A Linux handheld computer is, in theory, easy and inexpensive given the availability of single-board computers, but in practice the budget invariably edges well into three figures. There’s an interesting alternative from [bkovac] that won’t break the bank as much, using a cheap 4G wireless hotspot, an iPhone USB keyboard case accessory, and, though a cheaper display could suffice, a fancy Adafruit Sharp memory display.
The hotspot is available from AliExpress for around 20 dollars/Euros/pounds, and it’s referred to by its model number, MF800. It’s powered by a Qualcomm MSM8916, also known as the Snapdragon 410, which you might have found in a budget cellphone early in the last decade. Importantly, though, it’s supported by mainstream Linux, and while it’s by no means the fastest on the block, it can be a poor man’s alternative to a Raspberry Pi. It comes with a small SPI display, but this project replaces it with a much bigger Sharp SPI memory display.
The build walks through a few case mods and a PCB mod on the modem, getting the keyboard to fit, and making a custom power board. Perhaps the software setup is the most interesting part, because this isn’t a simple case of installing a distro. Instead, there’s quite a bit of hackery to get the display working.
We really like this project because while a Linux handheld is nothing new, it’s making one using an unexpected starting point. It reminds us of the old days of running Linux on an old router.
hey hey – an sbc with reasonable mobile performance?! too bad you have to buy it off-label, huh?
The AliExpress search is a major PITA, apparently they learned from Amazon or so, so a picture of the front of the original device would have been helpful to quickly identify it in the mess of other stuff i am not interested in. But the blogpost only has images of the back of the device.
Well… I guess you can always email the guy (address at the end of the website).
Hi, author here. I didn’t notice I hadn’t put a picture of the original device there. I will have to look into my camera roll. For now, I have found a picture of that same one but on the openwrt forums so I have linked that below. I also have a similar one which doesn’t have a display, though I didn’t try linux on that one yet. It is always a bit of trial and error with these though, and It’s possible that despite looking okay on the listing it ends up being a different product when you actually get it.
https://forum.openwrt.org/uploads/default/original/3X/9/6/966675f9866f335da636ac3e9dc5097dd3c31a5f.jpeg