Making An Ultra Minimal Cyberdeck

June 19, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 17 Comments

The cool thing about cyberdecks is that you get to design them to suit your personal tastes. [NickZero] wanted an ultra-minimal build, and set about putting together just that.

The build is based around a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, which has a lighter power draw than the full-fat models at the trade-off of some processing power. Since it’s a W model, it has the benefit of wireless connectivity baked in from the factory. The Pi is paired with a Gherkin 30% layout keyboard kit, which neatly matches the 7″ Waveshare touch display in width. Power is courtesy of a juicy 4000 mAh lithium-ion cell, which is taken care of by an Adafruit Powerboost 1000 charger module. Everything is then laced up together inside a nifty 3D printed case.

It’s a simple cyberdeck, and one that’s probably quite satisfying to use when you get used to the fact that there are no number or modifier keys on the ultra-cut-down keyboard. It’s also a great example of how a bunch of off-the-shelf gear can nonetheless be assembled into quite a cohesive whole. In much the opposite way, we’ve seen some maximalist cyberdeck builds lately, too.

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Sliding-Screen Cyberdeck Has Chunky, Rugged Design

May 21, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 27 Comments

[Jankbu] needed a new computer, but had little interest in purchasing a modern laptop off the shelf. Instead, it was time to build a cyberdeck with a neat modular design to suit his exact needs.

The heart of the build is a Raspberry Pi 5, which provides a good amount of computing power for regular tasks. It’s wrapped up in a 3D-printed enclosure with rail mounts on the back, along with a NOS 450 TKL mechanical keyboard, offering full-travel keys in a compact layout. The 10.1″ IPS touchscreen display is mounted on sliding rails to cover the keyboard when it’s not needed. A smattering of buttons live around the screen, in a manner akin to so many industrial controllers. On either side, the deck has large grab handles, with one side featuring custom horizontal and vertical scroll controls, while the other rocks a trackball. Power is via NP-F batteries, which are more commonly used to run Sony camcorders.

Unlike so many cyberdecks, [Jankbu] didn’t just build the device to look cool—it also serves a practical purpose. It’s great for running Freecad, and the rail mounts on the rear make it perfect for mounting around the workshop during a job as needed. Files are on Github for those eager to learn more.

What’s fun about this build is that it’s not just a show piece, it’s something that gets used every day. That’s a testament to [Jankbu’s] well-reasoned design, that considered what the device was for before it was put together. We’ve featured plenty of other fantastic cyberdecks in the past, too. Video after the break.

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A Cyberdeck That Runs Linux…in An Altoids Tin

May 12, 2026 by Jenny List 30 Comments

In the time Hackaday has been in existence we must have brought you plenty of projects housed in Altoids tins, as well as a sizeable number of cyberdecks. But until today with [Exercising Ingenuity]’s build, we’ve never brought you a project that combines the two. It’s a fully functional computer that runs Linux, and with its Altoids tin enclosure, looks for all the world like a miniature clamshell laptop.

Hardware wise it’s a Pi Zero with a UPS PHAT and an SPI display, but perhaps it’s arguably the home-made keyboard that really sets it apart. There’s a full-size USB port as well, and a selection of GPIOs are broken out to a header. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, the Altoids hinges needed modifying to make it close, and he driver for the SPI screen required an older version of Raspberry Pi OS. We will forgive it those foibles.

It’s fair to say we’ve not seen anything quite like this, in that there have been plenty of tiny laptops but never one as integrated as this. There’s a demo video with details of the build, that we’ve placed below.

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Cyberdeck Build Gets Closer To Regular Laptop Than Most

April 20, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 15 Comments

Cyberdecks are typically reminiscent of weird computers in futuristic sci-fi films, moreso than the computers of today. The cool thing about cyberdecks, though, is you get to build them however you like. [WillTechBuilds] has put together a deck of his own that diverges from cyberdeck norms and ends up closer to something you might have bought off the shelf at Best Buy.

For a start, the build eschews the typical Raspberry Pi or other single-board computer that normally lives at the heart of a cyberdeck. In its place is a motherboard harvested from a GMKTec NucBox G5. It runs the Intel N97 CPU. It’s an x86 processor that’s roughly equivalent in power to an i5 from 10 years ago, but it only sips 12 watts. The compact motherboard is installed in a compact 3D-printed case along with a porbable USB-C battery pack, a small widescreen LCD, and a Lenovo ThinkPad trackpoint keyboard. This latter design choice, along with the x86 chip, is what gives this build so much of a laptop feel. There’s no weird Linux desktop, green-glowing terminal, or chunky mechanical keyboard here, let alone any GPIO pins. Definitely an oddball entry to the cyberdeck world, but valid nonetheless.

