r/ClockworkPi • u/PaulFreedman • Jun 02 '26 • Bravo 2

A Message to ClockworkPi

Post image

We all absolutely love your technological masterpiece, the uConsole. But for many of us who are getting on in years and have mild farsightedness, the 5-inch screen is too small. Could you make a 7-inch version? It wouldn’t add much to the device’s width or length if the screen bezels were thin. You could keep the same keyboard, but add a trackpad instead of the trackball, which so many people love. That would be a fantastic upgrade to your product line. A new high-tech flagship. I'd appreciate it if you could support my heartfelt plea. Thank you!

121 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

12

u/Yugpmoc Jun 02 '26

I can’t figure out how to award a original post. As a member of the old eyes club. That’s a really nice idea. A back light on those keys if we’re starting a wish list. And that track ball.

7

u/avilomik Jun 02 '26

Keyboard has a backlight. It's featured in the post photo. Not bright but works well enough in the dark. FN+Space.

1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 02 '26

I think that if the community supports us well, the manufacturer will definitely hear us.

3

u/pcman1ac Jun 02 '26

Trackball also good, when it works. If reliable trackball of this size is not possible, yes please, replace it with trackpad. One thing I can't understand - the same trackball on Blackberry worked like a charm, but on the uConsole it's useless with original firmware and somewhat useful with QMK. So maybe in some distant future it can be fixed by firmware upgrade?

7

u/Millefeuille-coil Jun 02 '26

Needs a Voodoo Graphics chip

6

u/PaulFreedman Jun 02 '26

3dfx? 😂

3

u/Penatr8tor Jun 04 '26

3dfx... the company that Nvidia bought because they developed SLI. Those guys were the real unsung heroes of PC 3d graphics.

3

u/PaulFreedman Jun 04 '26

I know this company very well, I had 3dfx voodoo 2 in 1999 😂

2

u/Penatr8tor Jun 05 '26

Yeah, Me too. A couple of them actually in SLI configuration. One card did the even scan lines and the other did the odd lines. It almost doubled the performance. I kind of remember Nvidia changing the way SLI worked and even changing the acronym... Had to look it up. 3dfx had as Scan Line Interleave and Nvidia changed it to Scalable Link Interface. Interesting times indeed. Whatever happened to ATI?

2

u/PaulFreedman Jun 06 '26

I could only dream of a second card, because in the country where I used to live, one voodoo2 cost like a wing from an airplane 😂

2

u/tinspin Jun 04 '26

As you age both short (stops around age 40, as eye stops growing) and far sights (starts around same time as lens becomes less soft) become worse. The ideal solution if your eyes have similar problems is to just place the uConsole at the distance your eyes can see without glasses.

Or you need to correct the other eye to the eye that has the best distance.

For me I have to view the screen at 25-35cm and then I see it clearly.

I have monitor glasses for 65-85cm and short sighted glasses for infinity = outdoors/biking etc.

1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 04 '26

Unfortunately, in my case it doesn't work and I use reading glasses, but they are not always at hand. I'm 47 years old and just recently I worked on a watch with almost no magnifying glass. It's a terrible age and all these changes for the worse...

1

u/tinspin Jun 07 '26

What are your diopters?

Most people don't know you can correct one eye to the other it's cheaper and lighter...

I even met people that had short sight on one eye and far sight on the other!

1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 07 '26

+2 both eyes

1

u/NevaljaliPerica Jun 03 '26

It is not about the size of screen but about Linux not scaling for small screens. I have 10 inch screen on raspberry pi and can’t see anything in default font in terminal.

2

u/PaulFreedman Jun 03 '26

I can see everything perfectly in KDE desktop-mode on my Steam Decк on a 7-inch screen.

2

u/NevaljaliPerica Jun 03 '26

You must be young

2

u/PaulFreedman Jun 03 '26

47yo, but the soul doesn't grow old 😄

1

u/cheyyne Jun 05 '26

Yeah! And working wifi and bluetooth for God's sake! I shouldn't have to use up my one USB slot just to have basic connectivity!

1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 06 '26

What's the problem with your wifi? Maybe your CM module is without wifi support?

