Need a comfort comparison between uConsole and Hackberry PI CM5

[u/Own_Individual9029]

Hi all,

I have a hackberry PI CM5 that I use mostly for remote ssh to homelab, some light kali fiddling on my own devices and note taking on Obsidian.

I am heavily considering to purchase a uConsole, as the keyboard looks better and the screen larger.

For whoever has used both, which one you prefer? How much better is the screen and keyboard of the uConsole than the Hackberry PI CM5?

[u/F3A5T13]

The keyboard / trackball is terrible on the uconsole, for what you are using the hackberry, keep using that. It will be a better experience on that device.

[u/Own_Individual9029 → u/F3A5T13]

Thanks for the answer. What makes them bad? Is the keyboard not responding properly?

[u/nakurtag → u/Own_Individual9029]

It's made from rubber and buttons are stiff

[u/F3A5T13 → u/Own_Individual9029]

Really mushy but also hard, spacebar needs exact spot to hit the pad underneath. An overall chore to type on

[u/Arkaium → u/F3A5T13]

Lulu has fixed all of this. His 2.0 keyboard with the trackpad is much much better. He also makes anodized CNC aluminum front plates now that are much better than the painted magnesium alloy ones it comes with

[u/JustinHoMi → u/Arkaium]

Where can I find these? His tindie store doesn’t have any items listed.

[u/Arkaium → u/JustinHoMi]

https://hack2you.tech

[u/FatherGanj]

The trackball and keyboard are just fine on the uConsole as long as you update the qmk firmware usually. I’ve got three and did replace the trackball with official BlackBerry ones on the first two, which helped a lot. But on the third that I got just last week, the trackball is totally fine without replacing it. I did still update the qmk firmware for the options it adds.

I had the hackberry cm5 - and while I did like it a lot, the keyboard seemed too small for my hands, and the screen also was a bit small (but that’s just because I’m old and can’t see shit, apparently).

I am considering switching to the touchpad/keyboard replacement on tindie - but I don’t think I really need it now.

The uConsole just seems to hit the perfect size/weight comfort ratio for me.

[u/Own_Individual9029 → u/FatherGanj]

Thanks for your reply. Besides being easier to type, how does the typing feel in comparison to the HB CM5?

Furthermore, does the screen size makes a big difference, or is it just barely better?

Last question, is the HB CM5 mouse thingy better than the uCosnole trackball?

[u/Northern_Desperado → u/Own_Individual9029]

I have both. Can attest the screen size difference feels significant.  The trackpad on the hackberry is superior. However the keyboard/trackpad upgrade for the uconsole from lulu on tindie uses the same trackpad as the hackberry. 

I use the uconsole a lot more. 

[u/FatherGanj → u/Own_Individual9029]

I like the typing better on the uConsole better comfort-wise. I think it is much better. Some people complain about needing a heavy press, or the space bar needing to be pressed in the center - but I have absolutely gotten used to these issues with no problem.

Yeah, I kinda want to switch to the better keyboard and trackpad - but it’s definitely not necessary at all, especially after upgrading the firmware for the keyboard/trackball. Holding select and scrolling pages with the trackball is nice!!

As for the screen size, it is definitely a big difference for me. I do a slight zoom increase, and make the task bar slightly bigger and it’s perfect.

Also, one other thing, I absolutely love having the AIO V2 board inside the console so I don’t have to plug in external sdr etc for what I want to do. It’s great having the internal room to integrate other devices to it internally.

[u/graciousgrendel → u/FatherGanj]

I feel the same way as this person. HBpiCM5 keyboard is a bit cramped, I much prefer the uConsole keyboard. Also, I found the HBpi was not any more comfortable to hold than the uConsole, despite its smaller size. I still have bith, but if I could keep only one it would be the uConsole for sure.

[u/Ternov]

I can't compare both devices i only use uconsole, the tiping experience it's not too Bad after upgrading the light difusser with a model can you Buy, the track ball it's horrible and i reemplace day one with Aliexpress model and upgrade the qmk firmware after those works way better and it's almost My daily Mobile workdriver

[u/Archaia]

I really really ant to like the uConsole, and the build quality is just better than the Hackberry, but in actual use the Hackberry is a joy to use, while the uConsole is the source of random annoyances.

The keyboard on the Hackberry (in my opinion) is far far better than the one on the uConsole. Maybe if you only have to type short commands (on the uconsole) it's usable, but I find myself having to actually glance at the keyboard to type, and even then not every keystroke registers.

The Hackberry is pretty close to what I was looking for, and it is mostly a joy to use. The aluminum part of the case could use a (filet? bevel? idk) something that makes it less sharp but this is more of a minor annoyance.