch touchscreen with a 400 x 1,280 decision and a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. Different digital components embrace a 3.7 V Li-Po battery and Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C for energy.

Chen 3D-printed the PC’s chassis and shared the corresponding STL information and STEP file. The maker additionally used alternative hinges for the Recreation Boy Advance SP to permit the PC to fold shut.

“Repurposed Recreation Boy Advance SP hinges and ribbon cable for HDMI are used to maintain the hinge skinny, but [they hold] the load of the show so it will not tip over,” Penske wrote on Github.

Those that yearn for the times when on-the-go keyboards weren’t all touchscreens can respect the Penkesu’s compact mechanical keyboard. It is ortholinear, which means all of the keys are in aligned rows and columns, like a grid. The keyboard employs Kailh’s Low Profile Choc V1 mechanical switches and an Arduino Professional Micro microcontroller board.

If you have not given up on handheld PCs, directions for constructing a Penkesu of your individual are on Github, because the maker does not have plans to promote the PC.