7" netbooks from MNT Research

7" netbooks from MNT Research

[Paul Sutton via libreplanet-discuss]

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Hi

Just found this too.  I have put the link below plus the text from the 
website article (in full, but minus the pictures).  Looks interesting 
and also looks to be open design too.

Problem with small form factor is less room for all those cool stickers :)

I acknowledge copyright, but in this context quoting for the benefit of 
anyone who may have a problem viewing this.

https://www.hackster.io/news/mnt-research-unveils-the-near-final-mnt-pocket-reform-a-7-aggressively-open-modular-netbook-3e2804a07d2d

**MNT Research Unveils the Near-Final MNT Pocket Reform, a 7" 
Aggressively-Open Modular Netbook
Compatible with SOMs built for the full-size MNT Reform, the Pocket 
Reform could prove the ultimate netbook revival**

MNT Research has unveiled the near-finalized design of its Pocket 
Reform, an aggressively open take on the classic netbook designed for 
compatibility with its earlier and larger Reform laptop — yet, 
impressively, sacrificing little in the quest for miniaturization.

The latest revision of the MNT Reform laptop landed with backers last 
year, offering a device, which was wholly open — from the operating 
system it runs to the design files for the PCBs and chassis. A blend of 
modernity and retrofuturism, the device includes an unusual mechanical 
keyboard, option of trackball or touch-pad pointing device, and modular 
innards in which the key components are held on a replaceable module.

Since the release of the MNT Reform, the company has been teasing a more 
pocketable variant dubbed — unsurprisingly — the Pocket Reform. Designed 
in a clamshell form factor like a traditional laptop, the Pocket Reform 
uses a far smaller yet Full HD 7" display panel with a compact 60-key 
ortholinear mechanical keyboard. There's no touchpad option this time 
around, with a trackball your only option — in order to reduce the 
amount of bezel required around the screen to ensure full coverage with 
the lid down.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Pocket Reform is that its 
resemblance to its full-sized forebear is more than skin deep. Despite 
its dramatically reduced footprint, the carrier board inside the Pocket 
Reform is designed to be entirely compatible with systems-on-modules 
(SOMs) developed for the full-size Reform - including the original NXP 
i.MX8M Plus part with a choice of classic 4GB or new 8GB RAM capacities, 
a higher-performance NXP Layerscape part with up to 16GB of RAM, a 
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 in custom-designed adapter board, a PINE64 
SOQuartz, or an FPGA module with Xilinx Kintex-7 on-board — allowing you 
to run soft-core processors including RISC-V.

There have been some sacrifices made in the design, however. A key 
selling point of the full-size Reform is its use of LiFePo4 batteries, 
safer and more environmentally-friendly than traditional lithium-ion or 
lithium-polymer batteries but with a correspondingly lower energy 
capacity. Without the room for eight 18650 cells to ensure a decent 
runtime, though, the Pocket Reform switches to two lithium-ion cells 
with a total 8,000mAh capacity.

MNT Reform has confirmed plans to launch two variants of the design: a 
robust aluminum version with bead-blasted finish anodized in purple or 
black; and a more environmentally-conscious version created in recycled 
PLA. Those who would customize the design, meanwhile, will be given STL 
files to print a case of their own.

More details are available on the MNT Research blog, but the company is 
still keeping two pieces of information close to its chest: pricing and 
availability.
-- 
Paul Sutton, Cert Cont Sci (Open)
https://personaljournal.ca/paulsutton/
OpenPGP : 4350 91C4 C8FB 681B 23A6 7944 8EA9 1B51 E27E 3D99

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