this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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[–] CMahaff@lemmy.world 29 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I saw this complaint in another post online (paraphrased):

The screen and use of a Pi seem at odds with each other. The screen is ultra-low power, but there are of course huge drawbacks for usability. Meanwhile the CPU is very powerful, but chews through, comparatively, a lot of power quickly.

They argued that it would be better to either pair the Pi with a better screen for a more powerful/usable handheld, or go all in on longevity and use some kind of low-power chip to pair with the screen for a terminal that could last for days.

... I've got to say, it's a fair point. A low power hand-held that could run Linux and run for days would be pretty cool, even if it was underpowered compared to a Pi. No idea what you could use for such a thing though.

[–] OppositeOfOxymoron 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Total newb question -- don't these CPUs support multiple clock speeds? You could set it high on install in preparation for compiling a bunch of software, then once you're done, knock it down to 50% or less of the maximum to add longevity?

[–] CMahaff@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Not an expert myself, but I think chips that truly sip power not only have a much lower floor but take even more aggressive actions to reduce power when idle.

Certainly with the right software tuning you could aggressively throttle the CPU to save power - I'm just not sure how much power it would actually save.

I did find this really good article on reducing the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W power consumption: https://www.cnx-software.com/2021/12/09/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w-power-consumption/

[–] squaresinger@feddit.de 12 points 2 years ago

These old Blackberry keyboards are amazing for stuff like that. They are cheap, avaliable and super well documented.

Here's what I made with them: https://github.com/Dakkaron/Fairberry

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It's like a very early version of those "cyber decks" used in cyberpunk media. How long before we are using things like this to cut through Black ICE, trying not to fry our brains? 🤔

[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't need a fucking playground Steven I'm not a little kid and you're not my dad stop coming to my house

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago (4 children)
[–] directive0@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Adafruit was rolling through runs of ~70 per day for a while. First come first served. Dunno if they still are. I'd suggest setting up a stock alert with them.

I snagged one for my Beepy. They were so strict about scalpers they made me set up 2fa so they could verify my account.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 5 points 2 years ago

Glad they’re doing something to verify you’re not a scalper.

[–] billygoat@catata.fish 5 points 2 years ago

That’s what I was thinking. I don’t think I’ve seen them available in the last 3 months.

[–] derpo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I’m heading to England in September. I’ll pick up a few for you guys

If you're near a microcenter they usually keep them hidden and you have to ask for them. But even when they're hidden they sell out the day the shipment gets there.

Online will probably be a shit show forever thanks to scalpers.