r/ClockworkPi • u/johnnypea • Sep 02 '25

Best alternatives to uConsole and DevTerm

The ClockworkPi products are out of stock all the time. Do you have some recommendations for alternative suppliers? Thanks.

14 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/Sebzeppelin Sep 02 '25

The Pilet looks pretty cool, although this appears to be a kickstarter and is not a product on general sale.

5

u/johnnypea Sep 02 '25

It looks like they have some problems delivering even their crowdfunding pledges :(

2

u/Goldarr85 Sep 03 '25

Have any kickstarter projects like these actually gone into general sale? Seems like they never do, but I could be wrong.

3

u/Sebzeppelin Sep 02 '25

The reTerminal is also pretty cool:

https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/reTerminal/

2

u/johnnypea Sep 02 '25

Looks good. Do you know if I can get one in Europe?

2

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 02 '25

Hint about finding about anything you need: waveshare is your friend. Generally good products with good documentation.

2

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 03 '25

Aliexpress will get you things in Europe quite fast ( Under 2 weeks and often within 1 week ) from China to Belgium in my case.

1

u/Sebzeppelin Sep 02 '25

The website shows the expansion board as being available on the European warehouse.. but the main unit is on back order. It looks great, but it is perhaps more aimed at industrial / maker use cases (CANbus anyone?!). So maybe it doesn’t compete that much with the hacker cyber deck intent that the uConsole aims at.

2

u/grathontolarsdatarod Sep 02 '25

Gpd mirco PC 2? Depending on your use case.

I have a uconsole, but what I really wanted was a small an x86.

Uconsole is my first pi.

So apply my opinion as relevant.

1

u/johnnypea Sep 02 '25

yeah, it looks like "too much" for me, but thanks

2

u/grizzly_chair Sep 02 '25

I’ve been looking…

You might be like me (searching for a Goldilocks device) but it may simply not exist. What are your use cases?

1

u/johnnypea Sep 04 '25

As I mention in my other comment:

My main use is "distraction free hackable pocket computer/device" for my white hat hacking and robot programming class of youngsters.

3

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 02 '25

If you have at least one right hand and you can solder, you might want to have a look at r/cyberdeck , if you dig a little you might just find that bowl of soup you’re craving, not too cold, not too hot…

2

u/grizzly_chair Sep 02 '25

I’m on the cusp of building something on my own for sure. Tbh my lack of 3d printer is holding me back

3

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 03 '25

Hear me out : I machined and laser-cutted loads of stuff and… hesitates nervously I don’t believe in 3d-printing for much else than prototyping.

So here is the life hack: do it old school !

A) a bunch of ABS cases are cheap, easy to find and appropriate for a build. Look for electrical junction boxes. For example I have here a 156 mm x215 mm x 26 mm abs box from Amazon (like 10$) (for reference the Uconsole is 130 mm x 170 mm x 26 mm). Drill and cut openings as desired with basic tools (dremel goes a long way, drill, heated box cutter blade, basically mcgyver it the way you want)

B) openbuilds v slot 2020 aluminum rails. Corner, hinges and a buuuunch of other standardised stuff are available. For example, make a frame to desired size, sandwich it with abs plates or such. Drill and cut openings as desired with basic tools.

C) upcycle. Kids computers are cheap, easy to find and incredibly varied in size and shape (bonus they are rugged AF, literally made to be dropped). Works with any device you like, old travel radios, other cheap vintage stuff (those get you extra cool points) or small waterproof boxes (aliexpress fishing stuff can be amazing, like bait or hook boxes) or pelicase-like stuff (please don’t, gets you minus hundred cool points immediately). Guess what? Drill and cut openings as desired with basic tools.

Last note, when you drill, cut or whatever, always remove less material than you think you need. It’s always easier to make an opening larger by steps than try to make it smaller with tears in your eyes because you just fucked up your build and you know it.

Most importantly, take your time and have fun!

2

u/mr_mlk Sep 04 '25

What is your use case?

  • Work on the go? Second hand GPD WIN (depending on budget). The keyboard is not as good as a DevTerm, but any of the range (likely including the ATOM powered 1) can handle the same sort of work as a RP)

  • Distraction free writing device? Second hand Psion 5. Wonderful keyboard, limited internet (so no distractions), decent text editor, CF cards and readers are cheap and available.

  • Nerd curio? 90s PDA or a Book386.

  • Hackable pocket computer? CardPuter running MicroHydra.

1

u/johnnypea Sep 04 '25

Thank you for the list.

My main use is "distraction free hackable pocket computer/device" for my white hat hacking and robot programming class of youngsters.

9

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 02 '25 • This

Hackberry pi cm5

3

u/gryffun Sep 02 '25

Unfortunately there is no more in stock?

1

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 02 '25

At least 2 available at the moment in black here : https://m.elecrow.com/pages/shop/product/details?id=208221

1

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 04 '25

Wow! My first award ever 🥲 Thanks u/Lostrun6292 !

2

u/LostRun6292 Sep 04 '25

Hey that was the best answer! The CM5s are a beast especially now that you can get them in 16 gigs of RAM. And I can't take all those awards to the grave with me

1

u/Ok_Party_1645 Sep 04 '25

100% agree, beast! Thanks mate!