@hi ADV cardputer? edit: under £50 with wifi card, BT support, LoRa support available, USB-C interface although battery life isn't very food. Display is barely an inch.

https://github.com/m5stack/M5Cardputer/blob/master/examples/Advanced/SSHClient/SSHClient.ino

@hi @prahou
Maybe add optional serial, even if extenal/usb.

@hi

ESP32 will run ssh.

@hi this already existed in 2000s, minus the usb-c. It was called the HTC Merge. Loved the slide out keyboard. Nothing like it really exists anymore to my knowledge.

@hi Hmm? OpenSourceSDRLab UConsole with ClockworkPi https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256811687027709.html?channel=twinner

@hi uConsole but not sure about 1 week battery.

@hi

Should be foldable with built-in keyboard.

And doable with 200 eur smartphones, so except for the battery life it should be achievable for maybe 100 bucks.

@hi - I think so. The Gemini PDA has a 6 inch display. Runs linux which you can configure to be headless and only have SSH on it. It's wifi and cellular. Not sure on battery life, but its robust. Price is right. USB-C.

It does have its own keyboard on it as well.

https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/gemini-pda

@hi Saw this thing just this morning and it's on my potential pocket computer list especially due to the LoRa support. Obviously I don't care about the "AI" accelerator but a stripped down RISC-V Linux port with just the console and busybox would be rad.

I am a bit confused about one thing though; it seems you have to have the keyboard attachment to get the LoRa/mesh radio?

https://www.cnx-software.com/2026/10/28/lilygo-t-display-k230-risc-v-ai-dev-kit-features-amoled-lora-and-an-optional-keyboard/

@hi Clockwork's PiCalc gets close. Cellular is missing but I've run SSH firmware on it. It's a microcontroller so a bit limited but it worked. Battery life was good but might need some extra cells ... easy enough to expand or swap since you only need one battery in at a time so you can hotswap.

Alas, the OS did not have SSH-only; it was some java morass. Basically Android was the HipTop 2.0 (and got worse and worse, particularly after Alphabet Inc./Google ditched physical keyboards).

@hi I think the battery life will be mostly limited by supporting WiFi and Cellular, also these will, like USB-C, consume a bit of CPU time in most implementations, so a too small CPU won't work.

Otherwise, no problem, an even lower price should be possible. Not sure if such a minimalist OS exists (Linux might be too good) for a SoC, would need to research it. But you could always take small SoC and all protocols as application level software.

@hi Psion 5a with an ethernet CF card in it and an ssh client installed?

@hi https://pine64.org/documentation/Phone_Accessories/Keyboard/ pinephone+keyboard , but even with the extra battery in the keyboard, no where near a week of battery.

Nura (formerly postmarketOS) can be installed with no window manager.

I wanted the pinephone to be this so much, but either I got a bad device or it was a big miss.

@hi
I've had a similar idea!
Mine wants to be a head-mounted display with a few lines of text, paired with a chord keyboard like the Loop, or maybe just one of those teensy media keyboards, and just enough processor to shell into a grownup computer.

@hi need

@hi Hmm. Something like a $69 SBC like the zimablade would do it, but has no screen. It has a HDMI output, and is small and light enough you could glue its case to the back of the screen to make an integrated unit??? I see 10" HDMI screens for $70. Now, the"OS"... 🤔

@hi Not quite there but close. I’m keeping an eye on this. https://mecha.so/comet#overview

@hi That seems completely doable to me if it uses an e-ink screen. Battery life depends most on how you plan to use it, though.