so like
new thing idea
it's a laptop case with a screen, connectors, sockets, etc.
you stick your 60% (or maybe 40%, have to look at dimensions and seating-keyboard tricks) keyboard into the keyboard bay
you hook it up
you open the lid on the back of the screen and install your RasPi
and kabang, instant laptop WITH MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
and if you have room, you take the keyb out of the bay, set it on the desk, and rotate the keyboard bay UNDER the screen to hold it up as a stand
thoughts?
I honestly don't even have a NAME for this yet, other than "the shell", which fails b/c it's both irritatingly necessary to disambiguate when discussed AND because it just doesn't have a good ring to it
oh, and it could basically be keyboard weight + .5 lb, but I'm thinking I'll have a builtin battery it comes with and a handful of bays for batteries so you can just extend the battery life to crackers levels if you wanna carry around keyboard weight + 2-4 lb
almost wanna add a handle + latch
anyway: anybody who'd like to suggest names, I'm open to suggestions
anybody who has design suggestions, I'm interested in those too: I'm planning two USB, an HDMI output, a micro SD, and one micro USB and one USB c, because options
but this could be a daily driver mechanical laptop for people and somehow I think that might actually be of interest to a lot of folks
I at least want to build myself one or two to have
(oh, and: #MechanicalKeyboard #Keyboard #Laptop #Mechanical #RaspberryPi , so I can find this even after I change the name)
okay! SO
I remembered two other things
speakers
I realize it's ambitious but most of the 60% keybs I saw would require enough width that I'd end up with a screen that is maybe 1/2 the width of the keyb at most, which I think leaves enough room for speakers (considering how laptop manufacturers have apparently started jamming them in virtually everywhere somehow)
it's not a crucial item by any means, but it'd be nice if it could be a "plays AV fresh off the build" situation
Pi Shell works, even speaks to my baking time
#PiShell