ELLO 2M: DIY laptop made entirely from PCB

[knivd]

Hi all,
Just wanted to present my hobby/edu DIY laptop and hopefully gain some support from the community
https://www.crowdsupply.com/knivd/ello-2m

Please ask me if you want to know more details about it.

[dferyance]

Considering the first computer I ever programmed on was a vtech pre-computer 1000 http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/324 I find this idea pretty cool. Just a few flaws / ideas I have on it.

• Very good that you have full-sized arrow keys unlike the squashed ones so many laptops have these days.
• The L-shaped enter key with the tiny backspace is a pain for programming. Programmers make so many errors, it is important to have a full-sized backspace key.

I agree with your risk of

ELLO 2M’s parameters are not “high enough

With how cheap microprocessors are that can run Linux, I was hoping for something like that instead of a MCU. It would allow for running something like squeak on it. But I get how you are trying to keep it "old-school" and simple. There are already tons of cheap boards that run Linux out there.

Due to how your goals are for more "retro" you might want to refrain from calling it a laptop. That will just increase expectations of people and detract from you true goals.

I would be scared of trying to take that through American airport security. But nothing you can do about that, our TSA is pretty nuts.

[Cerebus]

Looks really good! You might gain a little more traction here if you post a few photos.

I particularly like the sandwiched PCB construction - an idea I'm going to ferret away and shamelessly steal when I've an appropriate use for it. You know you've done something right when people nick your ideas (or tell you that they're going to).

Good luck with it.

[German_EE]

Excellent idea!

[knivd]

Thanks for the comments. Notes taken for the future
I intentionally stayed on the "retro" side with the parameters. Tried to explain that in the text there.
Currently writing some introductory programs, so soon I will post some pictures. But if you stay tuned to the crowdsuppy.com page as well, or to my Hackaday.io profile (KnivD), I will be posting regular updates about future development.
Cheers

[JPortici]

So it is finally going on
and in the worst possible moment for me D: i won't be able to back this project for a while but it's on my to buy list
i wish you good luck!

[dferyance]

For sure I would rather see this used in the educational space than some of the other tech in schools ideas. In my school district they handed out free iPads to all the students. You don't learn on those; they are used for entertainment. It is better for education to give them something like this. It will be boring to most students, but it would inspire some. It would be worthwhile for those who get interested.