We’ve featured cyberdecks built out of everything from CRT TVs to event badges. As always, we’d love to see your latest innovative creation on the tipsline. Video after the break.

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Portable CRT TV Becomes Retro Cyberdeck

March 20, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 12 Comments

These days, it’s pretty easy to slap together a single-board computer and a cheap LCD screen to whip up a cool cyberdeck fast. But what if you wanna go more retro? [Manu] found a portable TV straight out of the original Blade Runner film, and decided this would be the perfect base for a cyberdeck rocking a whole-ass CRT screen.

The build started with a Panasonic TR-545 television. Back in the day, it took many large batteries to power this thing up—no surprise given how power hungry CRTs are. This gave [Manu] a neat opportunity to sneak all the new cyberdeck hardware into the original battery tray, including a new lithium-ion battery pack that is much more compact than the original. A Raspberry Pi 5 is running the show, computer-wise, and it’s hooked up to an HDMI RF modulator that allows the video output signal to be hooked up to the TV’s original antenna input. It’s not the cleanest way to go, but it allowed [Manu] to make the mod entirely reversible. All the new hardware slots neatly into the repurposed battery tray, and can be removed quite easily without damage to this vintage specimen. Even the keyboard fits nicely into the setup, as [Manu] was able to find a suitable 60% layout foldable unit right off the shelf.

Check out the slide deck for more details on the build, but be warned—it’s a 241 MB PDF. Bonus points if you calculate what that would cost to store on a hard drive in 1979 when the Panasonic TR-545 was on the market. We’ve seen a similar build before, too, with a classic black & white Magnavox unit. If you like squinting at a tiny blurry screen, a CRT cyberdeck is absolutely the way to go. Just be warned that the other screenwriters at your local coffee shop will be more interested in your hardware than whatever you’re actually working on. Good luck with your next pitch all the same. Video after the break.

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Custom Clamshell Cyberdeck Shows Off Underlighting

February 13, 2026 by Donald Papp 19 Comments

Cyberdecks are great projects, and [Salim Benbouziyane]’s scratch-built CM Deck is a fantastic specimen. It’s a clamshell-style cyberdeck with custom split keyboard, trackpad, optional external WiFi antenna, and some slick underlighting thanks to a translucent bottom shell. There’s even a hidden feature that seems super handy for a cyberdeck: a special USB-C port that, when plugged in to another host (like another computer), lets the cyberdeck act as an external keyboard and trackpad for that downstream machine.

The CM Deck is built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, which necessitates a custom PCB but offers more design freedom.

Notably, the CM Deck is custom-built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Model 5. When we first peeped the CM5 the small size was striking, but of course that comes at the cost of having no connectors, supporting hardware, or heat management. That’s something [Salim] embraced because it meant being able to put connectors exactly where he wanted them, and not have to work around existing hardware. A custom PCB let him to lay out his cyberdeck with greater freedom, less wasted space, and ultimately integrate a custom-built keyboard (with RP2040 and QMK firmware).

Even the final enclosure is custom-made, with 3D printing being used to validate the design and PCBway providing finished plastic shells in addition to manufacturing the PCBs. [Salim] admits that doing so was an indulgence, but his delight at the quality of the translucent purple undercarriage is palpable.

[Salim]’s video (embedded below) is a deep dive into the whole design and build process, and it’s a great watch for anyone interested in the kind of work and decisions that go into making something like this. Experienced folks can expect to nod in sympathy when [Salim] highlights gotchas like doing CAD work based on the screen’s drawings, only to discover later that the physical unit doesn’t quite match.

The GitHub repository contains the design files for everything, so give it a browse if you’re interested. [Salim] is no stranger to clean builds, so take a moment to admire his CRT-style Raspberry Pi terminal as well.

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An Event Badge Re-Imagined As A Cyberdeck

February 2, 2026 by Jenny List 5 Comments

We’re used to handheld Linux devices of varying usefulness appearing on a regular basis, but there’s something about the one in a video from [Rootkit Labs] which sets it aside from the herd. It’s a fork of a conference badge.

The WHY2025 badge had pretty capable hardware, with an ESP32-P4, a really nice screen, and the lovely SolderParty keyboard. Here it’s been forked, to become a carrier board for their previous project, the Flipper Blackhat. This is a Linux add-on for the Flipepr Zero, and it seems that plenty of people wanted it in a more useful context. The result is something that looks a lot like a WHY badge, but running Linux.

It’s a great shame when badges end up lying unused after the event, and ones like the WHY 2025 badge are a serious effort to make something that endures. Here, the badge endures in spirit by being forked and re-engineered, and we like it a lot. The full video is below the break.

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