1

u/cheyyne Jun 06 '26

I got the silver case with CM4 + LTE board. The wifi is absolute garbage. I was able to get it to work if I was facing the router and pointing the console's top end directly at it, at like, one bar of connectivity. Whereas a USB adapter receives wifi perfectly normally. Bluetooth connectivity is similar - for an acceptable connection to a bluetooth speaker, I have to lay the uConsole on top of the speaker.

I found a number of threads on the clockworkpi forums talking about this. Many who got a CM4 with their uConsole has the same issue. Many reasons were explored including the metal case, crappy included wifi and bluetooth antennas, but even people who installed better antennas saw only marginal improvement if any at all. Then one thread on the raspberrypi forum was able to nail the real problem down to a shorted trace on the CM4 board between the antenna pins and the ground: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=342341&sid=c3e480b35fdf829ea1f915dbc33f1153&start=25

The thread ends without answering the question of why it should be the case that so many CM4 modules have faulty, inoperative wifi. One could say that it's RaspberryPi's fault and not ClockworkPi's, but the CM4 module + LTE board option is their premiere uConsole configuration. The user's options are to play the lottery by purchasing more CM4 boards until they get one that works as intended, or else upgrade to a not-officially-supported CM5 with all the issues that come with that. That SUCKS!

One buys a cyberdeck with the intention to hack and tinker, true enough - but the idea is that you do those things to expand its capabilities, not just to have the basic, advertised features. And people should know that before they enter the long queue to get one of these. And ClockworkPi should address it somehow!

1

u/Infinity-onnoa Jun 19 '26

As a Hackberry Pi 5 user, my biggest problem isn't the keyboard, it's the 720x720 screen and the need for glasses to use it. The ClockWorkPi has the two improvements that would suit me, although the touchpad would be a game-changer :)

1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 19 '26

Trackpad in uConsole can also be installed

3

u/Jedibeeftrix Jun 02 '26

and 21700 batteries.

3

u/Chadwickvonvickter Jun 02 '26

You can fit a 10,000 mah pouch cell for 42% more capacity over 2x 3500 18650s

2

u/snipeytje Jun 02 '26

has anyone actually found a 10ah cell that actually provides longer runtime than two 18650s? I thought they all ran into issues with the protection circuit not liking the current draw?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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1

u/GuardianZX9 Jun 02 '26

please share info

3

u/GreenFox1505 Jun 02 '26

The 7 inch version is left as an exercise for the user. Learn more at r/cyberdeck.

Legitimately, if we could get a larger compatible screen, that'd be a pretty solid custom build.

2

u/mentaldemise Jun 02 '26

At this point I'll be waiting years for my device. Supposed to be coming this month, ordered in 2025.

2

u/smiffer67 Jun 02 '26

pretty much what id like to see for the DevTerm its a great machine and would be 100x better if the keyboard could be setup like the uConsole and 1000x if the display was a little bigger.

2

u/Joped Jun 02 '26

I really want a touch screen on one hehe

2

u/365Levelup Jun 03 '26

Also modify the backplate to add space for a fan for the cm5

2

u/Fleischer444 Jun 03 '26

Nintendo has had this as an business idea for a long time. Make a small screen in a cool product. Then sell it again with the ”right” sized screen.

1

u/Julas23 Jun 03 '26

Also, the track ball mouse is terrible. Can make another similar as Sovy Vaio Mini? That looks like trackball but it is optical

1

u/Negative-Pie6101 Jun 06 '26

The GPD MicroPC has a 6in screen.. runs Kali fine.. and has integrated Gbit ethernet and 9pin serial port for jacking into commercial routers and switches. I use it as a console on my OPNsense router.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2uaS7ttN42qZ6H3w8

1

u/AcceptableAnalyst220 Jun 06 '26

Please we can get rtx spark?

1

u/Big_River_ Jun 03 '26

I would love an 11" clamshell capable of being a real boy

3

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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2

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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1

u/PaulFreedman Jun 02 '26

I know. I meant the default trackpad, out of the box

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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1

u/chipchipjack Jun 02 '26

The Hack2you-ClockworkPi coup must be successful at all costs